Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sun Apr 16 23:27:24 2006

>>> If you watch most hitters there is some head movement forward during the initiation of the stride. As the heel plant starts the front shoulder slightly elevates (a process that helps to slow forward momentum of the front shoulder)and the head stops moving forward as the hands begin their forward movement. The hips are now completing their rotation and the motion is more of a hip drive (back hip and knee going towards the pitcher) then a spinning rotation. So at this moment in time prior to getting the bat to come through the hitting zone the back hip is driving forward, the shoulders are rotating on an axis around the spine and the head is remaining still as to allow the most energy transfer to the bat. If the body continues to move forward the energy is distributed over a longer time frame and more distance and thus decreases the energy and speed distributed ot the bat (ie a figure skater trying to spin the fastest must pull everything tighter to the center of gravity to spin faster).

Hip drive allows for more extention through the swing (the opposite is squishing the bug which drecreases exstention because the weight is going backwards once the bat reaches the middle of the body or between the legs ((I want to thit the ball out front and there fore I am losing velocity the time I would like to hit the ball)) and this would be spin out. The shoulders are rotating around a single axis to generate the most power and the head is staying still to assist in hand-eye coordination (try to catch a ball while your head is moving forward).

Then of course there needs to be wrist snap (bht) to help transfer circular hand path created from the previously descibed swing motion to insure maximum hitting potential.


The best view to see this would be an overhead camera in combination to a sideview camera. Maybe a setup for one of my summer projects with my top hitters. I will keep you informed. <<<

Hi Dave

You stated “The hips are now completing their rotation and the motion is more of a hip drive (back hip and knee going towards the pitcher) then a spinning rotation.”

So far, I have made reference to only across-the-plate views of the clips. You mentioned that viewing rotation from an overhead view would be helpful. Let us look at an overhead view of Rose -- http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/Rose.mpeg

Dave, I see the mechanics that drive hip rotation quite differently than you described above. I will give my view of Rose’s lower-body mechanics and the readers can decide for themselves what they see. (Epstein – “Do we actually teach what we see?”)

I see the extension of his lead-leg driving the lead-hip rearward at the same rate the back-hip is rotating forward – just like his shoulders are rotating. I see his hips rotating (or spinning if you wish) evenly around the bottom of his spine as his shoulders rotate evenly about the top of the spine – one axis of rotation.

Jack Mankin