Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Jimmy () on Sat Feb 23 13:41:16 2008

> >>> Thanks Jack,
> I want to make sure I'm getting the point here.
>
> If the pitch is outside the top hand will dominate the swing? Is it a later release of the top hand, along with an extension of the front arm?
> From the videos it's obvious that the body positon remains the same regardless of location.
> The outside pitch must be hit deeper in the zone too... is this right? <<<
>
> Hi Willy Boy
>
> I think it can be misleading to think of the top-hand as being dominant on outside pitches. Even on outside pitches, to apply maximum torque at the handle, the bottom-hand must apply a pulling force at the knob as strong as the pushing force of the top-hand. It is important to note that the wider the hand-path, the greater the load on lead-shoulder rotation to maintain a given angular displacement rate of the hands and bat. However, for a given angular displacement rate, the wider the path, the greater the bat’s angular velocity. This is why some of the longest homes occur on outside pitches.
>
> Willy, as I pointed out in the video, any extension (or straightening) of the lead-arm should occur during initiation. The un-flexing of the arm approaching contact produces weaker results. – The release of the top-hand occurs after contact and therefore has no impact on ball flight.
>
> You asked, “The outside pitch must be hit deeper in the zone too... is this right?” – The short answer is “no.” I do not advocate hitting outside pitches deeper in the zone. In the video, Mark did make contact farther back on that particular swing. However, many of the best hit outside pitches are pulled. This requires the bat to be rotated farther out in front at contact.
>
> I teach hitters to hit all pitches straightaway. This means their bat is perpendicular to the flight of the incoming ball at contact. If their timing is a little late, the bat is hit to the opposite field – a little early, the ball is pulled.
>
> Jack Mankin

Jack,

So should hitters try to pull sliders breaking away from them in order to have their bat perpendicular to the flight of the incoming pitch?

Jimmy

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Rotational hitting Jack Mankin [ Sat Feb 23 14:11:25 2008 ]

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> > >>> Thanks Jack,
> > I want to make sure I'm getting the point here.
> > 
> > If the pitch is outside the top hand will dominate the swing? Is it a later release of the top hand, along with an extension of the front arm?
> > From the videos it's obvious that the body positon remains the same regardless of location. 
> > The outside pitch must be hit deeper in the zone too... is this right? <<<
> > 
> > Hi Willy Boy
> > 
> > I think it can be misleading to think of the top-hand as being dominant on outside pitches. Even on outside pitches, to apply maximum torque at the handle, the bottom-hand must apply a pulling force at the knob as strong as the pushing force of the top-hand. It is important to note that the wider the hand-path, the greater the load on lead-shoulder rotation to maintain a given angular displacement rate of the hands and bat. However, for a given angular displacement rate, the wider the path, the greater the bat’s angular velocity. This is why some of the longest homes occur on outside pitches.
> > 
> > Willy, as I pointed out in the video, any extension (or straightening) of the lead-arm should occur during initiation. The un-flexing of the arm approaching contact produces weaker results. – The release of the top-hand occurs after contact and therefore has no impact on ball flight.
> > 
> > You asked, “The outside pitch must be hit deeper in the zone too... is this right?” – The short answer is “no.” I do not advocate hitting outside pitches deeper in the zone. In the video, Mark did make contact farther back on that particular swing. However, many of the best hit outside pitches are pulled. This requires the bat to be rotated farther out in front at contact.
> > 
> > I teach hitters to hit all pitches straightaway. This means their bat is perpendicular to the flight of the incoming ball at contact. If their timing is a little late, the bat is hit to the opposite field – a little early, the ball is pulled. 
> > 
> > Jack Mankin
> 
> Jack,
> 
> So should hitters try to pull sliders breaking away from them in order to have their bat perpendicular to the flight of the incoming pitch?
> 
> Jimmy

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