Posted by: dougdinger () on Fri Aug 19 21:01:15 2005

> > >>> what does it mean?
> >
> > yes, i know most of us have our own personal interpretation of what it means, including myself, but i would be interested in the other interpretations out there...
> >
> > specifically i am interested in how much weight on which foot at what point in time, and the reasoning for this particular weight distribution.....for example, some coaches advise 60 % back foot, 40 % front foot at launch position (and even launch position to one coach is front toe touch and to another coach is front heel plant)...and the reasoning?...some coaches reason that this creates more "wight transfer" from "back to front"..i have questions/issues with this notion alone...
> >
> > imput greatly appreciated... <<<
> >
> > Hi Grc
> >
> > Good questions. I also would find it helpful to have a clear definition of “weight shift.” If the batter takes a short stride but the center of his body mass remains stationary (zero forward velocity) through rotation, was there a forward weight transfer? Since momentum is the product of mass with velocity, there would be no momentum to transfer if the velocity is zero. – Or, is “weight shift” just to indicate which leg is most responsible for supporting the body’s weight at different points of the swing?
> >
> > Jack Manklin
>
> thanks for the response, jack, and i would welcome comments from others as well...in the meantime, speaking of weight transfer, what does THAT term exactly mean?...i have heard some coaches say "stay back" so you can have more "weight" available to "transfer" to the "frontside"...they seem to think that the more weight there is to transfer the more power the hitter will have...but taken to an extreme, one could, at launch position have 90 percent of the weight on the backside and therefore have more "weight" to "transfer to the frontside, and yet all the hitter would be doing is spinning on his back foot...and of course the other extreme is > 50 percent of the weight on the front foot...
>
> i have concluded that probably close to a 50-50 weight distribution is right, not because transferring x amount of weight means y amount of power, but because perhaps of what you just stated: "Or, is “weight shift” just to indicate which leg is most responsible for supporting the body’s weight at different points of the swing?"......or perhaps instead of/or possibly in addition to what you said it is simply a balance issue....
>
> again, additional comments from all would be greatly appreciated....

Hi guys.
I think a lot of people don't know why you shift your weight back. I have discovered through trial and error that I must shift my weight back to attain balance. I don't shift any weight from front to back or anything, I just do it to keep balacne, which is very important to the swing as you probably already know. I think most people when they think of shifting their weight back is too go all the way back, so that your head is almost over your back foot. What this has done for me is dip ny back shoulder, causing too much of an uppercut. What has worked for me is when I load, I turn in my front knee, hip and shoulders just slightly, and at the same time shift weight back 'slightly', slightyl is the key term. Then my front leg strides forward just a tiny bit and I touch at the toe, while at the same time my shoulders turn in and my hands go back to my shoulder to create a firm launch position, which is also very important to the swing. From their I rotate around a stationary axis, without shifting any weight back or forward from there. This has helped me keep balance, as well as attaining a good slightly uppercut swing into the plane of the pitch, especially the fastball. I find that with my weight 50-50, I tend to lunge forward and start my swing too early, and with my weight too far back I uppercut and get no power as well. I advise a 60-40 as compared to a 50-50 or a 70-30. Thanks, I was actaully gonna post this topic myself but I;m glad grc brought it up.