Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Apr 19 14:33:58 2001

Question/Comment:

>>> I don't see why a frontal view is more important than a side view. In fact, you can view more components clearly from a side view (hands, hips, legs, the width of stance) than from a frontal view, where your view of these components are blocked, IMHO. Just my sentiments. <<<

Jack Mankin's reply:

Hi BHL

When I am doing video swing reviews, I use both the side and frontal views to make my recommendations. The side view provides better information of the batterï¿½s energy development mechanics. I can better evaluate a batterï¿½s stride, knee action and his hip and shoulder rotation. It is also better for viewing the back-arm and lead-shoulder positions at contact.

The frontal view lends itself more to evaluating the batterï¿½s energy transfer mechanics. I can see clearly if the lead-arm and hands are rotated to a good launch position. It also offers a better view for identifying the forces applied to the bat at initiation - does the batter use the arms or body rotation to accelerate the hands? If the batter uses his/her arms, I can observe the lack of shoulder rotation as the lead-arm separates from the body (loss of linkage). These actions are not as visible from the side view.

One of the most important components of a good swing is the quality of the swing-plane. When a hitter is performing at his/her peak, the swing-plane will be flat and true without dips and rises from the true plane. A poor swing-plane will appear as a sine wave because of wrist binds and the batter not accelerating the bat-head into the plane at initiation. --- Although these actions are usually quite clear from the frontal view, I am unable to identify them from the side view.

While charting the swings of professional players, I found that when the better hitters like Bonds, McGwire, Strawberry, Eric Davis and etc. went into a slump, there was an identifiable change in their mechanics. In most cases, the flaw first became apparent in the quality of their swing-plane.

Jack Mankin

Followups:

Re: Re: Front View vs Side View, Jack? Walter Lewkowski [ Thu Apr 24 20:57:34 2008 ]
Re: Re: Front View vs Side View, Jack? thom blinn [ Sat May 21 08:24:25 2005 ]
Re: Re: Front View vs Side View, Jack? devin [ Sun Feb 27 14:18:21 2005 ]

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> Question/Comment:
> 
> >>> I don't see why a frontal view is more important than a side view. In fact, you can view more components clearly from a side view (hands, hips, legs, the width of stance) than from a frontal view, where your view of these components are blocked, IMHO. Just my sentiments. <<<
> 
> Jack Mankin's reply:
> 
> Hi BHL
> 
> When I am doing video swing reviews, I use both the side and frontal views to make my recommendations. The side view provides better information of the batterï¿½s energy development mechanics. I can better evaluate a batterï¿½s stride, knee action and his hip and shoulder rotation. It is also better for viewing the back-arm and lead-shoulder positions at contact. 
> 
> The frontal view lends itself more to evaluating the batterï¿½s energy transfer mechanics. I can see clearly if the lead-arm and hands are rotated to a good launch position. It also offers a better view for identifying the forces applied to the bat at initiation - does the batter use the arms or body rotation to accelerate the hands? If the batter uses his/her arms, I can observe the lack of shoulder rotation as the lead-arm separates from the body (loss of linkage). These actions are not as visible from the side view. 
> 
> One of the most important components of a good swing is the quality of the swing-plane. When a hitter is performing at his/her peak, the swing-plane will be flat and true without dips and rises from the true plane. A poor swing-plane will appear as a sine wave because of wrist binds and the batter not accelerating the bat-head into the plane at initiation. --- Although these actions are usually quite clear from the frontal view, I am unable to identify them from the side view. 
> 
> While charting the swings of professional players, I found that when the better hitters like Bonds, McGwire, Strawberry, Eric Davis and etc. went into a slump, there was an identifiable change in their mechanics. In most cases, the flaw first became apparent in the quality of their swing-plane. 
> 
> Jack Mankin

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