Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Mac () on Fri Jan 10 13:48:28 2003

> In the title of his video, Mike Epstein asks: “Do we teach what we really see?” Coach C has inadvertently added a corollary: “Do we see what we really see?”
>
> Coach C says that Epstein students learn and exhibit “spine tilt, chicken winging, snapping the wrists and hitting the ball 2 feet in front of the lead foot.” My 11-year old son is an Epstein student. They worked together for 7 straight days and I was with him throughout. To wit:
>
> Spine tilt: Epstein does not encourage this, but instead instructs his students to slightly dip the back shoulder and sit on the back leg. In fact, in his lessons with my son he continually made the distinction between leaning back and sitting straight down on the back leg. As Tom Guerry has pointed out this is a difficult thing to learn for a young person – they tend to lose their balance at first. But Mike stresses doing it properly – sitting, not leaning, and not excessively arching the back.
>
> Chicken winging: This is a bit of a misconception. As the well-informed rotational advocates on this forum know, the purpose of firming the front leg is to block further forward (linear) movement and thus enable the power generated by the body’s torque to rotate around the axis of the spine. This does not happen until heal drop and Epstein recommends some flexion remain in the leg. He actually cautioned me to be certain my son didn’t over straighten the front leg because it could limit the flexibility in his swing.
>
> Snapping the wrists: Huh? Where does Epstein teach this? This one completely baffles me because it is so far afoot from what he really teaches. In fact, I don’t remember ever hearing the word wrist in Epstein’s instruction. The one cue that he does use for the hands is “scooping sand” as a way of teaching how to work the front elbow up. But snapping the wrists? Puh..leese.
>
> Hitting the ball 2 feet in front of the lead foot: Huh? again. I have never, ever heard this from Epstein. Like Jack, Mike teaches the importance of letting the ball get deep. He points out that rotational hitters have a better chance of adjusting to off speed pitches precisely because their weight is not shifting forward. Consequently, they have a better shot at taking a breaking ball to the opposite field by letting the ball get deeper.
>
> It is one thing to criticize what someone actually teaches. It is another to attribute to someone principles that he does not espouse. I think Coach C needs a few more rounds in front of the video monitor.

>>>Steve, Very good post. Mac>>>
>
>

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> > In the title of his video, Mike Epstein asks:  “Do we teach what we really see?”  Coach C has inadvertently added a corollary:  “Do we see what we really see?”
> > 
> > Coach C says that Epstein students learn and exhibit “spine tilt, chicken winging, snapping the wrists and hitting the ball 2 feet in front of the lead foot.”  My 11-year old son is an Epstein student.  They worked together for 7 straight days and I was with him throughout.  To wit:
> > 
> > Spine tilt:  Epstein does not encourage this, but instead instructs his students to slightly dip the back shoulder and sit on the back leg.  In fact, in his lessons with my son he continually made the distinction between leaning back and sitting straight down on the back leg.  As Tom Guerry has pointed out this is a difficult thing to learn for a young person – they tend to lose their balance at first.  But Mike stresses doing it properly – sitting, not leaning, and not excessively arching the back.
> > 
> > Chicken winging:  This is a bit of a misconception.  As the well-informed rotational advocates on this forum know, the purpose of firming the front leg is to block further forward (linear) movement and thus enable the power generated by the body’s torque to rotate around the axis of the spine.  This does not happen until heal drop and Epstein recommends some flexion remain in the leg.  He actually cautioned me to be certain my son didn’t over straighten the front leg because it could limit the flexibility in his swing.
> > 
> > Snapping the wrists:  Huh?  Where does Epstein teach this?  This one completely baffles me because it is so far afoot from what he really teaches.  In fact, I don’t remember ever hearing the word wrist in Epstein’s instruction.  The one cue that he does use for the hands is “scooping sand” as a way of teaching how to work the front elbow up.  But snapping the wrists?  Puh..leese.
> > 
> > Hitting the ball 2 feet in front of the lead foot:  Huh? again.   I have never, ever heard this from Epstein.  Like Jack, Mike teaches the importance of letting the ball get deep.  He points out that rotational hitters have a better chance of adjusting to off speed pitches precisely because their weight is not shifting forward.  Consequently, they have a better shot at taking a breaking ball to the opposite field by letting the ball get deeper.
> > 
> > It is one thing to criticize what someone actually teaches.  It is another to attribute to someone principles that he does not espouse.  I think Coach C needs a few more rounds in front of the video monitor.
> 
> >>>Steve, Very good post.  Mac>>>
> > 
> >

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