Posted by: Coach Matthews () on Sat Feb 17 19:24:31 2007

Jimmy -

Don't get me wrong I understand that the back foot starts first, but what always works for my athletes is the simple fact of getting the hips through. From a teaching stand point this automatically turns the back foot into the upright position (Heel up).

I have clips of several big league guys and one of my college clients that plays at Dallas Baptist University where they are making contact, the hips are about to finish, and the back foot is only half turned. Granted it does come through after contact, but "squishing the bug" is a term I don't like to use because some literally turn their foot and the heel never comes up. Which causes a shortage in full hip rotation.

I know it's right the way what you are telling me, but it's just easier to get an athlete to rotate his hips, correctly, than to concentrate on the foot itself.

Coach Matthews