Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Oct 9 11:48:27 2007

Hi Tom

Thank you for your thorough dissertation. As I expected, I find little difference in our positions on PLT mechanics. You place a greater value on “tilt” than I, but I agree it can be contributing factor in some hitter’s mechanics. Where we do have major disagreement is with the dynamics of the swing itself once PLT has sweep the bat into the swing plane and the swing is being fully initiated.

I think our main disagreements can be illustrated by discussing two statements you made.

# Your first statement -- “Swing quickness will degrade if you try to actively turn the shoulders or turn everything together.”

I contend that during the “inward turn,” the lead-shoulder rotates about 30 degrees inward past the alignment of hips, which provides the stretch or “x-factor.” Once the “Go” determination has been made, all muscles of the legs, hips and torso are firing to induce shoulder rotation.

The reason hip rotation leads shoulder is not because the batter is intentionally delaying shoulder rotation. The reason shoulder rotation lags behind hip rotation is due to the added work load of overcoming the inertia of the bat from being accelerated (especially its rearward acceleration). However, for much, if not most, of the swing, the hips and shoulders are rotating at the same time (in other words “together”). – I have often made the point that value of hip rotation is its contribution to shoulder rotation

# Your second statement -- “The focus needs to be on turnng the hips and handle, mainly the handle, not the shoulders.”

You opened your post by saying that you think in both mechanical and biomechanical levels. I found this interesting in lieu of your above statement. How energy is transferred from the rotating hips to the bat is a biomechanical process. This energy cannot just jump from the rotating hips to the arms or bat and thereby bypass the shoulders. The energy from hip rotation must be biomechanically transferred upward to induce torso rotation, which induces shoulder rotation which induces the accelerating the arms, hands and bat. – Once again, the value of hip rotation is its contribution to shoulder rotation.

Jack Mankin