Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Fri Jan 10 14:30:50 2003

> I would have to agree with Teacherman here.You will cripple many a kid if you enforce/encourage level shoulders/lead arm down.
> >
> > You need to "drop and tilt","form and maintain the box",keep the(back) elbow in the slot,"work the(lead) elbow up",etc.This is done by externally rotating the back elbow into the slot while internally rotating the lead elbow which stretches/tilts the torso as the hip uncocks prior to heel down/launch.Forward motion at this time is the entire rotating body drifting/falling forward before this is finished by heel down/launch.
> >
> > You can't get on plane with level shoulders(requires posture adjustment).Maybe some students figured out "what was really meant",but an absolute interpretation of these cues is death to a good swing.
>
> DROP and TILT. What is dropping? What is the significance and relevance of the flexion in the back knee or "sitting"? How does tilting help the hitter get on plane vs. level? We need the scientific explanation of "sitting" and "drop & tilt" so we can teach and explain it to our kids. Lean back like Barry Bonds so you can hit the ball 400 + feet is good stuff but there needs to be some reason why leaning back or sitting is more advantageous in this rotational style than doing the linear stuff.
>
> Which way do we turn for the answer?

Georger-

I am sorry for not yet directly answering your questions.I will do so as time allows.The sitting/back leg flex can be addressed after some of the other points,so I would not want to tackle this yet.In many of the recent posts,I have repeated "Cues" that others use assuming you might be familiar with the author of the cues.

"Drop and tilt" is a cue which Epstein uses meaning drop the front heel and tilt/drop the back shoulder.This was to make the point that the shoulders should not be level as an absolute and that the shoulder dropping happens when the front heel drops which is before the torso starts turning"launch".I believe the reality he is describing is a combination of how the hip uncocks,and how the lead arm moves to stretch the torso and establishes tight lead arm connection,during which time the center of gravity of the body is moving forward slightly and ongoing posture correction is underway.Separation is continuing until the front heel is (almost completely)down and the torso "launches".If you can get this to happen with the drop and tilt cue,this is simple for the student,but the teacher has to make sure all this other stuff is happening as a result of the cue being interprted properly.Some experienced coaches just know it when they see it.Others can figure it out with the aid of video when they know what to look for.