Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Oct 11 11:11:20 2007

>>> A) When i was at LSU, Arron Hill was a Junior and we talked about the back elbow inparticular. what he explained to me was that no matter who swings a bat a beginner or an expert, the back elbow is going to find the slot above the back hip. this allows the hitter to pull the bat through the zone, and also links the hands to the hips. so, if you start with your elbows relaxed and downwarn, not like moises alou, but not hiked up, your back elbow will get their faster. The next elbow point that i make is tough to explain, so bear with me. I believe that if you keep your front elbow tight to the body, it helps to stay inside the ball. <<<

Hi Tre'

I break swing mechanics into two phases, energy development and energy transfer. Energy development is the lower-body mechanics that generate the body’s rotation about a stationary axis. This provides the energy for the swing. Transfer mechanics are the upper-body mechanics that transfers the body’s rotational energy into bat speed – acceleration of the bat-head around the swing plane.

The key to a high level swing is transfer mechanics that keeps the angular acceleration of the bat-head in sync with body rotation. With good transfer mechanics, the bat-head is accelerated around to contact as the body’s rotational energy is depleted. With poor, or inefficient transfer mechanics, the bat is left dragging 20 to 90 degrees from contact when the body’s rotational energy is depleted. From that point to contact, only the power of the arms is left to bring the bat to contact.

The bottom line is – linear concepts of weight shift and straight extension of the hands do not provide the forces to the bat that keeps its’ angular acceleration rate in sync with body rotation. As I pointed out above, the batter rotates his hips and shoulders to face the pitcher, but the bat is still far from contact. With only the arms left to power the bat, the bat does not attain its’ maximum velocity until well after passing through the optimum contact point. This results in little power to the opposite field and most well hit balls are pulled foul.

Tre’, defining the principles of rotational transfer mechanics that keeps the angular acceleration of the bat-head in sync with body rotation is what this site is all about. However, discussing these principles is far beyond the scope of this post. If you are interested, we can start by discussing why an elevated back-elbow is important with rotational transfer mechanics and not with linear principles.

Jack Mankin