Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Sep 4 09:48:36 2007

>>> Dave brings up some good points that I too have been experimenting with. Should the hands be hidden at shoulder height or at arm pit height with the top hand being at the top of the arm pit? Do the hands need to be totally hidden or is the move of pulling in the hands towards the back shoulder and getting an inward turn sufficient even if not totally hidden? If you have longer arms, can you try to hide your hands higher and still get the desired result of the best rotational power you can get? Is it easier to get extension with your hands a little higher at hiding your hands set up if you have longer arms? It feels like that to me. Does that back elbow have to go all the way back as if in scapula loading when trying to hide the hands? If not, do you lose power or rotational bat speed? Thanks for taking the time to answer. I know I gave you alot to respond to. <<<

Hi Mike

Most of the top hitters have their hands at about the height of the back-shoulder socket as they initiate rotation. -- As far as how much the hands should be hidden has a lot to do with the point of viewing reference. The frontal view we see in most MLB games is taken from left-center field (viewed from between the mound and shortstop). From this angle, the hands of a right-handed batter should be completely hidden whereas the hands of a left-handed batter are still visible. If the hands of a left-handed batter were viewed from right-center, they would be hidden whereas the right-handed batter’s hands would still be visible.

Mike, if the inward-turn does not rotate the hands far enough back (hidden), maximum acceleration of the bat-head from the pendulum-effect cannot be realized. To attain maximum acceleration, the first movement of the hands must be directed perpendicular to the path of the incoming ball. This occurs when the inward-turn rotates the hands back to a hidden position and the lead-arm maintains a fixed angle as shoulder rotation is initiated.

You bring up two batting terms, “extension with your hands” and “scapula loading” that need to be discussed from both the “linear” and “rotational” perspective. I will address them in another post tomorrow.

Jack Mankin

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> >>> Dave brings up some good points that I too have been experimenting with. Should the hands be hidden at shoulder height or at arm pit height with the top hand being at the top of the arm pit? Do the hands need to be totally hidden or is the move of pulling in the hands towards the back shoulder and getting an inward turn sufficient even if not totally hidden? If you have longer arms, can you try to hide your hands higher and still get the desired result of the best rotational power you can get? Is it easier to get extension with your hands a little higher at hiding your hands set up if you have longer arms? It feels like that to me. Does that back elbow have to go all the way back as if in scapula loading when trying to hide the hands? If not, do you lose power or rotational bat speed? Thanks for taking the time to answer. I know I gave you alot to respond to. <<<
> 
> Hi Mike
> 
> Most of the top hitters have their hands at about the height of the back-shoulder socket as they initiate rotation. -- As far as how much the hands should be hidden has a lot to do with the point of viewing reference. The frontal view we see in most MLB games is taken from left-center field (viewed from between the mound and shortstop). From this angle, the hands of a right-handed batter should be completely hidden whereas the hands of a left-handed batter are still visible. If the hands of a left-handed batter were viewed from right-center, they would be hidden whereas the right-handed batter’s hands would still be visible.  
> 
> Mike, if the inward-turn does not rotate the hands far enough back (hidden), maximum acceleration of the bat-head from the pendulum-effect cannot be realized. To attain maximum acceleration, the first movement of the hands must be directed perpendicular to the path of the incoming ball. This occurs when the inward-turn rotates the hands back to a hidden position and the lead-arm maintains a fixed angle as shoulder rotation is initiated. 
> 
> You bring up two batting terms, “extension with your hands” and “scapula loading” that need to be discussed from both the “linear” and “rotational” perspective. I will address them in another post tomorrow. 
> 
> Jack Mankin

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