Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Wed Jan 29 11:56:48 2003

I just watched the final arc (2nd edition). A couple of questions:
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> > > > 1) After top hand torque and the bat goes back to the catcher - what then does the top hand do -- does it push at contact or not? In watching MLB hitters it seems most of them "push with their top hands" through contact. And more times than not the "L" comes out after contact. What is "causing" this to happen?
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> > > > 2) Jack says the shoulders turn to 105 degrees. Is that at contact? It looks as though Bonds' shoulders rotate all the was around - 180 degrees, but that is at finish. Jack said something about putting an object under the bottom arm pit - why is that? The MLB hitters I watch, anything under their arm would definitely fall out. When exactly does the bottom hand start pulling? Is it in the position the kids are doing the drills in?
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> > > > 3) Lastly, can you be a "rotational hitter" and never use BHT? In other words can I rotate my torso and hips and move the bat in a circular hand path and only use THT or THT be the primary force - especially seen in right handed hitters. Right handed hitters seem to push with the top hand. A-Rod, Big Mac, Sosa, Sheffield.
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> > > > It seems to me that whether you are predominatly top or bottom hand dictates your strategy at the plate and your strengths in terms of pitch location. Mike Scmidth in his book talks about being able to be and do BOTH. Is that possible?
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> > > In watching Epstein's tape and what he does with his student, it seems as though the emphasis is on top hand push/extension - at least that is what Brandon (the student) -- rather than BHT which is what Mankin and John do with their students. BUT when I watch John's swing (the guy from the Astros), it looks like he has a lot of push with his top hand, even after he iniatiates THT. It was funny to hear that the Astros taught linear mechanics to this guy while he was in their system. I have followed the Astros for a long time and they have never been able to hit.
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> > > From watching major league hitters, it appears to me that the ONLY one who is predominantly bottom hand is Bonds; Jeter looks to be linear (inside/out swing). Have any studies been done to indicate which model is best; the top hand push or the bottom hand torque on the same batters using different points of emphasis?
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> > I disagree with your analysis of Bonds. The word predominant is what I don't like. He is very able to tighten the hand path to hit the inside pitch and keep it fair but I don't see bottom hand dominance in his other swings
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> How does he tighten the hand path? I presume with the bottom hand.
> On most of his swings, his hand path is pretty tight. Probably the reason teams do the shift on him.
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> On the swings you do not see bottom hand dominance - what exactly do you see. What does he do different that does not make him bottom hand dominant? Bonds seems to tighten the handpath by how much bend he sets up in the front elbow when he forms the box in the tht portion of the swing prior to launch.Look for a contact shot of him hitting the high inside fair homer,and the front elbow stays very bent through contact.

Other hitters arc/shorten the swing radius by pinching the front shoulder blade at or after launch(Piazza for one).

More subtle ways may have to do with a shift of the axis of rotation at or after launch,but this is very hard to analyze with video(?may be inferred from head action?).