Posted by: rql () on Sat Nov 24 10:35:46 2007

> > I am having a very hard time getting that firm front leg at contact. As I am making contact, instead of firming up on the front leg, I tend to glide forward and throw all my weight forward instead of firming up and allowing my lower half to rotate. Any drills I could do to help with this? Thanks alot
>
> mike, without actually seeing you swing a bat,for anyone to give you some advice would very similar to me asking you how many fingers am i holding up.. you gotta be able to look at it. that being said, it is my humble opinion that this one aspect of hitting a baseball is not the only thing between you & MLB. if it is, then here's a stab at it:
> it sounds to me like perhaps your stride is too long, which will have the result of diminishing your lower body torque. this rotational theory that is being taught here emphasizes the upper body rotation, which is all well & good.. but it does not address in much detail the untapped power in your lower body, which incidentally is about 3 or 4 times greater than your upper body... & should be utilized to a much greater extent than is endorsed on this site.
> i believe your stance should start out with your feet no more than shoulder width.. this will give you a small solid base, rather than a wider one which will tend to spread out your lower body & diminish your ability to actively torque you lower body & hips.get some bend in your back leg so you are pushing off with greater force...
> then land your front foot, & start torqueing with your back hip.. the way you are doing it, sounds to me like you are top heavy in your motion, with no concern for torqueing your hips..it also sounds like you are opening up your front foot too much.. that is, when you step forward, your foot & toe rotate toward the pitcher. draw a line thru the middle of each foot... both lines should be parallel.. after your stride, they should still be FAIRLY parallel; you should concentrate on not letting your front foot rotate & open up too much. this will allow you to torque more. . the more you rotate that front foot, the less torque you will be able to generate. i would also get a longer spike. which will have the effect of grabbing the dirt better, thus helping you to stop your front foot fromt rotating open.
> good luck... let me know how it goes


>>I agree with george w/o seeing your swing it is only a stab,but that is where the agreement ends,it sounds to me that you are simply having hip sway which is too much weight transfer to front side [head in front of center,this creates flex in lead knee and poor rotation which good rotation is needed in order to have lead leg straight at contact.This often comes from lunging in the stride ,not riding your weight on the inside of rear leg,to try to explain just stride so that your weight stays on inside of rear thigh,think about your rear foot instep is what is carrying the weight while you stride and have this forward movement,the weight must be carried in balance into toe touch so that you begin rotating at toe touch and not allowing any more forward shift of the hips.