Posted by: Gym Teacher () on Sun Oct 29 22:30:15 2006

> >>> Pardon my audacity...
>
> This site teaches that the lower body powers the upper body, yet this site is imbued with cues preaching the inverse. Such convolution between research and practicality amazes even me. It is also made clear that no weight should shift during rotation; however, on "The Final Arc II," John Elliot's weight shift onto his front foot is duly noted. Are not these elements self-contradictory?
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> One must remember that people are wired differently. While emphasizing shoulder rotation might have the desired effect for certain individuals, focusing on hip rotation will assist others developmently.
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> There is much more to say, but I will leave others to digest these thoughts. <<<
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> Hi Hitherto
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> Welcome to the site. – A major problem in discussing the mechanics of the swing is how one defines the term being discussed. In your post, it appears your definition of “weight shift” is based on which leg is responsible for supporting the body’s weight. This interruption of weight shift would say that since the weight on each foot is fairly even at initiation, but at contact most of the weight is borne by the lead-leg means that there is a forward shifting of the body’s weight from back to front.
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> You are correct in saying that at contact most of John’s weight is on his lead-leg. However, during the swing, John’s body mass is rotating about a stationary axis. Therefore, there was no forward movement of his body’s mass. For him to develop linear momentum to be transferred to help power his swing, his body’s mass must have linear velocity (linear movement of his axis – center of mass) .
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> If wish to say that weight on his lead-leg constitutes a forward weight-shift in his swing, just remember that there was no transfer of momentum to aid in powering his swing.
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> Jack Mankin

Hey Jack,

First timer. You do a good job of telling people that long strides a'int necessary. Your axis is wrong though. For some reason, you think that the back leg is an "L" shape at contact. How can it be? Even in no-strides, which is what I teach, the batter must shift AGAINST HIS FRONT SIDE HARD (also known as pushing off your back leg) against a planted and stiff front leg. This snaps the whip. We wanna have transfer + rotation Jack, not spinning, as hitters (even as commenters say) that the back leg needs to DRIVE.