Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Dec 8 12:07:57 2005

>>> I wanted jacks opinion on the "SPINNING that the angels player talks about.I found my older boy spinninig out on his back foot and struggling with inside stuff.I noticed that when i took my swing from eras ago.lol..that my back foot naturally went forward and didnt stay and spin.I thought it would make for an interesting discussion .Thanks GUYS. <<<

Hi Mark

We could very well agree more than disagree on this topic. It all depends on how one defines "SPINNING.” I have never advocated the “squashing the bug” cue. I do not believe that spinning the back-foot while maintaining a straighter front-leg produces the most efficient shoulder rotation. If one calls this type of rotation spinning – then I am also against spinning.

However, some well known batting instructors have defined “spinning” as rotation about the center of the body (the spine). They maintain that for rotation to be effective, the back-hip must rotate about a posted lead-hip (similar to the rotation in the clip you provided). -- Many of today’s best hitters use the extension of the lead-leg to drive the lead-hip rearward as the back-hip rotates forward. This places the axis of rotation at the spine and the hips rotate evenly around that axis. – If one calls that “spinning”, then I’m all for spinning.

Jack Mankin