Posted by: grc () on Wed Nov 26 07:37:12 2003

It seems it is hard for me to understand how to start my lower body, (ex: pivot, thigh, etc.) I do know for a fact that the lower body starts the swing. Also people say to start the hands after the lower body, but when? Don't they both start at the same time? It's hard to understand the sequence of the lower body/hands. I hope the Final Arc Video will clear all this up.
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> > Hey G,
> Here's a trick that made the light bulb go off in my daughters head when we were fine tuning the hip rotation/hands back sequence.
>
> Have someone stand behind you as you are in your stance, preferably more towards the bat side. as you stride into your swing your hands are being brought back to the armpit level on the inward turn and scapula contraction. head is absolutely stationary(if you're getting head movement too much inward turn and not enough scap contraction) sorry that's not the point of this post. OK, at this point your friend grabs and holds your hands(best to do this in semislow motion) and at heel drop your hips start their outward turn. they then connect with the torso and progress up to the shoulders. however your friend has a hold of you hands and you'll feel the shoulder's rotation pull on your hands that are being held stationary. the pull on the hands is created by the rotation of the shoulders if you are using proper transfer mechanics... this is why coaches tell you to keep your hands back, but they never show you how. by having your friend hold your hands many times you'll get into a rhythem of the heel, hips, torso, shoulders, hands. the shoulders will now POWER the hands into the circular hand path. at NO time are the hands being pushed towards the ball... well on the outside pitch, but you get the picture.
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> I'd suggest that this is as an important part of the swing as there is. because once you launch there's not too much you can correct after that. hope this helps, Rich
> P.S. don't let this drill create a hitch in the swing where the friend holds your hands. after you get the "feel" smooth it all out into a smooth, loose, ever accelerating powerful swing!!! go for it.

G....you said " It seems it is hard for me to understand how to start my lower body"......this is a common problem...most people understand that the hips go first, but the problem is HOW....it is a problem because you can't go in the batters box (games or practice situation) and comsciously "tell" your hips to go first......this is because at the moment your mind thinks "swing" it is a natural thing that the first movement will be with the hands...

what you need is a mechanism by which the hips are "forced" to go first (actually be ahead of) the hands....this mechanism is a sufficient amount of inward turn and bat cock.....if you have both of these elements in your swing, at the moment of decision your hands will start and so will everything else...

however, the hands will not start FORWARD immediately....at decision time, when the hitter thinks "swing" the hands will start as well as the rest of the body...however, the hands, with sufficient bat cock will not start forward...they can't, because with bat cock they are physically restrained from going forward .....they can't go forward until the bat is UNCOCKED...

so, without the hitter needing to think about lower body or anything else, at decision time (thinking "swing"), the bat starts uncocking & the hips start rotating...in the process of uncocking the bat has no available path in which to go except towards the catcher & the hands into a circular path...by the time the bat is uncocked (this process takes about one frame)the heel has landed and the hips have rotated anywhere from 15 to 25 degrees on average (this is epstein's "torque position"....

the problem with epstein is that he thinks achieving the "torque position" has to be trained, whereas in reality it will be achieved without even having to think about it if you have sufficient inward turn and bat cock...

any drill that focuses on trying to make the hips go first is futile, because the initial, natural reaction of the body at decision time is to use the hands, not the lower body...afterall, the bat is attached to the hands, not the hips...therefore, to repeat, you must have a mechanism whereby at the decision to swing & the hands start movement, the body is in a position whereby the hips are already slightly "ahead" of the hands.....that way when the hands start backwards (uncocking) the hips start turning (and without having to consciously "telling" the hips to start turning).....