Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Feb 7 13:29:41 2003

>>> Also compare this to Bonds who does take a (2 piece) stride. His upper body stays forward as it is in the stance while he brings the stride foot in and back. This starts the center of gravity shifting forward which he controls precisely as the swing proceeds. Then he goes on to cock the hips, stretch, separate ,launch, etc with the axis set at launch. <<<

Hi Tom

Just for clarification. On many of his swings, Bonds’ axis actually fades 3 or 4 inches away from the pitcher. Therefore, his body mass is shifting backward not forward as the swing proceeds. Because of swing dynamics, the pressure for supporting his mass is transferred mostly to the front leg. For calculating the development of linear kinetic energy, should we consider this transfer of support (to the lead-side) as a positive or a negative weight shift since his mass is moving in the opposite direction?

Jack Mankin