Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Tue Feb 4 07:41:25 2003

i watch alot of slo pitch softball and see a lot of hitters walk up on the ball, kind of swing,does that make them a linear swing,or would they have more power if they remained stationary,and rotated like jack teaches, the ones i see hit the ball farthest are the ones who walk up on the ball why is that?

The "walk-up" or "three step" is a traditional way of teaching body action/separation in throwing and hitting.Nyman has a nice old clip of Babe Ruth hitting this style.Usually you are facing forward and step with the lead foot,then step behind the lead foot with the back foot as you turn back/get sideways,the step again with the lead foot resembling the typical stride.When you do it this way,the upper body stays in synch with the lower body the way you need it to to generate power for the swing/throw.

In hitting,Hudgens is a proponrnt of the "walk up drll".Dave has lots of good drills.He knows a good swing when he sees one and prescribes good drill/fixes in the hands on situation.His info is limited in providing a rationale,so it is hard to apply if Dave's not there to supervise.A lot of his cues and pictures will be interpreted suboptimally by those who try to go it alone.