Posted by: tom.guerry () on Sat Jul 7 06:32:23 2007

Jack, brian, john, batspeed crew -

paradoxically, I would agree with both richard and jack that the shoulders are "bypassed" (richard) and the shoulders turn (jack).

As the excellent new batspeed videoanalysis DVD emphasizes, the key point is that the shoulders keep turning right up until contact as shown in the griffey clip.

to "reconcile" the paradox, i would say it is more accurate to say the shoulders are turned to contact by their connection (using good transfer mechanics) to the unloading torso.

the shoulder action required earlier to participate in getting the torso adequately coiled/loaded however is more of a "tilt" than turn which needs to resist the hip turn/firing open which happens in a more horizontal plane.

the torso load/coil/stretch has to increase until it is completed after "launch" and before "lag" by a last quick stretch which enables the necessary quick reversal for quick "bathead launch". "good torque and transfer mechanics" are required for finishing loading and connecting and unloading.

i would define bathead launch as about when the bathead gets outside the arc of the handpath which is after the shoulders and hands are being turned some, since up until this point, the hips are turning more/firing faster in somewhat different plane, increasing coil.

this increase in torso coil after "launch" and before "bathead launch" requires the last quick stretch or "cusp" which is ruined if the hitter "tries" to actively turn the shoulders. this attempt at active shoulder turn as opposed to active shoulder "tilt" will often be interpreted by the student in a way that interrupts loading and ruins cusp.

this leads to the most prevalent persistent flaw i saw in the videoanalysis DVD which is the failure of the young hitters lead elbow to stay up/point of elbow kept ponting into the swing plane.

the lead arm needs to be rotated so the point of the elbow lines up with the developing swing plane, and the lead shoulder (which jack very importantly points out had to load down and in earlier) has to un-tilt at launch to resist turning with the firing hips to create
the cusp.

without the cusp, there is not efficient enough unloading for the torso to turn the shoulders all the way to contact which is why the elbow must fall out of the swing plane as the arms compensate.

when you teach/learn, it's hard to use a negative cue like "don't turn" or even "keep the shoulder in" you need something positive to focus on doing to fill the vacuum.

Shoulder "tilt" is a good cue which encourages 'bypassing" of the shoulders and keeps them in until the uninterrupted coil with a last quick twist works its way up the torso from the hips and drives the connected hands arms bat. you can not afford to degrade this
connection by active shoulder turn/interruption/loss of coiling cusp.

it is also important that this untilting of the shoulders be timed with still being able to immediately shift weight to the front foot while torso coil is underway.

handle torque is a key to making this happen (prelaunch tht). the back elbow needs to have started down and the front elbow needs to have started to rotate the point of the elbow up abd the weight needs to be going forward as the front toe touches (rotating/
coiling into toe touch)

then you have "tht at launch" which must include retaining the "power V" (or load/coil would be interrupted) and elbow opposite seam of jersey and untilting the shoulders and shifting the weight to the front foot (but not past center/center stays behind weight
bearing portion of front foot).

this will get you good cusp and connection which might feel like you are "keeping the shoulder in there" and not "flying open" or like you are using "hips and hands"/"bypassing" shoulders/ not actively turning the shoulders but let the turning work up uninterrupted
from the hips and "resisted" by shoulder tilt and weight shift.

if this were all somewhat accurate, it should be described somewhere else. as it turns out, it is well described in golf where the coiling/rate of separation and "cusp" are measured as x-factor and x-factor stretch (zig's company). "xfactor stretch"(cusp) relates most directly to better performance, not absolute degree of separation. the last little coil/twist reverses most efficiently to permit quick acceleration and good timing/low timing error.

shoulder turn/bypass are 2 different variations of the golf swing where either one works for hitting the still ball off a tee, see Jim Hardy PLANE TRUTH FOR GOLFERS.

1 plane is active turning of arms with shoulder turn

2 plane is shoulders turning in response to arm swing as hips turn body at same time. this is the old fashioned golf swing where weight shift and the more passive turning action of the shoulders is similar to hitting.

as limited reaction time becomes a factor, only the second approach will work in hitting because the torso needs the coiling cusp to power a quick enough swing. shoulders have to primarily tilt and only secondarily turn (still these are mostly "cues" for feel) to create adequate loading.