Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Thu Feb 13 08:47:37 2003

Dan,
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> Excessive side bend in either direction is related to the rotational forces transferred through to the end of the bat. The best way to understand this is to look at a rodeo cowboy with a lasso> the faster he spins the lasso< the high the rope goes and the more stable, more balanced the athlete has to become. Roping from a horse is hard. Now other than being a former Oklahoma State Cowboy athlete, I haven't done much roping, but I can assure you that it takes great skill balance, coordination to steer a calf while standing on two feet, and even harder to do while riding on a horse. The better the balance and skill of the roper, the stiffer the rope becomes.
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> If an athlete loses their balance to the inside, they will do one of two things. 1) tilt their upper torso to the trailing side until the have given enough to allow the bat to rotate to the other side without pulling them off balance. 2) As the bat is rotating, the majority of their weight will transfer to the inside of front foot and will take a short step with their back foot onto the plate. I am sure you have seen an athlete step on the plate immediately after their swing. this is to regain their balance. This happens when the weight is in the toes (ball of feet or further out in front), and indicates a lack of hamstring, glute, and abdominal strength.
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> An athlete who has and side bend at all to the leading side during after the start of their swing is not swing very hard or is swinging so hard with their weight in their heals, that they are (subsconsciously) preparing for a loss inside. They fix they by drastically leaning the other way.
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> All simple things you can see for yourself. Dan and Robin, I hope this helps. Really take a close look at where your athlete is on or off balance. Give em a little nudge (don't tell them what you are going to do the first time) forwards or backwards on their upper back or front of their shoulders, see what happens. Even let them progress slowly through their swing, and give a gentle nudge away from the plate or towards the plate as the bat nears contact.
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> Zig
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>

Zig-

I would recommend seeing Ron Wolforth of pitchingcentral near Houston.

He has constantly improved his analysis and methods(how many times has House totally changed what he does,at least he apologizes to his previous guinea pigs) and would be a good one for you to check with your studies.