Posted by: GBDiddy (thebuis@yahoo.com) on Fri Aug 19 14:08:17 2011

> Hi guys,
> I'd like to offer a different point of view here. I think a hitter can get in trouble by focusing on the shoulders as a swing key, as it could lead to a leakage of power due to the shoulders starting the swing after heel plant, versus the lower body. In the clips "lead shoulder rotation of 4 great hitters", watch the early separation of their hips as they open, creating a stretch between their hips and shoulders. They don't all rotate in unison. As the hips go forward, the bathead goes rearward from a swiveling of their elbows and wrists. The shoulders do catch up by contact, but a better key for me is to think "hips rotate forward, bathead rotates backward" to start the swing. If you think "shoulders first", then the tendency is to bring everything around together will little resistance. I am in no way advocating linear principles, just offering up what I see in the clips, and going from what I experience in the cage.
> Steve

Steve, the way I see it, the hips are only indirectly linked to the hands, whereas the shoulders are more directly linked to the hands. Any movement from the shoulders therefore will have a more direct impact on the rotation of the hands than any hip movement. I think we all agree that you want both hip and shoulder rotation. The difference in opinion is what the batter should focus on. If you focus on rotating the shoulders, the hips will naturally follow and accommodate the shoulder movement, whereas rotating the hips alone won't necessarily generate the proper shoulder rotation and will likely cause you to pull the ball. I think that pulling the hips first will indeed cause you to pull the ball more often.