Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Jan 20 13:16:53 2012

>>> I have been working with my son on Jack's techniques, and I have been struggling
with THT. He continually accelerates the bat head too far, to the point that the bat
head is well below the hands before initiation. it's as if he does not know when to stop
the rearward force of his back forearm.

His personal hitting coach does not agree with these teachings, and his strength
trainer is no help. How for to can I get him to properly use THT?

He is 8 years old btw <<<

Hi Ron

An overhead view of the swing shows that the bat arcs through about 210 degrees from the launch position (barrel pointing in the direction of the shortstop) around to contact. Note that the first 120 degrees of the bat's acceleration is rearward toward the catcher and then 90 degrees to contact. THT is a mechanic maximizes the bat's rearward acceleration.

Some batters have the bat cocked forward in front of their head as they address the pitcher (Bonds as an example). This means the bat accelerates another 50 or 60 degrees just to get to the launch position. I refer to this mechanic as PLT (Pre-Launch-Torque) because it is basically driven by the hands and arms prior to body rotation.

THT and PLT can generate great bat speeds and power when performed correctly. However, there are a number of negative results that can occur if performed incorrectly. Below are posts from the Archives I suggest reading on this topic.

Batspeed Mechanic

PLT & the Swing Plane

A-Rod's slump & the Swing Plane

Jack Mankin