quote:Originally posted by micmeister:
does it matter in what order you do it in? It feels to me like I can keep my front shoulder loaded longer when I do your bat to Catcher motion and it unloads almost completely when I don't. Is that right? I guess I'm saying it doesn't unload until commitment in the motions you advocate.
IMO.....holding the bat in the optimal setting (varies for everyone and you may or may not have found it yet).....and telling the body you're about to "snap the pole"....is all that is needed.
The body will load and prep as necessary to make that move the best it can.
Tell the body what you want to do. Hold the hands where you want the body to do it from. (you will have to experiment) Let the body do it.
I believe the conscious thought is in the upcoming hand/forearm movement....turning the barrel rearward....not in what the body needs to do.
I don't feel any great load in the shoulders when I swing. I would say they feel "stable", "clamped down" as I heard Tom.guerry say once, like there isn't going to be any slop or slippage in the scaps. I do like a little sway...or a slight movement of the hands rearward as part of a slight counter rotation of the torso. I don't move much. I don't abandon my handset and have to come back to it. I guess I start slightly "out of" handset and go to it. I just get a litte running start into my running start. A little movement to break inertia I guess.
As to the handset....I call it the "swearing in" position. If you're a right handed batter, raise your right hand as if you're about to be sworn in. Close your hand into a fist and that, IMO, is very close to the optimal handset for most people. That being said....I'm sure you can find a mlb player different. Individual differences rule. That is the spot that the barrel can be swiveled rearward, at "go", the most efficiently. With no unnecessary slack or slop or movement.
P.S. Ortiz creates his stretch against stationery hands for the most part. He has forward movement, then his hips open, all while his hands are stationery. Stretch created. Watch his barrel direction at "go".