Posted by: Jeff (kidd@islc.net) on Thu Dec 23 19:54:19 1999

Hi Jack,

OK, I see your point now.

I was, however, thinking of w/s as something apart from the stride, something more identified by a subsequent push of the rear leg. What's troubling me is that I think it's evident that even the most rotational of hitters shift their weight forward, even if it's to a small degree. That seems to suggest to me that it isn't a useless maneuver, although you could still well be right -- it's useful for a reason apart from creating bat speed. (Do you have any thoughts on this matter?)

Your point about the arrow and the tree is well taken, however, I'm trying to think of the body part that would be analogous to the arrow shaft (the pelvic bone, perhaps?) Also, it strikes me that the tree is unjointed. Let's instead say you attatched a paddle perpendicular to the tree trunk in such a way that it could spin freely around the trunk. If you fired the arrow and hit the paddle, wouldn't that make it spin around the trunk? (I'm not sure my analogy is clear. Another that might work is a turnstile or a mill's water wheel. Or if I were driving a straight path in my car and ran my passenger side headlight into a utility pole -- wouldn't the impact of the crash want to spin my car around the pole and push my rear end to the driver's side?)

I'm thinking to myself as I write this that if my analogy were accurate, w/s could be converted to rotational ... but ONLY if the linear motion were not directed evenly along the hip line. There would have to be a degree of displacement already taking place so that the shift would cause the hip to rotate. After all, if you moved 90 degrees to the side of the tree and shot the arrow at the aforementioned paddle, hitting it on its tip, perfectly in line with the paddle's shaft, I don't think it would spin at all. (Another possibly close analogy -- think of balancing on a ball. So long as you stand in a way that keeps your center of gravity in alignment with the ball's poles, you can stay upright. Shift the weight so that it falls unevenly to any side and the ball wants to roll and cause and you to fall.)

Anyway, like I said, I'm kind of thinking to myself here. (Since I'm posting, I guess it's not exactly to myself any more.) Am I missing something obvious?

Thanks for your patience Jack. Have a great holiday.
Jeff