Posted by: Mike Myers (mike.myers@bellnexxia.com) on Mon Jan 5 14:19:02 2004

>>> Shoulders/arms/hands are a unit. If the hands work together they are the engine that drive all of it. One hand is not more dominate than the other, they work as a unit to supply batspeed. My grip is light, but firm to hold on to the bat. Where I'm confusing you is that you equate hands to some sort of wrist flip or snapping wrists V-shaping the swing plane (I think). When I supply hand speed my wrists are passive....the wrists are not thrown into flat, but rather a smooth, gradual roll. Flat hands means nothing to me, it just happens.
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> I'm saying the legs only contribution to hip and shoulder rotation as to support it or put another way....a brace to allow the rotation of the upper half to take place. The hips must engage correctly in the hip sockets for the torso to do it's work correctly. There is no appreciable batspeed gained from the legs.....so the legs provide zero batspeed, but when they try they can certainly create changing spine angles, excessive head movement, distorted views of the ball.
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> Jack....in my opinion....great hitters engage the hip sockets differently than you teach......unless I'm misunderstanding you. Toe touch is balony (I'm not saying you said that)!!!! It's foot strike!! This is why some hitters look excessive with the legs and others are unbelievably quiet......none if it matters if the hip sockets brake the upper half properly. I would not advocate using the legs, but rather how to set the legs correctly.
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> I made this point to you a long time ago, but a great hitter could do fairly well on an ice lake, but a poor hitter would fall as the front foot lands. I set my feet to hit, most don't!
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> I think we're so much a like, but our teaching methods are way different. I would never teach anyone to turn....turning takes place properly when the hip sockets engage correctly. After getting the hip sockets to engage correctly, then we are free to swing with fast arms and hands....which in truth is torso and shoulder speed. However the shoulders will only go as fast as the person swings their hands.....which comes first......the chicken or the egg. In this case the hands are the engine!!!
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> Your thoughts..........I can prove this to you if you come down to SoCal and see me!
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> Yes the top hand works back first, but it is not something that should be taught....it's natural. I think hitting is made way to complicated, but I love the discussion, because I don't think I know it all!
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> Coach C <<<
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> Hi Coach C
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> I disagree completely with your description of how body rotation is generated in the baseball swing. It may have some validity with the golf swing where the hips only rotate about 40 to 45 degrees to contact. But the legs provides a great deal of the energy in the baseball swing where the hips rotate close to 90 degrees and where there is a much greater amount of inertia that must be overcome.
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> You have described your swing, but you have never addressed how your mechanics generates bat speed. Your contention that the hands is the engine that drives shoulder rotation defies not only the laws of physics but my common sense as well. – I think we will just have to agree to disagree and let it go at that.
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> Jack Mankin
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Jack,

I believe Coach's contention is the upper torso and arms, in unison, provide tremendous torque, which ultimately drive loose legs and hips with inertia.

He suggests, by tensing the legs, one can only introduce possible impedance to loose lower swivel motion. Leg action, in this sense, is explained as an indirect result of hip swivel, and small balance tuning.

There is some validity, if one can assert leg muscle power is simply too slow/underdeveloped to assist in hip drive, and that attempts to do so reduce fluid motion.

From my experience, however, the optimal approach is to heavily utilize the massive higher leg muscles (upper thighs and groin). These should -snap- initially. Lower muscles (calfs and ankles) are loose and provide only light balance.

This allows one to benefit from the most powerful leg muscle, while limiting concerns for timing of other loose connected tissue.

(Ideally, if one were fast enough, one could recruit all leg muscles - but transfer timing would be difficult. In order for all muscles to contribute maximally to batspeed, they must be fired and unfired at at high speed, and in a sequence directly related to transfer distance from bathead.)

Regards,
Mike.