Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Thu Jan 24 08:02:38 2008

Jack -

I would say that the torso is rotated by the hips.

The shoulders are considered as primarily the scaps.

The scaps influence the twist of the torso and the setting of the spine angle that the torso
rotates on.

The scaps do this by tilting/resisting the torso turned by hips and then locking onto the
torso when it untwists.

This is part of minimizing the arms as a lever/link in the chain.

Arms are for supporting handle torque and working between forearms and shoulders and
retaining string tension/chp and for triggering synch of lower body leg acion which sets
limits within which hips can turn.

TO have a short quick swing, it is like the flywheel is the torso and the lead arm connects
to it so when the torso rotates/unloads, the point of connection is the front elbow.

This then uses handle torque and chp for transfer from the rotating torso.

The handle torques without unhunging the wrists early.

The CHP must be retained at the lead elbow level.

Handle torque is applied as you start the "rotate the heel/rotate the bathead", BUT the first
part of this "running start" (creation of coil/x-factor) is preparing for the last/controllable
bit of torso coil/load/twist during the "drop and tilt" at which point the shoulders/scaps
are tilting and the hips moving in a way that creates the stretch and fire of the bathead
with the right timing/direction of unloading and the right orientation of the connected
lead elbow.

Lead elbow is locked with scaps as they lock on to torso after tilt.

So it is like you are throwing the bathead by torquing the handle while the lead elbow is
the point of conection for transfer demanded by how handle is torqued.


Now it might sound like making a distinction between torso (ribs/sternum/clavicles vs
shoulder (scaps) rotation is arbitrary, BUT from a "feel" point of view, if you try to rotate
the shoulders actively, you force drag and involvement of the arms in the chain becasue
trying to turn the shoulders OR "everything together" results in forcing the arms to turn in
response to the scaps which prevents early batspeed and late adjustment.

The cues tend to work the same way in golf where EITHER shoulders can turn OR hips can
turn torso in 1 vs 2 plane swing patterns.

In mlb, you have to turn the HIPS while the handle is torqued primarily by forearm action
with the scaps/shoulders controlled by feel in hands so that the shoulders/scaps are
resisting which is therefore "BYPASSING" the scaps as factors in trying to actively turn the
arms.

When the bathead launches/torso unloads (x-factor/stretch reverses) its more like the
lead elbow is attached sticking off the torso, bypassing the shoulders. The the lead elbow
has to retain at least a CHP to the center of torso rotation (somewhere between spine and
lead shoulder).