Posted by: popeyem () on Mon Dec 9 15:34:02 2002

Why do they call it the "hook"? Is the arc really a hook?
What are the advantages of a hook as opposed to an arc? Is the hook a modified arc? Explain this HOOK, that is a term I've never heard of.

If you use top hand torque and pull with the lead shoulder, do you get an arc or a hook? If the top hand never "overtakes" the bottom hand, then what is hooking - - the bat head or the hands or both?

So, you are trying to get as much bat speed with the tightest swing, and a hook is what gets that? Does Bonds "HOOK"? Who else other than Bonds - - give me 10 names so I can compare; does Sosa, A-Rod, Big Mac, Olerud, Tony Gywn, Larry Walker, Salmon, Griffey, Garciapora; I have video of most of those guys.

Does the hook help more with hitting inside or outside? It seems a tight hook is better for in.

If the lead arm is firm or "barred" as some say, that seems to be o.k.; why do so many people think that is taboo, "Do not bar your front elbow cause you'll be long and never be able to get inside the ball". Is that another fallacy or truism?

One more question - you say max bat speed occurs when the shoulders are finished rotating; when is that suppose to happen - when the lead shoulder is all the way back to the catcher -- where is the bat head when that happens? So many of the weaker hitters I see in college and high school, stop their shoulders and then throw their hands (or as you say, top hand overtakes the bottom) and they lose the use of their body.