Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Aug 19 12:31:02 2011

>>> I watch your clips through "youtube" a lot and there are 2 different things from lead shoulder. One video with Griffey Jr vs. Bonds says "pull out the lead shoulder" and another video title has "Lead Shoulder rotation of 4 Great hitters" and I understand the concept but when I put into practice I get confused between pull vs. rotate. Which one is it? which one gives right mechanic for the swing? <<<

> I think they are talking about the same thing. You can either think of your shoulders rotating around an imaginary line that runs from the top of your head through your anus, or you can think about "pulling" the front shoulder so that it moves back towards where your back shoulder was when you started out your swing. This action not only helps to bring the hands forward during the first half of the swing, but during the last part of the swing, it also helps to pull the bottom hand (or the knob) back as the top hand is driving the top part of the bat forward, thus generating the torque that he's talking about.

Don't pay attention to that Pete Rose video though. Pete wasn't a great power hitter, as Jack pointed out. I feel his front shoulder was very much under-rotated in that clip. If you rotate the front shoulder more severely than Pete was doing, then you can afford to extend your front arm and still apply the torque that Jack was discussing (because the front shoulder would really be the thing pulling the knob back and not the bottom <

Hi All

I am sorry I have not been able to respond to your questions lately. I have been on vacation in Oregon the past couple weeks and our campsite location did not allow us to reach internet reception. We are headed back now and will be back at the office this weekend. In the meantime, I would like to thank GBDiddy for his reply to Yohan. His response reflects what I would have written.

Jack Mankin