Posted by: RQL () on Sat Jun 30 18:28:13 2001

I've put in a call to Bogg's to get his take on this matter until he gets back in town this is mine.We cannot clutter the mind with too many thoughts in the box, but we can put a couple in the works before you zone into focus.Now we talk about the front heel then rear knee driving to open the hips but we can't think that in a quick sequence ,we must simply,understand through all the drills and bp that is how the hips fire and work on it until we get the appropriate rotation.Once we get the proper rotation of the lower body and we consider this the beginning of the kinetic chain or the 1st big part of the swing we can say clear the hips and do it on instinct and at the right time.It's like building a house ,if you don't get the foundation right at first the rest makes no difference.now the next area is the stretch area,and though we believe the hips begin to open before the shoulder turn,I think they may start to slowly open 1st,but once you fire your hips even if you check swing the shoulders start to fire in the same circle just a little behind the hips.Therefore I believe that if you can get the proper hip rotation then proper shoulder rotation can often follow in some hitters in a natural way that's so smooth it can be overlooked by some and definitely bypassed in the middle as a cue.Now we get to the end, the throwing of the hands,I think that the feeling of throwing the hands comes from the speed they start picking up from shoulder turn then the torque that you start applying with the hands and forearms makes them feel like they are just flying forward and torque often has alot to do with getting the fat part of the bat on the ball at different angles depending on how soon or slower you start applying it for minor mid swing adjustment.Now once you get a good grasp of what your doing you need to consolidate into simplicity your thoughts,alpha omega ,beginning and end ,hips and hands and the swing is on auto pilot.Can you teach kids this way and mess them up,sure if you don't know how to teach the whole swing ,it could make them linear as you fear but actually it's simplifying a technical chain of events for those who are aware of it all.