Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Thu Feb 13 05:03:30 2003

Robin, I am glad you have a former MLB player or coach who is working with your girls. That means that they are not learning the "softball" swing and instead have some basic instruction on learning to swing the bat, period. I can see where this instructor would be saying things that are similar to what our research has found. Unfortunately, I am disappointed (not surprised) that the instructor is allowing (or encouraging) your girls to swing a 34 inch bat. I just finished an analysis of several major league players tonight in Indianapolis (current MLB players, not minor league guys). And their swings were almost the worst I have seen. I am talking about two players from good teams (orioles/white sox), who play regularly. (one only hit .210 last year and struggle, while the other hit .270. These players were doing exactly what they were taught. I also took a look at another populer player from Boston's swings which my lab in Phoenix recently analyzed with our full body system, and it is not he most effecient. A player who makes good choices and know how to use their swing (good or bad) can still contribute. The player I analyzed tonight said, "I am an inside, low ball pitch hitter." To which I replied to him, I know, because your swing doesn't allow you to hit anything else. This makes him extremely vulnerable. In less than 10 minutes, we showed him exactly why he had the weakness and now he will begin to work on it. He made a couple of changes and immediately, his swing improved to take away the outside pitch. But we knew exactly what to do.
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> He swung a 33 in 30 oz. bat and he could not control it. But he bench presses 95lb dumbbells and squats over 400 lbs.
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> If your daughter swings a 34 inch bat the centrifugal forces increase the weight of the bat throughout her swing. At the beginnig of her swing swing the bat may weigh 27 ozs, but by the time she gets half way to contact, the weight(feel) of the rotational forces can make the bat feel like it weighs well over 100lbs depending upon her speed and acceleration. Now can your daughter strong enough to support that. If you stand balance with your arms complete relaxed at your side, and begin to twist back and forth allowing the rotational forces to lift the arms, you will get a tingling sensation in your finger tips. The faster you go, the higher your arms go, and the greater the sensation in your finger tips. Also the harder it is to stabilize your lower body. Now take the bat put it in your hands and done correctly, the tingling (weight) shifts to the end of the bat, moving the distributed weight farther away from your center of mass. This forces the body to now have to work 3 to 5 times as hard to stabilize. If your daughter has a significant amount of side bend, this is related to the distributed weight to the end of the bat. I would be very surprised if she did not have a significant amount of side bend based upon your description of her physical characteristics and the way even many MLB players and coaches teach the swing.
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> Does your daughter lean to the inside greater that 15 degrees and if not, how do you know? How did you measure it? Is it and educated guess, did you use Tom House's analysis( and after reviewing that, Thats a whole other chapter). Our analysis is changing the way coaches have to coach. (Chris Estep --Former MLB player and Owner Roundtripper Academy). This guy is recognized as a pretty good instructor, but after spending just one hour with him, he has to change what he was taught and teaches athletes, because (even as an MLB player) he was taught and teaching the wrong things.
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> Please provide me with a few answers.
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> Thanks Robin.
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> Zig
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> Tom,
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> I just reviewed one of BioKinetic pitching analysis of a MLB pitcher, the pitcher received a high score (lots of 8's, 9's, and a 10. I would have rated his mechanics a 4. This was from a November analysis. The player after the analysis blew out is elbow. I am not sure I can support a program that so grossly missed this athlete's flaws.
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> Who should I contact again and why?
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> Thank you..
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> Major Dan, After spending the week in Indy, Not getting to New England area until the spring thaw. :-)
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> Let me know.

ZZ-
I don't understand what you mean here -
"If your daughter has a significant amount of side bend, this is related to the distributed weight to the end of the bat." side bend in what direction? Are you saying that the hitter tilts their axis of rotation to compensate for the forces of the bat? Please explain.

When you know your New England schedule, please let me know. My email address is on all my posts. I'd be very interested in doing something with you.