Posted by: Teacherman () on Mon Jan 20 11:37:17 2003

Many hitters stride. Some hit no-stride.
> > If you look closely you'll see that even no-stride hitters shift their hips between their feet before they swing.
> > The purpose of a stride is weight shift. The no-stride hip shift serves the same purpose.
> > The effect of this weight shift is to create linear momentum. Linear momentum is then turned into rotational energy.
> > A hitter does not lunge forward into contact. A hitter shifts forward to load the legs and hips - similar to preparing to vertical leap - and then unload the legs/hips channeling the energy into hip turn. Hip turn is rotational. If transferred properly into shoulder turn, the body rotates the swing into the ball, powered by hip turn that is preloaded by weight shift.
> >
> > Weight shift must stop as rotation begins. The weight shift/sit creates the energy needed to create powerful rotation. Once rotating it is pointless to continue shifting the weight. Once unloading, no point in continuing to load.
> >
> > John, I suspect you know this as you have referred to the 'magic moment' where a player sits to load the legs.
> > However since the last thread drifted off subject and into some strange bickering, I thought I'd throw this out there and welcome on-topic comments.
>
> Dan-
>
> My thinking is that the hips have to already be rotating before the weight shift is added to amplify the rotation.Then(thanks to adding this energy of the "weight shift" at the right moment) the hip turn gets to max velocity before decelerating to transfer momentum.Front foot resistance is necessary to boost rotation with "weight shift".The hips/separation has started before front toe touch/weight bearing.
>
> The axis of rotation needs to be fixed(and ? not past vertical to accept weight shift and send energy upward) by the time the upper torso/shoulders start driving the handpath("launch"/end of separation/rubber band starts unwinding).The way the arms form the "box" as the hip uncocks to start rotation/separation is important to create/permit separation and tight connection.When the hip uncocks,the front thigh rolls over(external rotation)in synchrony(as uncocking/rotation works its way from middle out) with back arm external rotation(back elbow drops into slot) and front arm internal rotation(front elbow "works up").This finishes stretching/separating of the body to permit momentum transfer and gets the bat turning at this same time before launch.This is the THT phase which Epstein describes as drop(front heel) and tilt(tilt torso/back shoulder dip).This is the key frame or 2 before launch,the "golden moment".I don't think you can weight shift first,then rotate.And you have to have the bat going early for quick acceleration(unlike golf where the sequence is different(torso starts before club,double pendulum transfer mechanics of arms-wrists-club, which means keeping the wrists cocked as long as possible) because spatial accuracy is more important than timing accuracy.
>
> Weight shift is accomplished by a steady forward and down shift of the center of gravity until the front foot resists.This action might be part of the feel of "sit to hit".
>
> Visually,it is very difficult to determine most of this except by proxy-when does elbow drop,when does thigh rollover,when does toe touch,etc.What appears important and can be easily seen is how well the limbs work together to do these things-is the front elbow working up when the back elbow is,dropping.Is the bask arm internally rotating to cock the bat as the front knee is turned in with cocking of the hip,etc.I would suggest the body coordinating these things well is just as important as the degree of separation and how quickly the rubberband can be wound and unwound.
>
> These actions are more easily seen/exagerrated in the big strider swinging heavy lumber.I believe the basic motion/feel needs to be preserved and can be in players with minimal motion,but it makes it hard to see.Lighter bats permit hiqh batspeed/quicker acceleration without much loss of power if the basic rotational mechanics don't degrade.If you emulate your favorite player and miss all this action thinking they are just real quiet before swinging,you won't get the results your role model does.
>
> These motions are necessary to eliminate the premature dropping of the front elbow and premature straightening of the front knee seen in the students in Final Arc 2.Cause and effect is hard to sort out.
>
> I do think it's usefuloverall to think of this as a torso driven motion controlled by fixing the hands to the torso with the hips and lower body setting up the timing.This would be my particular description/interpretation of "hips then hands".Remember most of the feel(proprioception) is in the hands and feet.

Tom

Your last paragraph interests me the most. I too have thought (not proven) than the torso was the "driver" and the hips provide a base and are able to assist the rotation. Major Dan and I have talked about this before and he doesn't agree. I'm not a scientist but that is the "feel" I get from my best swings.

I've posted here before that I feel like the belly button area of my torso is the starter of my swing and the hips follow. It feels to me that it is more abs or oblique muscle oriented than hip and leg muscles. Dan makes good points when referring to the strength of the lower half muscles and how the power they are capable of generating is very important to batspeed. I don't know which is correct but the "feel" I get when I swing is more torso related than lower body.
Could this "feel" be because my lower half is already working properly and I'm now feeling the torso being added to it, therefore, I concentrate on what I'm feeling rather than what is really happening. Or is it really a torso driven movement supported by hips and legs and the lower half.