First High School Hit!

Nice swing...and, yes, it is a big deal.

Thanks redbird5. I appreciate it!

Jason

I think I remember saying you would get busy soon playing three sports , being in the mix for QB ,and something about your daughter and Homecoming too.

Watch out for the guys throwing 85....it will get you stratching your head

His swing looks good

Donny

tom guerry,

I have removed your post from this thread. If you were actually interested in helping my son it would be different, but you've proven over the past couple of years that you aren't.

Thanks for understanding!

Jason

Nice swing there Lil'Flipp. Congrats all the way around!! It is a big deal and thanks for sharing.

Tim

Flipp-

Sounds like fear to me.

I have your son's best interest at heart. He needs counter-detailing to keep him away from from bad info. You don't appear to know how to tell the difference.

Best of luck.

His hip rotation is late. Release of the barrel is sluggish. Little to no separation is created.

He IS turning the barrel in his hands, however. Glad to see it.

The lead elbow juts to keep the hands in the zone as he resists shoulder rotation.

He will struggle with timing.....big time.

You can not generate enough momentum to generate the necessary swing quickness with the hips still closed at 'go'. They have too far to go, with too heavy a load to pull and they move too slowly. If the hips are still closed the only momentum you can create is linear...and it can't be stored. You are subject to the stopping/starting/slowing of that linear momentum as you deal with the pitchers arsenal and it simply can't work. If the hips have to turn 90 degrees at 'go', you're in trouble. They can't move that quick. They're powerful....just not quick enough.

Proper use of the hips is not defined by "how much distance they have to turn at "go", over which they can create force", but instead, is defined by "the amount of stretch they create against the upper body which can be stored and released at the right moment", the "stretch and fire" release mechanics.

This 'stretch and fire' to release the barrel, is the only way a hitter can create adequate quickness to deal with high level pitching.

The hips must have a running start as the upper body loads against them.

This hitter's hips are closed at "go".

Take a look at this guy's hips. I missed the "yes" by one frame. Should be one frame earlier. However, look at his hips at "go" compared to your son. Bond's hip line points to between the 1st base coach and 1st base dugout at "go".

The kid's hips are still in line pitcher to catcher.

FlippJ,..we'll take that kid on our team anytime anyday!!
A freshman who makes contact like that? Hellooo,...
come to Kansas babah!

Sooo glad you got that on tape!! You will treasure it in years to come!!
Nice hit lil' Flipp!!!

Thanks for the kind words shortstopmom!

quote:

Originally posted by Chameleon:
His hip rotation is late.

I agree. This is actually an issue with his pitching delivery as well.

Jason

FWIW

When the lead leg goes out and the heel gets to a distance in front of the batter and then plants closer to the batter that is a sign.

The most miserly weight shifter of all time Bonds never did that on any clips

http://www.hittingillustrated.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42

You can close the front foot but it must accept weight to block a shift IF a shift is occuring. If the weight stays back the heel WILL draw back. If the heel draws back you are back foot hitting. If there is no draw back you ARE shifting...it is that simple to define but harder to fix.

If you are back foot hitting you hips are not in synch and ahead of the unhinge and widening the torque angle near their potential.

You do not get the last but important bit of x angle stretch that attains the highest possible bat speeds.

The bump forward to the front foot in time with the loading upper body establishing the new balance center and rotation around the front hip is pretty important.

My son battled that for a long time. Two planing fixed that some for him as he yielded more shift but his playing time ran out before he could ingrain it all.


As a general rule there is LESS shift in a one plane swing but there is a certain amount REQUIRED to couonter balance the launch and put enough weight on the front leg to power the hip turn to completion.

He does get the hips done before contact which is a testimony to his hard work. He is not off by much.

quote:

Originally posted by swingbuster:
He does get the hips done before contact which is a testimony to his hard work. He is not off by much.

Picking his leg up and moving forward has been an issue for Brandon for a few years. I actually tried to get him to lift the knee like he is in the clip posted several times over the winter but he couldn't without falling over. It was actually kind of comical to see.

I know it's hard to tell in the clip posted but my son is NOT very coordinated right now, especially with his lower body. The issues are probably a combination of a lack of strength/flexibility and a lack of overall maturity. He turned 15 in January and he's kind of at an awkward stage.

