Posted by: Shawn (mariner0324@yahoo.com) on Tue Mar 7 15:29:13 2006

> > **** We have been working on the rotation of the hips and been
> >using words like making a “tiny circle” with the hips and pushing
> >the back lead cheek to the rear. I want him to make the smallest
> >tightest turn of the hips- like a screw. I hope this is right.
>
> Mike, what you do NOT want him to do is to simply spin in place. You want him to drive his energy into a firm front leg, which drives the rear hip around and forward. Think of the front leg as the hinge on a gate, and his rear hip as the other end of the gate that swings forward. Notice that most good MLB hitters have almost no weight on their rear foot as they make contact; this proves they're not spinning in small circles in place.
>
> Hey, at eight years old, if your son is efficiently rotating he's well ahead of most kids, but if he's that coachable, you might as well teach him to do it right.
>
> > All of which is to instill the shoulders and arms lagging behind.
>
> The shoulders shouldn't be "lagging behind" anything; they move in conjunction with the hips rotating. And the arms should be rotating in a rigid fashion as though the hands were connected to the shoulders.
>
> > Question- what is the role of the hands? I still want him to
> >drive the right arm straight like a punch toward the pitcher. >Sorry if this is a post is a mess. Baseball season gets me going.
>
> Glad that baseball season gets you going. Me too. But... and I'm assuming he's a right handed batter --- the absolutely last thing you want the kid to do is move his right arm straight toward anything. That in fact is the antithesis of what this site is about -- it's circular hand paths, baby. The job of the arms is to remain "connected" to the path of the shoulders until the centripedal motion of the hips and shoulders literally rips the hands away from the body. Then, at contact, the job of the arms is to provide a solid brace (rear arm in a power L position) and maybe a little "hook" (bottom hand torque) to let the bathead torque its way around toward the ball.
>
> Mike, it sounds like you're cherry picking ideas from the site but maybe don't have a comprehensive notion of what Jack is teaching here. Very dangerous. He's too much of a gentleman to pimp ... er... promote his "Final Arc" video shamelessly, but it sounds like it's exactly what your youngster needs to get the whole picture. It's perfectly comprehensible for a sharp kid like yours, and after about ten minutes, I'll bet he'll be picking up his bat and taking practice swings in front of the TV and doing the drills, just like my 11 y/o son did. I wish to heavens I had that video when he was 8; he'd be a monster hitter now. (He does okay, but there's a lot for him to unlearn, especially about overusing his hands.)

Mike,

I don't think you have studied Mankin very closely if you want your son to drive the top hand straight forward in a punching motion.

While both are important the top hand must work at the correct time. The bottom hand has a heavier load to carry throughout the swing.

I don't see any problems with creating lag of the shoulders. Just remember that this lag must be well sequenced. It's best to check video on how much lag is being created. I agree with you that the hips start to rotate and the hands stay back creating some seperation or torque in the swing. But, While the hands remain back the back elbow comes down during this seperation, the shoulders may open a little during this time as well.

BHT is the first thing you need to understand. The top hand remains back and it is actually the pull of the front arm that brings the hands forward. The top hand acts as a oar lock affect during this time and is not pushing forward.

I think you need to do some more studying before you move forward.