Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: ray porco () on Wed Jun 13 18:28:32 2001

>>> Exactly what does it mean to “keep the weight back”?........I have seen some coaches demonstrate this by “sitting” of the back , bent leg, and then so simplistically say, “o.k., now just “wait” for the pitch and drive it”.....I have seen many coaches who could not demonstrate their idea of “keeping the weight back” but would simply say stride and keep 60 % of the weight on the back foot.....but they don’t say at what specific moment in time the weight gets transferred.....I have seen other coaches say in the “coiled” position have 60 % of the weight back and stride by “reaching” the front forward, which effectively means at launch you still have more than 50 % of the weight on the back foot......and the problem I see with any technique that results in more weight on the back foot at launch is that the hitter ends up spinning on the back foot......I would appreciate any and all comments as to your idea of what “keeping the weight back” means to you.....Respectfully, grc...<<<
>
> Hi grc
>
> I think the problem you are having is in defining or visualizing the axis of rotation. For a batter to have equal weight on both feet as he rotates, his axis of rotation would need to be vertical and even between the two feet. But to allow the swing plane to be more inline with the ball’s path (10 to 15 degrees downward), most batters will tilt their axis a few degrees away from the pitcher. WHAT ABOUT A.ROD?

This leaning of the body slightly away from the pitcher will shift more weight to the back foot. But the batter will rotate around a stationary axis (the spine).
>
> For a batter to “spin on the back foot,” the axis of rotation would not be the center of the body. The axis would need to be from the back-foot and up somewhere through the body (not the spine or center of the body). Although the better hitters (WHAT ABOUT A.ROD?)

initiate the swing with more weight on the back-foot, their tilted axis will be from “down through the head and spine, out the butt and into 6 ft of concrete.” --- I think that is the way I phrased it before.
>
> So, part of "keep your weight back" requires not letting the axis drift back to vertical.
>
> Jack Mankin
>
>

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> >>> Exactly what does it mean to “keep the weight back”?........I have seen some coaches demonstrate this by “sitting” of the back , bent leg, and then so simplistically say, “o.k., now just “wait” for the pitch and drive it”.....I have seen many coaches who could not demonstrate their idea of “keeping the weight back” but would simply say stride and keep 60 % of the weight on the back foot.....but they don’t say at what specific moment in time the weight gets transferred.....I have seen other coaches say in the “coiled” position have 60 % of the weight back and stride by “reaching” the front forward, which effectively means at launch you still have more than 50 % of the weight on the back foot......and the problem I see with any technique that results in more weight on the back foot at launch is that the hitter ends up spinning on the back foot......I would appreciate any and all comments as to your idea of what “keeping the weight back” means to you.....Respectfully, grc...<<<
> > 
> > Hi grc
> > 
> > I think the problem you are having is in defining or visualizing the axis of rotation. For a batter to have equal weight on both feet as he rotates, his axis of rotation would need to be vertical and even between the two feet. But to allow the swing plane to be more inline with the ball’s path (10 to 15 degrees downward), most batters will tilt their axis a few degrees away from the pitcher.  WHAT ABOUT A.ROD?
> 
> 
>  This leaning of the body slightly away from the pitcher will shift more weight to the back foot. But the batter will rotate around a stationary axis (the spine).
> > 
> > For a batter to “spin on the back foot,” the axis of rotation would not be the center of the body. The axis would need to be from the back-foot and up somewhere through the body (not the spine or center of the body). Although the better hitters (WHAT ABOUT A.ROD?)
> 
> 
> initiate the swing with more weight on the back-foot, their tilted axis will be from “down through the head and spine, out the butt and into 6 ft of concrete.” --- I think that is the way I phrased it before.
> > 
> > So, part of "keep your weight back" requires not letting the axis drift back to vertical.
> > 
> > Jack Mankin
> > 
> >

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