With that said, I'm pleased with where he's at right now given the the goals we've established and the direction we've taken to acheive those goals. We're being patient and taking it one step at a time. Even with his inefficiencies he's still a decent player, and that tells me he has a chance to be pretty good in a couple of years.

Jason

P.S. He only plays two sports (football & baseball).

What triggers proper well timed weight shift has been in my sites for a while

Do you tell them to shift more?...doesn't work for me

Do you work on the low ball on the diagonal plane? does work

Do you shift for a purpose? get the hinge angle past the hip pocket before release as a temporary goal to see if that cue works for back side release

So you show them clips of the back foot and show them what it looks like when it goes laces to pitcher?

Do you move a tee out front and ask the kid to move the rotation forward such that the back foot drags?

Do you tip the barrel foward and coil the hips and hit a forward tee on the inside seam to coordinate the whole shimolly?

I learned weight shift in golf at age 51. I learned it after a tip that showed that I should maintain the hinge angle to past my lead pocket before letting it go. It made sense for me and I moved the axis far enough to actually do that for the first time in my life. My back foot released and my lead shoulder has leverage and I play well most of the time with half the effort. Swinging with the weight moving the wrong way makes power something that is very hard to come by

I hope that in time some of these things or something that you find will help solve this subtle issue. If you learn the best way it PLEASE LET US KNOW. It is robbing power in most of the swings I see and much more than most people know

Somehow..when the hips are coiling the head needs to be moving forward. That involves

1. back foot push OR

2 tall and fall

There is no other way to move the COM

One of the best swings I've seen posted in a good while. Keep up the good work.

deaconspoint,

I appreciate the kind words. Thanks!

Jason

Flipp congrats to your son! I know you are proud. I still remember my sons first HS hit. Its a special moment. Sometime this year or early next year he will be going for his 100th HS hit. It passes by way too fast. Enjoy every moment working with your kid it is a special time.

I don't know about all of this analysis, hips or otherwise, but I'll say the following:

1. Looks like he hits the inside of the ball. Probably the most important thing in hitting.

2. Looks like his head stays down on impact and hands stay flat without rolling until well after contact, probably the 2nd most important thing in hitting

3. Looks like this isn't his best swing from a timing standpoint as contact is made off the sweetspot, but if he gets a hit here, he will only hit it harder when he gets his timing right.

quote:

This is actually an issue with his pitching delivery as well.

Does he know how to fix it?

My son was once trying his one plane swing with NO weight shift.. That will not work in any model


The weight shift IS incorportated into the last bit of stretch. That last bit of widening of the x angle is not possible without the well timed shift IMO in conjunction with moving the COM to a point where there is greater lead side leverage ( PEAVY). That leverage is lead arm leverage but also lead leg PUSH leverage away from the pitcher

SO ...Shift is more about more stretch and more leverage and less to do about forward momentum per see.

Tom sayd keeping the rear elbow back longer can work.

I go upstream of that now and tip the ( hands) barrel longer which gets the rear elbow up later. In this case later equals longer in function

Also...the strongest muscle group in the body is the quads. When the lead leg quad is not weighed such that it can drive the hips around to completion continually torqing the torso, then you are severely weakening the swing.

Yeagers PUSH/ BLOCK/ PUSH ...the last push is the lead leg away from teh pitcher. You must get that power of THAT push to the barrel unhinge. Look at every great power hitter and that is a common factor.

I just can not resist.

I want everyone to think I am a guru. So I will speak in terms that only a guru can speak. Thus I must be a guru. It does not matter if only guru's understand me. Because after all I AM A GURU!

Coach May, are you having problems understanding what Swingbuster is saying?

If you take the time to download his power point presentation from another thread, there is alot to be learned!!

Coach May,

Fair statement........ now

How do you teach weight shift to players that are back foot hitting?

swingbuster, I've tried hard to understand your post. At times is gets a bit technical for me. But, after rereading it, I understand it. However, I do not understand what you mean by unhinge (a visual would be helpful). Can you help me with that? Thanks.

The lead leg extends away from pitcher locking out ( turning the hips to completion) .05 seconds before the wrist uncock the bat on the ball. YEAGERS WORK

It is a very important point to watch on clips.

I means the hips finished the lower body turn before the batter hit the ball.

That means the batter was not " one piece spinning".


