Posted by: Graylon (g_dunc@hotmail.com) on Sun Nov 25 12:30:49 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
> >
> > George,
> >
> > Before I get started let me say that I have never heard Jack say that the upperbody is more important then the lowerbody. Both are equally important. If you just rotate the hips without allowing it to transfer to the upperbody or if you just rotate the upperbody witout creating tourque with the lowerbody it will not be effective.
> >
> > Now about landing with a closed front foot. If you land with a closed front foot you can't generate as much torque with your hips then if you landed with a slightly opened front foot(about a 45 degrees). With a closed front foot the torque you are feeling is in the hip joint and not in the stretching in the mid section. If your front foot stays closed how do you turn your hips? Watch Bonds or Ortiz or just about all of them, when the front foot lands it is opened at about a 45 or more.
> > Now as for a bent back leg so you can push off with greater force. I may be misunderstanding you but... If you push off with your back leg to get started then you will shift your upper body forward. How about landing on a slightly bent front leg with a firmer back leg which wiil allow you to shift some of your weight slightly forward, yes I know that sounds like I am asking you to weight shift linear and I am but just a little(let the hips slide slightly linear). With a bent front knee and a firm back leg your weight will be balanced or slightly forward. As the front heel is coming down and front leg is straightening the back knee should be bending and leading the rear heel off the ground(pulling it up)and driving forward trying to get to the front knee. If this happens you will turn the linear hip slide into rotational power and your weight should shift slightly back because of the straight front leg and bent back knee.
> >
> > I do understand that it is hard to translate hitting in the written word and if I have misuderstood what you were trying to say I apologize ahead of time.
>
> hi gray,
> you know there are so many damn things going on when you swing at a ball that i have found that to try & break it down into 17 different things is just so counterproductive that it makes sense to KISS.
> keep it simple stupid. where do i start?
> how about LOGIC & PHYSICS? these are solid, finite subjects with very little room for deviation from the absolute.. thus there is no negotiation. either you do it one way & it works, or back to the drawing board.. i am not conventional in comparison to most instructors simply because what they are doing does not conform to the laws of LOGIC & PHYSICS.. these should be your weapons of choice.
> i believe in a closed straightaway stance with your hands up as high as comfortably possible, & back as comfortably possible.. from a high position, you will be able to catch up to a pitch up in the zone... to hold your hands lower will leave you vulnerable. with your hands back behind your front shoulder you eliminate the chance of getting hit by a pitch on your hands... SAFETY FIRST.. this happens with frightening frequency in MLB. also from that position you are now ready to go right straight at the pitch.. ONCE THE PITCH IS RELEASED,i do not endorse dropping the hands, using the little circle hitch or drawing back the hands to the discharge positions... YOU DON'T HAVE TIME!!! THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT 85% OF MLB HITTERS DO THAT WILL GUARANTEE TO MAKE THEM LATE LATE LATE!!!...
> a short base means you will have your feet (force drivers)directly under your weight, so it easier to transfer from one foot to the other. draw a centerline thru both feet from toe to heel.. these lines should be parallel... bend your knees slightly, so you can push off your back foot.. YOU MUST GET YOUR ENTIRE BODY GOING FORWARD AT THE BALL!..throwing is like hitting.. you must have forward impetus!!!to just step off toward the ball with no forward force from your back power foot is to rob yourself of the chance to make additional force thus additional power!! a short stride, planting your TOE in pretty much the same position it started..with your hands still up & back, now your are in the launch position... once the front TOE strikes the ground, you are ready to start torqueing, starting at your back leg & hip, still keeping your hands & the bat back, & starting to rotate your front foot open... i do not endorse planting your front foot open... rather closed & let your back side torque open up your front foot... at that point your torque will start your shoulders around which will bring your hands around which in turn will bring the bat around... the last thing you do is rotate your hands & wrists
> prior to contact.. this way you will make far greater bat speed thus making more power.rotating both feet ON YOUR TOES may sound radical but it will in fact generate far more force to your swing.. i do not endorse flatfooted hitting... you should be on your toes at contact & corkscrewing yourself into the ground..(there was a time when ALL MLB hitters were on their toes) & trying to accelerate CONTINUOUSLY throughout the swing..SO THAT YOU ARE STILL ACCELERATING AFTER CONTACT.. very important. sounds to me like you would have the hitter open up before he has hit the ground & generated any torque whatsoever... i think if you hit the ground closed & let your body torque open up your foot & then your hip, you will generate more force than if you open up your foot 45 degrees which will in turn open your hip prematurely, thus robbing you of the chance to generate some additional torque.. barry bonds is a great hitter, but you can't tell me he knows much about LOGIC & PHYSICS.. if you could talk to him & he would listen, there are several things he should change.. yes i dare say he could be better... like all other human beings who are trying to hit a baseball.. he is no different. where he is so good is he is right on the plate so he can cover the outside edge..
> he has a fairly closed stance, but not enough.. where he generates NOT GREAT BATSPEED, BUT THE BEST BATSPEED, is he has his hands in tight, which makes for a tight swing.. which makes maximum bat speed, especially when compared to hitters with their arms extended, which will slow the bat...this is a law of PHYSICS that most hitters do not understand..BUT AS STUPID AS HE IS, HE DOES UNDERSTAND THIS MOST IMPORTANT LAW OF PHYSICS WHICH MAKES HIM THE GREATEST OF HITTERS.. top that off with him getting the mental half of hitting by not hacking at slop... he rarely swings at a bad pitch.. if he had the discipline of juan uribe, he would not be what he is..
> we are pretty much on the same page concerning the weight transfer & leg angles, but i have some diffferent ideas about where the power should be coming from.. i am of the theory that you should be concentrating on generating lower body torque to the upper body & then to the arms & hands in that order...
> remember this about MLB hitting.. due to expansion, there an additional 20 pitchers in the league who should be in the minors.. even with this bononza the MLB player is hitting... . 2 6 0 ?!?!? HUH?!?!? that stinks! so LOGIC tells me whatever theory the hitters & coaches are implementing ain't so hot..
> i believe batting coaches are like 15th century doctors... they are constantly fearful of their position; they are afraid to exchange theory & ideas with others for fear others will find out how little they know... only by keeping their mouth shut can they sustain their status quo.. i have gone to 5 or 6 of the biggest baseball schools in the area,(including the sox camp) bur can't even get a sniff of a job
> interview... even though i don't believe i have ever met ANYONE who has as much knowledge or ecperience as i... very depressing. i guess it's not what you know, rather who.
> hope i made some sense

