Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Jan 10 17:34:44 2003

>>> You do a great job! Thanks for listening.

Squashing the bug is taboo for me, the rear heel is pulled. In golf, a term often used is the "Snead Squat" in freeze frame it looked like he was sitting, both legs bent, yet the rear foot was pulled up at impact. Many a Major Leaguer have this rear foot pull. I believe the lead leg then becomes the post for rotation. for me it becomes evident when the spine tilt angle matches the lead leg angle. The problem with posting the lead leg too early is that it reduces the margin for error in timing, but we post anyway.

Jack you will not agree with this, but I let upper torso turn drive the legs, not the other way around. The power of the upper torso doing it's work, gives the legs a strong sense of power, not from driving but from stability, thus the stride becomes a balancing move, to prepare for the upper body torque. Balance with my legs then becomes a flex in both legs position (sitting to hit). I have always felt my arms, chest and stomach are the initiaters and my power source for hitting, the hands hold on loosely for the ride. This upperbody torque creates a slight lateral shift along with rotation. The key for me to reduce excessive lateral shift is to learn how to hit the ball deeper in the strike zone. If we teach kids to hit the ball inside the front foot, we can program the back to center move (lateral and rotational) to be a part of the swing. I think you need to move that bag back 6 to 12 inches for training. I want kids to feel their chest and rear thigh in the swing. If the upper torso does what it's supposed to, and the strong legs become the anchor, the power becomes effortless. This is my feel. In golf and in tennis, we want strong legs for balance, not for driving. I feel my lower back and stomach are the keys to power, and strong legs are required to support the power. Many have done it differently for sure, but this to me makes the most sense. Larry Walker displays the qualities I teach. No disrespect to Bonds, but Larry Walker has the perfect swing to me. His lower body is more stable than anyone I've ever seen. I can tell he would do well in any sport he played, unfortunately he has had repeated injuries and from all indications doesn't train much....probably doesn't do steriods either, like we suspect some may.

Oh well, the debate goes on.....thanks. <<<

Hi Coach C

I pretty much agree with your assessment of good swing mechanics. I believe the legs play a more important role in generating rotation than you but any area of disagreement seems to be a matter of degrees. I think you would agree with me that the purpose of leg, hip and torso action is to drive shoulder rotation. The shoulders rotate about 115 to 125 degrees from the inward-turn position to the contact position. The hips rotate around 80 to 90 degrees during this time. This means that torso rotation adds about 40 to 50 degrees to the angular displacement of the hips. So I find that hip rotation (or leg drive) has a more important role to play than serving as a stable platform for the torso to rotate from. Note: In the golf swing, the hips only rotate about 40 to 45 degrees to contact. So it is hard to compare mechanics of the two swings

Jack Mankin