Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Nov 3 22:40:15 2005

Hi Jim

Welcome to the site. You made a number of points in post that could lead to interesting discussions. However, I like to focus on one main issue at a time. I chose to address your statement below because I have a somewhat different view than you and other coaches have presented.

You stated; “Another thing I have noticed is that in every clip, during the positive move prior to rotation, the hips ALWAYS move forward farther than the head. This move is, of course, what provides the backward tilt to the rotation axis. This move is not necessarily a function of the stride. In two of my clips, Jim Edmonds and Mike Sweeney both have no stride at all. Yet both had positive linear hip movement measuring almost a foot.”

Jim, I fully agree that due to backward tilt of the axis, the hips are always ahead of the rest of the torso during the stride. But in most cases, I have not found that “the hips ALWAYS move forward farther than the head.” I find that once the axis is set, the hips move forward at about the same rate as the head. In those cases where the hips did move (or cock) more forward was usually due to a posture adjustment (greater axis tilt) for lower pitches.

As an example of the head and hips moving at about the same rate, let us take a look at a Big Mac clip http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/mac03.mpeg . Once we have discussed this clip, feel free to present clips for discussion with more hip slide.

Note: Jim, In order to keep this thread focused, I am starting our discussion as a new thread (Hip Slide).

Jack Mankin