Posted by: Joe Hernandez (coach2hit@yahoo.com) on Mon Jun 5 14:40:19 2006

> > > Jack,
> > >
> > > My niece is having difficulty staying back through her swing. She is going and getting every ball with her front knee collapsing. We have been working on the bag and some elementary concepts in rotational hitting, but we are having trouble fixing this problem. Do you think I should have her work on hitting to the opposite field to spell this? Any idea on how to help her understand how not to let her front knee collapse?
> > >
> > > Thanks for your time.
> >
> > Mathew,
> >
> > Hitting with a bent front leg causes a bunch of problems. To begin with, it allows the weight and balance to move beyond the front foot, it promotes head movement towards the pitcher and it will definetly slow down the rotation of the hips. Put this all together and you have a prescription for a slower bat, difficulty identifying pitches and far less power from your lower body.
> >
> > What's important to understnad is that when the front leg collapses or remains bent throughout the entire swing, then there is no "center of axis" from which the lower part of the body can forcefully rotate. This will always lead to a weak swing that if it contacts the ball at all it will always do so out in front of the plate.
> >
> > What you want to accomplish is to make sure that after the front foot lands (softly), the front leg must stiffen to accept the weight transfewr and allow the hips to "fire" open. You still must keep the body loose and relaxed when hitting, but the front leg needs to become "rigid" in order to experience success...this is the only way to control the weight transfer and allow the hips to rotate with force...hence stopping the linear movement...allowing the hips to "snap" with force and keep your head still and your body balanced over the point of contact.
> >
> > I hope this helps...I'm sure that our resident guru Jack Mankin can explain it better.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Does not Barry Bonds hit with a bent front leg?

Hitting Guru,

Are you serious with your question(?). First, the discussion is in the context of addressing a 9 year old and his hitting stance...we can't compare Barry Bonds or use his swing as a model for a youngster at this age to try to emulate.

And no, Barry Bonds does not hit with a "bent front leg". I have over 3 full hours of videos on Bonds swinging hundreds of times, going back 14 years and dozens of photos...none of it shows Bonds hitting with a bent front leg. In fact, that is what makes Barry Bonds such an incredible hitter, he does not waste any motion (collapsing the front knee would be a great waste of kinetic energy) and he capitalizes, like no one else, on the sequencing of kinetic energy produced by his body. His sequential timing is impeccable, his eyes are second to none and he is a very smart hitter. Put it all together and you have arguably the greatest hitter of all times.

However, due to the "steroid" issue and the fact that his body is no longer what it once were, he is no longer able to consistently use his right knee to plant it solidly and use it as leverage to unleash his fearsome power stroke. Hitting against a strong front side, he was able to rip his hands through the hitting zone. His right knee isn't strong enough to now serve him as the foundation for his once awesome swing. As such, you see him now relying more on his hands and arms as his right foot "flies" open or "collapse" as he tries to generate bat speed. Even Joe Morgan took notice of his current swing and compared it to his swing in 2004 during the San Francisco - Los Angeles game on April 16.

Perhaps you have been observing Barry Bonds swing only this year, hence believe that hitting with a bent front leg was Barry Bonds style all along? But like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...so here is a link you, and all other readers that participate in the discussion forum of batspeed.com, can copy and go to..and see for yourself the great Barry Bonds in action, with still shots and video: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/gallery/bonds/flash.htm You can clearly see that he does not hit with a bent front leg. Furthermore, you can click on the analysis provided by Tony Gywnn for further analysis. Enjoy!!

Cordially,

Joe Hernandez