Posted by: grc () on Fri Aug 19 19:25:15 2005

> >>> what does it mean?
>
> yes, i know most of us have our own personal interpretation of what it means, including myself, but i would be interested in the other interpretations out there...
>
> specifically i am interested in how much weight on which foot at what point in time, and the reasoning for this particular weight distribution.....for example, some coaches advise 60 % back foot, 40 % front foot at launch position (and even launch position to one coach is front toe touch and to another coach is front heel plant)...and the reasoning?...some coaches reason that this creates more "wight transfer" from "back to front"..i have questions/issues with this notion alone...
>
> imput greatly appreciated... <<<
>
> Hi Grc
>
> Good questions. I also would find it helpful to have a clear definition of “weight shift.” If the batter takes a short stride but the center of his body mass remains stationary (zero forward velocity) through rotation, was there a forward weight transfer? Since momentum is the product of mass with velocity, there would be no momentum to transfer if the velocity is zero. – Or, is “weight shift” just to indicate which leg is most responsible for supporting the body’s weight at different points of the swing?
>
> Jack Manklin

thanks for the response, jack, and i would welcome comments from others as well...in the meantime, speaking of weight transfer, what does THAT term exactly mean?...i have heard some coaches say "stay back" so you can have more "weight" available to "transfer" to the "frontside"...they seem to think that the more weight there is to transfer the more power the hitter will have...but taken to an extreme, one could, at launch position have 90 percent of the weight on the backside and therefore have more "weight" to "transfer to the frontside, and yet all the hitter would be doing is spinning on his back foot...and of course the other extreme is > 50 percent of the weight on the front foot...

i have concluded that probably close to a 50-50 weight distribution is right, not because transferring x amount of weight means y amount of power, but because perhaps of what you just stated: "Or, is “weight shift” just to indicate which leg is most responsible for supporting the body’s weight at different points of the swing?"......or perhaps instead of/or possibly in addition to what you said it is simply a balance issue....

again, additional comments from all would be greatly appreciated....