I hear billion times that you should have quick hands, but the thing is, I don't know how to use them. When do I apply torque on it? Do I pull, push? Should I keep it inside the ball? When do I 'trigger' the hand?
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Since no one is answering (or taking the bait) and since my Son's instructor stresses "hands", I will attempt to shed some light since I do sit and listen during sessions and have done so for many years.
Quick hands and bat speed are not the same thing but they are related.
Quick hands indicate a direct path to the ball in the hitting zone, but also indicates that you are quick to get the club head in motion through use of a trigger so that you are able to launch the club head through the zone as quickly as possible once you have recognized a pitch and wish to "GO".
Torque? Not too sure of what everyone thinks this means, but to me it indicates the point in time during the swing when the top hand "snaps" the club head forward with the "whipping action". This is where strong fore arms and wrists come into play. Bat speed is dramatically accelerated by this action.
The Trigger is a timing issue. Having a trigger is opposed to having a "dead bat swing". You have movement with a trigger, often as noted elsewhere on this forum the trigger is toward the pitcher. Gary Sheffield carries this to the extreme. The issue is; is a bat able to be quicker if it is at a standstill or when it is already in motion. Physics will teach that inertia requires more energy (dead bat) than a "body in motion" (Trigger).
Some players are taught to hit the ball where it is pitched. I know some believe that a great hitter is capable of pulling any pitch remotely in the area of the Hitting Zone over the fence. The approach we take is to take the outside pitch over the fence the opposite way.
As far as pushing or pulling, I guess this is whether you are a pure "hand" guy or a pure "rotational" guy. If you are a hands guy you may be "pulling" the knob of the bat before the top hand takes over and where the wrists and forearms create extension and your lower half ideally has been exploding as well. (Different aspect of your question, you asked about the upper half, a hands hitter does not ignore his lower half any more than a rotational hitter does)
If you are "Pushing" (?) the only thing I can think of is this is a purely rotational method of hitting and not consistent with a whole lot of emphasis on having quick "hands" but maybe a quick bat.
Maybe some others will offer their views as well. Most in this forum are way more experienced than I, but I thought your question was worthy of an interesting discussion.
Quick hands and bat speed are not the same thing but they are related.
Quick hands indicate a direct path to the ball in the hitting zone, but also indicates that you are quick to get the club head in motion through use of a trigger so that you are able to launch the club head through the zone as quickly as possible once you have recognized a pitch and wish to "GO".
Torque? Not too sure of what everyone thinks this means, but to me it indicates the point in time during the swing when the top hand "snaps" the club head forward with the "whipping action". This is where strong fore arms and wrists come into play. Bat speed is dramatically accelerated by this action.
The Trigger is a timing issue. Having a trigger is opposed to having a "dead bat swing". You have movement with a trigger, often as noted elsewhere on this forum the trigger is toward the pitcher. Gary Sheffield carries this to the extreme. The issue is; is a bat able to be quicker if it is at a standstill or when it is already in motion. Physics will teach that inertia requires more energy (dead bat) than a "body in motion" (Trigger).
Some players are taught to hit the ball where it is pitched. I know some believe that a great hitter is capable of pulling any pitch remotely in the area of the Hitting Zone over the fence. The approach we take is to take the outside pitch over the fence the opposite way.
As far as pushing or pulling, I guess this is whether you are a pure "hand" guy or a pure "rotational" guy. If you are a hands guy you may be "pulling" the knob of the bat before the top hand takes over and where the wrists and forearms create extension and your lower half ideally has been exploding as well. (Different aspect of your question, you asked about the upper half, a hands hitter does not ignore his lower half any more than a rotational hitter does)
If you are "Pushing" (?) the only thing I can think of is this is a purely rotational method of hitting and not consistent with a whole lot of emphasis on having quick "hands" but maybe a quick bat.
Maybe some others will offer their views as well. Most in this forum are way more experienced than I, but I thought your question was worthy of an interesting discussion.
Stonecutter,
Watch video on this board of Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Josh Hamilton to see the BEST trigger ever, JMO. Their trigger is more towards 3B or SS instead of toward the Pitcher. IMO, this puts the bat closer to the back shoulder when it comes back and creates more stretch.
I have come to believe (from reading and viewing video on this board) that the hands, forearms and wrists actually rotate in opposite directions to the ball. If you think about which way your top hand would rotate to make your elbow slot next to the body, you will have figured it out.
Watch video on this board of Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, Josh Hamilton to see the BEST trigger ever, JMO. Their trigger is more towards 3B or SS instead of toward the Pitcher. IMO, this puts the bat closer to the back shoulder when it comes back and creates more stretch.
I have come to believe (from reading and viewing video on this board) that the hands, forearms and wrists actually rotate in opposite directions to the ball. If you think about which way your top hand would rotate to make your elbow slot next to the body, you will have figured it out.
