Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Wed Feb 4 13:36:09 2004

Please excuse any multiple posts as I am having some operational errors hitting the wrong keys as I hunt and peck.

Some of the golf greats have cues and observations that may apply fairly directly to hitting.

Jack has done a great service by describing details of the handpath and "transfer mechanics" in hitting which are quite different from golf.

In the case of how the body rotates/coils/uncoils to generate the power to transfer,however,the 2 skills are more similar.The axis of rotation has to be stable and the club must swingout in the power plane "level"/perpendicular to the torso/spine.These body motions are difficult to analyze on video and golf is way ahead in terms of anaslysis,so some golf learnings may help iluminate the rotational swing in hitting.

Both Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan identified the downswing as a particularly important part of the motion with important cues/decriptions of essential details here.The skilltechnologies "xfactor stretch" findings highlight why this is such an important area.They found the coiling and uncoiling that power the swing to have maximum separation well into the downswing,with the rate of coiling suddenly increasing just before uncoiling.

Jones and Hogan made important recommendations about this part of the swing that may apply directly to hitting.

As discussed here before,Jones describes a fix for a common flaw known in golf as "reverse pivot" which is similar to "backfoot hitting" or "spinning" in hitting where the player never gets off the backside.

To cure this,Jones says that the sequence of the swing must be that weight shifts forward,then the hips turn,then the torso turns to start the downswing.

Lau Sr likewise recognized that one necessary fix for pulling off the ball in hitting was to get the weight onto the front foot more,although he did not think that the key to this was in how it could improve coiling and xfactor stretch.Epstein does an excellent job of putting together the fact that body torque to power the swing is enhanced by getting the weight more forward,then creating the last bit of stretch with what he "cues" as the "drop and tilt".

This action works much as in golf.The weight goes forward.The torso stays back as the hips rotate open.The front foot blocks weight shift after the weight has gotten forward transforming some of the linear momentum into rotational momentum that boosts hip turn to maximum velocity/momentum while the tilting of the shoulders(as well as bat turn back toward catcher being underway) assists in keeping the torso closed(in golf a long backswing does much of the work of keeping the torso back during this last bit of xfactor stretch).

The sequence seems the same in golf and hitting.

Jones and Hogan were both trying to maximize power and direction of contact for the full swing.Likewise in hitting,the aim is to make hard contact.The difference in "transfer mechanics" is in part due to the fact that the reaction time of the 2 skills is so different,short in hitting,near infinite in golf.Still,while transfer mechanics/handpath is quite different, the body action of xfactor and xfactor stretch is very similar.

Neither Jones nor Hogan seemd to be exactly aware of the xfactor stretch or when exactly in the swing coil was maximal.Hogan did not stress the importance of the relative timing of weight shift and hip turn,nor did he focus primarily on fixing the reverse pivot.He was more concerned with the plane of the swing.It was well known that the common flaw of "coming over the top" and slicing were due to the out of sequence ("rushing" in baseball terms)unwinding where the club was turned by premature disconnection/pushing with the arm/shoulders instead of waiting for the coiling and uncoiling of the torso to turn the shoulders and the club.

Another well known cause of "rushing" was releasing or extending the clubhead too soon(premature wrist action) so that the coil was interrupted and the plane of the swing interfered with.

Hogan was well aware of these factors,but in addition to these he made a more detailed observation that may also apply to hitting.He noticed that when you did coil and uncoil well and did swing on the desired plane with maximum power,the hips lead the downswing while the arms and hand passively followed,and in doing so,the plane of the club would automatically shift from a more vertical/upright to a more shallow/horizontal plane on the downswing as compared to the plane of the backswing.

This appears to me to be what happens with a well executed xfactor stretch.With regard to Hitting,this might argue in favor of the preference for the bat being more vertical than the swing plane,then falling smoothly into the more horizontal swing plane as the uncoiling after xfactor stretch pulls the bat in the momentum/power plane.

If the bat is held more horizontal/on plane early,a well executed xfactor stretch at the end of coiling may drop the bat past the swing plane and make launch inconsistent.

Check your golf channel and look for the Bobby Jones backswing episode(hosted by Byron Nelson) and the Hogan swing presented by one of todays best instructors (?McClean ?).