Posted by: george stanley (saint_george13@yahoo.com) on Fri Feb 15 20:36:27 2008

> > > i have been "popping" for a while now, where i stride once and then i stride again when the pitch is on the way and my front foot opens up, causing my weight to go forward and be late on the pitch. is this a result of striding to early or just a bad habit, and is there any drills to correct this?
> >
> > HEY LUKE!!
> > THE "DOUBLE CLUTCH" ALA SAMMY SOSA WHERE YOU PICK UP YOUR FRONT TOE AND THEN PUT IT BACK DOWN, THEN START OVER AGAIN IS NOT THE PROBLEM.. RATHER WHATEVER YOU ARE MARKING AS THE POINT IN THE PITCHER'S WINDUP AS YOUR LIFTOFF POINT IS SIMPLY A LITTLE TOO LATE.. PICK AN EARLIER
> > PART OF HIS MOTION AS YOUR KICKOFF POINT .. GOING FORWARD IS A GOOD THING.. THAT'S HOW YOU GENERATE MOMENTUM THAT YOU CAN TRANSFER INTO TORQUE. THAT IS A GOOD THING, AND THAT IS NOT THE REASON YOU ARE LATE..
> >
> > DRAW A LINE WHICH DIVIDES EACH FOOT IN HALF LENGTHWISE.. WHEN YOU PUT YOUR FRONT FOOT DOWN BOTH LINES SHOULD BE PARALLEL.. TO OPEN UP YOUR FRONT FOOT BEFORE TOUCH DOWN WILL DIMINISH THE TORQUE YOUR LOWER BODY GENERATES.. ONLY AFTER TOUCHDOWN WITH YOUR FRONT FOOT CENTERLINE PARALLEL TO YOUR BACK FOOR CENTERLINE SHOULD YOU BEGIN TO TORQUE.. DON'T FORGET YOUR LEGS ARE AT LEAST 3-4 TIMES STRONGER THAN YOUR ARMS... GET THEM IN THE SWING FIRST!! WATCH YOUR LOWER BODY DURING YOUR SWING... IS IS TWISTING, PROVIDING ROTATIONAL ENERGY TO THE UPPER HALF OF YOUR BODY, OR ARE YOU JUST SIMPLY STEPPINGG FORWARD AND THEN FIRING WITH JUST YOUR ARMS & SHOULDERS?? THIS STYLLE THAT IS ENDORSED ON THIS SITE DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE INHERENT STRENTGH IN THE LEGS.. USE THEM TO GENERATES LOWER BODY TORQUE FIRST, WHICH WILL INCREASE YOUR UPPER BODY TORQUE.. KEEP YOUR HANDS BACK, SO THEY WILL BENEFIT FROM ALL THE ROTATIONAL SPEED YOUR ARE GENERATING WITH YOUR ENTIRE REPEAT ENTIRE BODY..
> > ONCE THE PITCH IS UNDERWAY, ARE YOU DROPPING YOUR HANDS, OR DOING A LITTLE CIRCLEHITCH OR DRAWING BACK YOUR HANDS BEFORE STARTING FORWARD? ANY OF THESE POST RELEASE MOTIONS 0WILL DEFINITELY MAKE YOU LATE! REMEMBER ONCE THE PITCH IS RELEASED YOU ONLY HAVE .41 SECONDS (ASSUMING 90 MPH)TO:
> > 1. DECIDE WHETHER TO SWING OR TAKE
> > 2. ACTUALLY SWING
> > 3. GET THE BAT TO THE POINT WHERE THE BALL IS, AT THE EXACT MOMENT IT REACHES THAT OPTIMUM POINT ABOUT A FOOT IN FRONT OF THE PLATE..
> > IT'S ALL ABOUT TIMING.. THE TRAIN LEAVES AT A CERTAIN TIME.. EITHER YOU ARE ON TIME OR YOU ARE NOT.. THAT DOESN'T LEAVE YOU A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT OF TIME TO BE USING A 16" SOFTBALL WINDUP TO YOUR SWING.. RATHER ALL OF YOUR BODY PARTS & THE BAT SHOULD START FORWARD FROM THE GITGO..
> > YOU HAVE MY RESPECT WHEN YOU ADMIT YOU'RE LATE.. MOST HITTERS THINK THEY ARE MISSING PITCHES WHEN MOST OF THE TIME THEY ARE JUST LATE GETTING THERE..THEY ARE UNAWARE OF THE DIFFERENCE.. YOU ON THE OTHER HAND HAVE FIGURED THAT PART OUT. GOOD!!
> > BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!
> >
> > GEORGE
>
>
>
> George,
>
> Your statement,
> "OR ARE YOU JUST SIMPLY STEPPINGG FORWARD AND THEN FIRING WITH JUST YOUR ARMS & SHOULDERS?? THIS STYLLE THAT IS ENDORSED ON THIS SITE DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE INHERENT STRENTGH IN THE LEGS.."
>
> You obviously do not understand what is endorsed on this site. George please stop making statements like that, when you do not know what you are saying.
>
> Graylon

hey gray!

watch some topflight racquetball players, or tennis players ... both sports will teach you a lot about back leg, back hip & back elbow in-tight firing .. if given the opportunity to set up for a powerful kill shot, those guys NEVER EVER strike the ball with their arm extended.. the base is short, the stance is closed, & they start from the ground up with maximum lower body torque delivered from the back hip.. those guys know how to hit a ball HARD & FAST!!
much greater racquet acceleration & endspeed.. they can teach ALL HITTERS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ROTATIONAL MECHANICS...
that statement that you objected to which i wrote is a valid question.. HOW are you to know or WHO are you to say what that guy is actually doing pre swing... unless you ask?!? your logic needs a lot of work... you make a lot of assumptions that are not necessarily true.. for ANY of us to give advice without actually seeing the swing in action is like me asking you how many fingers i am holding up at this moment.. you can't possibly know unless you see what is going on...
i am looking at the model hitter at the top of this page, to the left of the "BATSPEED" logo... if this was my site i would certainly not have that guy as my model...his stride is WAY too long!!! his front foot has not hit the ground, yet his back leg is almost straight... how can you generate any lower body torque with a straight back leg?!?!? or EITHER leg straight, pre-swing ? HUH?!?!?
also. ALL 3 of the hitters shown in the photos in the "swing mechanics" section (i think that's where i saw them) all have too wide bases, & their hands are not anywhere near tight enough as they should be... their feet are outside of their shoulders to far, thus making their pawer base too wide to generate much lower body torque, if any. they are all 3 of them all arms & shoulders... no back hip involvement in the swing prior to firing.. they are flatfooted as well... bad. if you think those are the best stances & swings around, i beg to differ.. also, i am not impressed.