George,

I hear you say that Bonds can get better and I do believe that everyone can get better but it is truly hard to argue with success.

You talk about "LOGIC & PHYSICS" but I hear you contradict yourself. You said earlier to keep your front foot closed or you will lose TOURQUE, you even went so far as to say get a longer spike to keep from opening your front foot. Then you said you should let your body tourque open your front foot while you stay on your toes. How are you suppose to do that with the longer spikes? I hear knees and hips breaking all over.

Then you say that you should start with a bent back knee so you can push off with greater force. How is that using "LOGIC & PHYSICS"? If I bend my back knee and push with great force I would have to straighten my back leg, that's the only way I can push, which would push me forward. Pushing with the back leg is a slow developing movement.

You say you need to get your entire body moving forward towards the ball and then you say that Bonds is good because he keeps his hands in tight. How would keeping your hands in tight help if I am moving my entire body forward towards the ball? Keeping your hands in while rotating around a stationary axis makes sense.

You say keep your hands up as high as comfortably possible and as far back as comfortable so you can hit a pitch up in the zone and that with your hands back you will be ready to go straight at the pitch. Sounds Linear to me. If I go straight at the pitch with my hands how do I keep them in tight, won't I be extending them? Which you said was bad. If my hands are up and I go straight at the ball how do I get on plane with the pitch? Won't I be taking a down angle to the ball? The hands up or the hands down is all "personal style", which is individual. When the front foot gets down the hands on most of the great hitters will get to the same spot, near the armpits. This is "technique", which is universal. You say that you don't endorse dropping the hands, using the circular hitch or drawing back to the discharge position. What do you endorse starting from a dead stop? Most hitters use the hand movements along with the loading of the body as timing mechnisms and to get there body and hands to the "technique" position.

As to your statement about MLB hitting coaches. I don't know first hand as to how good the hitting coaches are in the MLB, but what I have heard from respectable people that most are not that good. But they're coaching MLB hitters and we're not so they either know someone or they're doing something right or thier players are doing good despite of them.