Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Sun Feb 15 11:07:17 2004

A few thoughts.

Think of the swing as Nyman does as a load-unload cycle.

Think of learning the swing from the end back(backward chaining as good
structured approach to motor learning as recommended by Nyman) with the
most important thing being getting approach/contact right then moving back to
get each earlier/supporting part optimized to support the end of the swing/max
speed at contact.

Think of this all important part of the swing as always being BHT,hooking the
handpath whether it's inside or outside.Jack has identified this as the crucial
final link of the swing that best transfers body/torso energy to turn the bat.

The front shoulder pull/unshrug/bottom hand pull/heavy bag is a great way to
instill this feel as encouraged by Jack.In addition,top hand/back arm action
must encourage CHP on approach. Final Arc 2 demonstrates this better than
any other resource.

As you then back up and add the earlier supporting parts of the swing,you
have the chp and prior to this tht at initiation and prior to this pre-launch tht
and prior to this bat cock and prior to this hip cock.

These previous/earlier supporting parts of the swing are the load/unload parts
of the swing where the body is separated and connection created to power
the swing,with connection maintained through contact via chp and bht.

The loading cycle is lead/controlled by torso/back scap/back arm action
beginning with cocking of the hip,then loading of the back scap.In this way the
lower body is loaded,the upper body is loaded and the body coil/torque/
separation(winding the rubber band) is started going into front toe
touch.Primary adjustment for up/down is by degree of bend at waist as you sit
to hit.Primary adjustment for in/out and for velocity is by when the unloading
program interrupts the load.

The load and unload motions overlap.The unloading sequence is triggered
by heel drop after the GO decision.Earlier for inside/fast.Later for outside/
offspeed.Epstein's drop and tilt is a good way tothink of this.When the
unloading starts with heel drop,the back scap is still loading/keeping the
upper body back as the hips are turning open and the bat is turning in the
same direction of rotation(bat and hips rotatingcounterclockwise in righty on
bird's eye view),but bat turns backwards/out of phase,so to speak.This assists
the shoulder/hand unit in staying back resisting the opening of the hips to
create more torso torsion between the hips and shoulders.The handpath
starts "perpendicular to the flight of the ball" with a CHP as the last bit of quick
torsion is created as the hips open faster than the torso.Then the shoulders/
hands are locked to the torso as the torso untwists permitting rapid
momentum transfer.By this time,axis and body posture plane need to be pretty
much set.Most importantly,connection needs to be maintained by avoiding
extension of the handpath radius and the bathead radius. Further fine
adjustments are possible on the approach to contact by how upright the axis
is and by how much you hook the handpath.Thes capabilities are built into
degrees of freedom of muscle control and are largely automatic/made
automatic by adequate practice.

The inside pitch will require early triggering of the unload program.There will
be less separation at this time,then lower load/faster torso turn and shorter
swing radius with more hook of the handpath.With good connection and good
timing of stretch/load/unload,this can get you to contact without being
jammed.Timing should be good enough so if you are just too late,the ball is
fouled straught back,you know you were just a hair late.A little late and you
get backspin flies,a little early and you get top spin grounders.

Whatever your practice cues,you always want to maintain connection/bht and
bht/hook will be more pronounced for inside.I would agree with Jack that it is
easier/better to master this feel for inside,then gradually try to take the same
connected/bht feel to outside.Epstein also emphasizes learning to handle/
make history on inside.

In the outside case,you will trigger the unloading sequence/heel drop slightly
later.There will be more ongoing load/separatio/xfactor by this time.The swing
radius will be slightly longer.The lead arm will be stretched across the chest
more.The load to torso rotation will be greater.Scap load goes on
longer.There is more "THT".Adjustment capabilities are still possible as the
last bit of torso/trunk torsion maxes out and reverses,but in any case,
connection and BHT need to be continued.

For both inside and out it would seem a good idea to think of hitting the same
spot on the ball as well as maintaining connection/bht and maxing out velocity
at contact.Whether this spot is visualized as back of ball or inside of ball or
below equator or whatever may be less important.I would think you should
avoid tryng different contact spots on the ball for different locations and I
would avoid trying to have bht for middle in and not for out.The basic
adjustment has to be earlier in the swing in the relative timing of unloading.

Unload earlier and you turn on the ball.Unload later and it may feel like you
go out and get it,but I would not try to consciously make this inside out
adjustment independently with hand or arm action/"cues" or thinking bht
insdie,not out.This will risk losing connection/decelerating/losing timing for
outside.

"Let the ball get deep" for outside can work in a timing sense(relative delay of
unloading) BUT it is not like the pinball analogy.The "flipper" in the outside
case would actually be a little longer and the torso turns less to contact,but
momentum gets into the bat quickly in spite of less torso turn ( higher load
triggers more momentum transfer) to still make "square" contact/bat angle
favorable so ball can go hard and fair.

Inside mechanics seem more forgiving.Start with mastering them,then
gradually increase your range of coverage without changing basic mechanics
any more than you have to for outside.Even then,outside vs inside timing can
be substantial and it may pay to look in OR out as recommended by
Epstein,unless the situation dictates otherwise.