Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Fri Sep 8 12:45:28 2006

Jack-

I am not sure what the actual details are of order of firing of muscles, nor am I sure this info is required for teaching the mlb swing.

I would certainly agree that there should be no "freewheeling" and that too much separation is bad.

Stretching/coiling/"loading" is a total body coordinated thing where the approprate amount and orientation of stretch are prepared.

This preparation/"loading" also importantly appears to include conversion/blocking of linear forward weight shift momentum to jumpstart more active hip turn which contributes to a last quick stretch/separation of the upper/lower halves which Zig calls "xfactor stretch" (measured in golf and hitting) or Nyman calls a loading "cusp".

The body has to "sit"/bend somewhat into toe touch in part because muscles must stretch and continue to stretch with loading. In golf Jones called this the "power squat".

In addition the upper body is resisting the hip turn and preparing for the right spatial swing plane, perhaps most importantly via direction and timing of THT,for example. This enables launch/acceleration to occur far enough back behind the hitter to optimize recognition and shape a swing plane that best matches the anticiated location of contact producing an efficient collision of sweetspot and ball - "good acceleration around the swing plane".

The timing of blocking/conversion and firing of muscles in unison (or without excessive sequential delay whatever that is) needs to blend well to create xfactor stretch in any case for bathead launch to be adequately quick for timing precision.