Posted by: Andy (aproctor@ix.netcom.com) on Sat Feb 2 04:28:14 2002

Jack...as you've said before, the hips serve as the "engine", that when linked properly to the torso, create the energy transfer. The simple test. Test 1...kneel and throw with your arm out front while isolating your elbow with your non-throwing hand (the wrist flip drill)...then stand and throw as you normally would...it is obvious where the energy comes from...Test 2, hit a fungo while kneeling...then stand and hit one as you normally would...again, the legs and hips are the source. As for "separation", I have noticed in Tom House's biomechanical .avi's as well as your graphics of Sosa and Griffy, and in the classic sequence of Ted Williams in the "Science of Hitting" that the foot lands "open" at about 45-75 degrees but the knee and hips remain closed until the swing is initiated. After the stride, the graphics illustrate the knee and hips opening and the torso following. Schilling does the same as does Clemens in the still photos in The Pitching Edge. Thus the foot must be open to some degree to allow the skeleton and joint system proper range of motion...but the knee and hips can be closed until launch (within the range of motion of the skeleton defined by the foot placement). As for degrees of separation between the torso and hips, I would agree that excessive separation would dilute the transfer of energy...and that the tighter the linkage (or less degrees of separation) the more energy will be transfered.

Andy