Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Jan 16 15:45:10 2004

Nice to debate on this site again. I read some posts near the end of December 2003 where you stated that the heel drop--and not the turning of the front foot--was primarily responsible for initiating hip rotation. If this is true, why does a person have to begin with their front foot closed, and pivot it? Would it not make more anatomical sense to just open it 90 degrees, and drop it straight down (we are assuming that a person has also tucked the front shoulder under his or her chin) to initiate hip rotation?

Hi BHL

I think Donny’s comments were right on target. -- The stipulation you added, “(we are assuming that a person has also tucked the front shoulder under his or her chin)” is a key factor in why I like teaching a student to land with the foot more closed and rotating the foot open to initiate the swing.

One of the Absolutes to generating maximum bat speed by contact is that after the “in-ward turn”, the hands must stay back at the back-shoulder during initiation. I refer to this as “Hiding the hands” from the pitcher in the launch position. I noted while doing hundreds of video swing analysis of young hitter’s swings, that there was a definite correlation between how open the front-foot was at toe-plant and how far the hands pre-maturely opened before initiation.

After pointing this out to the students with a frame-by-frame analysis and recommending they land more closed and rotate the foot open at initiation, those that I reviewed again later showed much improved performance. I am not saying that a batter cannot keep their hands back while striding to an open foot – but I am saying it makes it much more difficult.

Jack Mankin