Posted by: Coach C () on Mon Feb 9 17:49:34 2004

>>> I am a little skeptical as to why you encourage landing on the ball of the front foot with the front heel closed, then pivoting it open (as it lowers) to initiate the swing. Believe me, I have tried this cue from a balanced position, and the only thing that seems to sputter open is the front foot. The hips do not move, and neither does the backside.
> > >
> > > Before I instruct, I often question the logic of the bio-mechanical movements. Perhaps you are correct, and there is another way to facilitate hip movement. I see that there is no way that you are going to agree on the cues I proposed, so, on that point, let's just "agree to disagree."
> > >
> > > I offered you my argument, now I want to hear how you would solve the following problem.
> > >
> > > The Problem: You are teaching a ballplayer to rotate around a stationary axis. You instruct him to have plenty of flex in the front knee, then to lower and rotate the front heel, spin the front knee, and extend it to the point of contact. When he hits the bag, you notice that all upper body movements are correct, but he lacks some swing speed. Your discovery--the ballplayer has his front leg straight with the toe pointed at the pitcher at contact (i.e., with an inside pitch), but the back foot and leg is still planted in the ground in the same position as it was before initiation.
> > >
> > > The Solution: You decide that the batter needs to "prod" his back foot and leg to rotate, before muscle memory sets in. Which "cues" do you use to assist the backside in forming its proper "L" position at contact, so that its hip can also rotate (or until the backside can move automatically without help)?
> > >
> > > I'm looking forward to the "cues" you offer to share with me.
> > >
> > > Please respond ASAP. <<<
> > >
> > > Hi BHL
> > >
> > > The cue is, “Rotate the heel – Rotate the bat-head.” It works fine for me. But if I got the results with it that you describe, I would certainly stop using it.
> > >
> > > Jack Mankin
> > >
> >
> > Hello BHL,
> >
> > I was working a player yesterday. He was staying tall on the rear leg and it was not dropping to parallel. His past tendecy has been to extend the rear leg and extend with rear elbow. Obviously he was not getting a hip turn. I made him sit in on a more bent rear leg. With it more "knock kneed" it served as a better spring. I also made him get more "linebacker" in his set up with the legs more bent at the knees and more spine angle. I asked him to get his rear elbow around and higher at toe touch. IMO rear side momentum comes from the circling and dropping of the rear elbow in the slot and the dropping of the rear knee to parallel. I then asked him to focus on not stopping the hip turn from launch to finish and keep his hips in front of his hands at all times. He did better on many swings but it takes time.
>
> It worked for me too. You have to understand how to teach it though. It seems to me you teach backside rotation which would not produce good results with the heel drop after toe touch method. If you notice on Jack's DVD/Tape it is mentioned that it is more efficient to think of rotating the front hip which wont lead to "squishing the bug" and too much staying back. I taught myself this way and found it is very efficient if you already know how to approach the outside pitch. The problem people probably find with this cue is that they tend to open up early on the outside pitch, but this shouldn't be a problem if you practice off of a tee and understand the proper approach to the outside pitch.
>
> It might just be how I learned and what works for me but you should always work the outside pitch first when developing new mechanics. It is the hardest pitch to hit and the pitch you see most often. IF you can master the outside pitch with rotational mechanics it is much easier to adjust the handpatch to attack the inside pitch. If you teach the inside pitch first, you will have your students flying out all day and be succeptable to the outside pitch. You know as well as I do that all kids throw mostly outside in high school, the only hittable inside pitches you see are mistakes.


Dave,

I don't think we disagree, however.....I've always felt that if I stand close to the plate and can dominate the inside pitch, I effectively can take away the outside pitch....ala Bonds. So while I agree that good mechanics are the end all when it comes to hitting both inside and outside pitches, dominating the inside pitch makes me a more comfortable. Watching hitters hit or not hit inside pitches says a lot about a hitter's mechanics....as does outside pitches. Truth is that all pitchers make one mistake each at bat and it's my job to get it, but that's another issue.

Anyway, good advice, I'll give it some thought. Thanks,

Coach C