It also means that the body was torqued/ stretched and there was some whip effect that usually produces faster bat speeds

The weight needs to be shifted correctly to optimize that

I follow you on the movement of the lower body, and the straightening (?) of the front leg to generate a more powerful turn of the hips.

It is this I don't understand (please pardon my mental block):

"You must get that power of THAT push to the barrel unhinge."

I understand the the whole post, except the last two word of that sentence. Barrel unhinge. What is the "unhinge" of the barrel? Where in the barrel movement are you referring? (Again, I apologize for the mental block. I've come along way, but the phrase is losing me). Thanks for your patience.

unhinge of barrel..the wrist is a hinge and the hinge angle is around 90 degrees or less as the barrel goes toward the ball.....then

The end of the whip pops on the ball.

The hips turn energy into the torso and stop. The torso turns the shoulder linkage . The shoulder linkage moves the arms the wrist uncock the bat.

the follow through is ballistic...energy exerted by muscle contracion that results in an action that is not caused by muscle contraction...it is all follow through

It IS a kinetic chain

can anybody swing or turn as fast as a whip can pop?

Ahhh! Gotcha. I understood the process, it was just the phrase losing me. Thank you for your time and patience. lol I appreciate your help here.

That "unhinging" would be the "second engine", or rotating around the knob?

Technically I think the rotation center on the handle is BETWEEN the hands but yes.

I think the more modern decriptions of the swing are better suited for understanding and then teaching.

The older knob to ball stuff and hit through the ball stuff is outdated badly.

You ARE taking a baseball backswing, moving the COM , and rotating the hips hard to the left and keeping the shoulder on the ball . You should be segmenting the body and not spinning in one piece or turning the shoulders as a primary power source.

Most kids are not moving the hip turn in front and are pulling the shoulder OFF the ball. IOWS they are driving the active part of the swing with arm and shoulder motion and that is slow as there will be no whip. Whip action is a total body move

I think that is a point where we would all agree.

So when coaching, one should be able to work on these parts and the things that affect them.

NO..I am not a guru. I study all the gurus. Yeager has some fine work that all should have too.

Coach May..still waiting on your take on weight shift and Deacon...you can get off the floor now.

You're right buster. I'm in over way over my head.

now I doubt that...

still waiting on the weight shift discertation from Coach May.

His kids must shift the weight perfectly........

90 degrees at a ROM and then 5 degrees unhinged. Now with a 7 degree axis over top of a 28.5 degree top half turn. When the barrell becomes unhinged you just wrap the top hand under the bottom hand and whip it. Then as you fire the hips it acts like a rocket launcher and the ROM is now ready for launch with the 19 degree angle. Got it!

You have failed to mention the 3.5 degree turn in the back knee just as you are starting to unhinge the barrell of the bat. See I got you on that one!

You win....


I have watched the whole real life video ...I know what happens in the end anyway.

They all have very similar endings ...have fun along the way.

I just wanted to give you all an update...

My son played his final game with the freshman team yesterday. Monday he'll be playing third base and pitching for the sophomore team. It isn't uncommon at the school my son attends to see a sophomore on the varsity team every now and then, but according to the assistant varsity coach my son is only the second freshman player since he's been coaching there (15+ years) to ever move up a level.

Sure it's only the sophomore team, but my son is very excited about it. It was a goal of his and he's worked very hard to acheive that goal. I'm proud of him.

Jason

Thats great!!! I know you are proud of your son and you should be. Good luck and keep us updated on how it goes.

Hey Jason........

It's nice when all the hard work becomes evident.

Thanks guys!

cap_n, you've had a major impact on my son's development. As you know he still has a ways to go but it's nice to see hard work getting rewarded. It kind of helps to validate the things we're doing and we're very thankful and appreciative of the time (and patience) you've given us.

Jason

P.S. I'll keep you posted!

Awesome news Jason!! Great job Lil'Flipp!!

Another update...

My son played in his first sophomore game yesterday and they won 10-7. He started, batted in the 5-hole, and was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI including a very important 2 out 2-run single. He also pitched 1 2/3 innings for a save. He was nervous and a little wild but managed to strike out 5 batters.

Jason

quote:

He was nervous and a little wild but managed to strike out 5 batters.

...........and the problem is?????

Nothing like that adrenaline rush....for both of you guys