Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Nov 1 20:13:20 2005

>>> The best weight shift approach I have seen is from Bobby Jones in golf. He studied
highspeed motion pictures and had a background in mechanical engineering (Ga. Tech)
among many other qualifications.Much of this applies to hitting. For starters:

Points of emphasis:

" The man with a faulty swing ties himself up so that a smooth stroke becomes impossible.
The expert swings smoothly because his successive positions are easy and comfortable,
and are such that the movement from one to the other is not hampered by unwilling
muscles. The average golfer does not swing smoothly because at some stage he creates a
condition that makes it easier for him to move in the wrong direction than the right
one.........The two danger points are at the start of the backswing and at the start of the
downstroke...."

Weight shift/how weight is carried on feet beginning in the stance/setup:

"......a preponderance of the weight must not be on the right [back] foot. There should be
an approximately equal division of the burden, but if either foot is to carry more,it should
by all means be the left [front] foot. Regardless of what is said by those who like to talk
about swaying, it is necessary in order to swing easily and rhythmically that there be an
appreciable shift of weight backward to the right [back] foot in taking the club back and
forward to the left in striking the ball. This cannot be done if too much weight rests upon
the right [back] foot at the start."

Weight shift during swing:

"...he must get his weight behind the stroke if he is going to hit the ball correctly.

" Hitting the golf ball is like hitting anything else in that it cannot be hit hard or efficiently
if it is behind the striker. He cannot reach back and get it without sacrificing a world of
power. When a good swing starts down, everything ought to move together toward the
ball. The left heel should come down, the hips should shift forward,the arms and clubhead
should move with the rest. If there is one single part of the mechanism moving in another
direction, setting up a counterforce and partially overcoming the force directed toward the
ball, then the stroke will be inefficient. less powerful than it ought to be.

" This should not be hard to understand. No one would attempt to throw a baseball while
reared back on his heels or deliver a right uppercut while stepping away from his foe. Why,
then, should he fling his left foot at the water bucket when he tries to hit a golf ball ?" <<<

Hi Tom

As you and I have discussed before, I understand there are many similarities between the golf and baseball swings. But there are more than enough differences in the dynamics of the two swings that it is infeasible to say that because a certain hip, leg and heel action works for golf, it should also be recommended for the baseball swing.

As an example: You state, “When a good swing starts down, everything ought to move together toward the ball. The left heel should come down, the hips should shift forward, the arms and clubhead should move with the rest.” -- I cannot speak of Bobby Jones’ mechanics, but of the golfers I have studied, there is no heel drop to initiate rotation. They keep the heel down and planted from the back swing to the down stroke. Since they only rotate the hips 45 degrees to contact, they do not require flex in the lead-leg as baseball players who rotate their hips close to 90 degrees.

But let us set golf aside for a minute and address weight shift as it pertains to the baseball swing. – I think we all agree that as the batter sets his axis angle (about 10 to 15 degrees - not recommended for the golf swing) greater weight is placed on the back-leg. Even if the batter stands erect, an inward turn of the shoulders will still cause more weight to be on the back-leg – And during the swing, even though the axis remains fixed the dynamics of rotating the body places greater weight on the lead-leg. I assume that you consider this to constitute a weight shift.

But you also state, “This should not be hard to understand. No one would attempt to throw a baseball while reared back on his heels or deliver a right uppercut while stepping away from his foe.” – Tom, we do understand that unlike a pitcher’s axis that whips forward while throwing a ball, the baseball swing axis remains stationary and tilted rearward. So the forward shifting of weight of throwing a ball is not present while swinging a bat.

Jack Mankin