Posted by: Sweet Steve (Drwinsthry@aol.com) on Tue May 21 20:13:50 2002

OK, so then let me give a bit more detail, then ask a follow-up question to my own original question. When I use this swing (pretty much by accident, as an instinctive reaction to a high inside strike) I notice that my torso, leading arm, bat, and elbow zip around almost like a solid unit, with the leading arm bent pretty much at a constant right angle throughout the arc of the swing, and then extending out (but still, as noted, without the wrist rolling or breaking) only after contact. I can't vouch for this--and remember, I'm a lefty--but my impression is that when contact occurs, the bat-head is still dragging somewhat through the zone, such that I'm technically inside-outing the ball, but NOT REALLY (in an overall sense) because my torso has rotated so far around that I'm actually almost square to the first baseman at the instant of impact. Btw, this can be murder on the elbow (I'm 52), especially if you miss the pitch, because eventually you reach the end-point of the arc at full velocity with the palm still facing down, and I don't think the elbow joint was designed to handle that kind of deceleration. But leaving that aside, I find, as I said earlier, that there is no comparison between the power generated by this stroke, and any other stroke I've used, purposely or by accident, in 40+ years of hitting. Generally these days I top out with warning-track power (our fences are around 325 feet down the line), but I've hit foul balls using this "technique" that not only cleared our fences, but the facing ones on the adjacent field. I also did hit one fair HR last year that we estimated traveled around 425 feet to right-center (it's a wood bat league).

I don't know why, but it has never really occurred to me to try to make this my actual swing. And of course, there are definite problems here in terms of one's ability to stay in the configuration described while adjusting to outside pitches (or even low ones). But speaking in a purely mechanical sense, do you guys--who are far more knowledgeable on these matters than myself--think this is a viable technique to even TRY to build into my overall hitting mechanics? Is there any objective evidence for it? As I also noted earlier, the only pro I've ever really seen do anything like this is Frank Thomas, who appears to have hit some genuine rocket shots with it (although somehow he keeps them fair).

Also, does anybody want to take a stab at explaining what's probably happening here in the context of physics? Aside from questions of torque, could it be that somehow I'm imparting tremendous backspin to the ball by hitting it with absolutely no wrist flexion at all (i.e. the old Ted Williams/woodchopping model)?

Thanks again for all feedback/help. I'm really intrigued by this. Don't ask what took me 50 years!