Hitting

After watching 2 of the videos here is what I see.
I like where your hands start
You don't use the lower body much at all. What I mean is it seems you are a handsy hitter, not rotating the hips much and when you do it its too late in the swing.
Keep your front foot closed as it opens up too much which forces you to be way ahead of the ball. You need to wait and let the ball get to you, don't "go get the ball."
Also, it looks like you are chopping down somewhat on the ball, swing more upwards.
I know that is a lot to take in, but I would say you really need to focus on getting those hips, because you aren't getting any lower half power.

Coach W

Another thing I thought of is your stance. You need to get in a more flexed stance with the butt out some. That might help you to get your hips more invloved. Look at Pujols's stance compared to yours.

Coach W

Study this.

Duplicate it.

All of it.

Pay attention to the barrel's direction at "go".

Notice the hips open/clear first.....then "go".

do you have a side view of this video? They have been rare to find since mlb took them down.

do you guys knwo any good tips or drills for using my hips more?

Thanks for the suggestions!

Nope.

You can see what you need to see in the given clip.

Hips clear.

Barrel rearward.

sooo the hips explode first and then i follow with the swing?

The hips open first.....against the "hold" that the hands and upper body have on the system.

This creates 'stretch' between the upper and lower halves.

This stretch can be thought of as "stored" energy.....that can be released instantaneously at "go".

When the hands and upper body "release" the hold.....that is...when you decide to "go".....you get a sudden boost.

So....the hips act more like a crescendo....they start to open early and build up speed....against the upper body's hold....then at "go" the forearms rotate, and the shoulders laterallly tilt, sending the barrel rearward....which leads to the "cusp"....the whip of the barrel through the zone.



See Bond's hips opening as the barrel is sent rearward.......He's stretching the system.

thanks youve been really helpful!

im practicing trying to open my hips up first. im keeping my hands back (with the knob of the bat pointing at the pitcher) until my stomach has faced the pitcher, and then i explode to the the plate. is that correct?

im having a very difficult time understand opening up of the hips first as to what i was doing. Do you have any suggestions for me to ease out of my bad habit?

Yep...



One legged drill. Balance over your rear leg with a load in your rear hip. Allow the hips to turn open without losing that rear hip load. At 'go' push with the rear foot and rotate into a firm front side.

Notice the barrel path....rearward. This is critical.

You can't allow the weight to shift forward until "go". You must allow the hips to open prior to 'go'. If you shift weight before 'go', then it is difficult to get the hips to open early.

Chipper lifts his lead leg, the hips turn open AS he "floats" the barrel rearward AS he rides the back leg. Then, at 'go', he shifts and rotates and turns the barrel rearward with forearm rotation.

I was going to respond, but what's the point? Loose Cannon nails it.

Excellent drill.

If no one has laid claim to it yet, you may consider getting legal title to it for purposes of video instruction.

It teaches balance and minimizes wasted energy and movement in the swing, while maximizing the desired mechanical advantages of the movements.

does anybody have a visual of how this drill works for hitting? ive searched for thsi drill and only softballpitching mechanics have came up. Im a better visual learning.

Here's a visual...

quote:

Originally posted by Loose Cannon:

You can't allow the weight to shift forward until "go". You must allow the hips to open prior to 'go'. If you shift weight before 'go', then it is difficult to get the hips to open early.

Please explain why it is that I'll see a weight shift in hitters "taking" a pitch. There is no "go", yet there is a weight shift taking place.

Look again.

Loose Cannon,

Are you saying there is no weight shift when taking a pitch, or there can be a "go" when taking a pitch?

I am saying that the lower body running start is in effect, obviously, even when you take a pitch, and that that includes mainly hip opening (rotation) although there is some linear movement also.

But by no means can the linear movement that you see when a hitter takes a pitch be considered weight shift. Weight shift is just that. A total shift of the weight from the rear to the front.

And that happens at "go".

quote:

Originally posted by Loose Cannon:
I am saying that the lower body running start is in effect, obviously, even when you take a pitch, and that that includes mainly hip opening (rotation) although there is some linear movement also.

But by no means can the linear movement that you see when a hitter takes a pitch be considered weight shift. Weight shift is just that. A total shift of the weight from the rear to the front.

And that happens at "go".

Okay, I agree with what you are saying, and again it is a matter of semantics. By weight shift, you mean TOTAL weight shift. By weight shift I meant any "linear movement" as you say. If I were to tell someone about your idea of weight shift, I would call it "total weight shift." Again, to each their own but we are on the same page here.

Loose cannon is that you in the blue shirt? If so can you post a clip from the side... Thanks

It's his son.

Yes, I pretty much agree with how you've stated it.

The problem I have experienced is the area between a little forward momentum and total shift. Many many players get beyond a "little forward momentum" to the point that they have actually shifted their center of mass, although not totally prior to "go".

This really slows them down.

Here is a side by side that is really telling......if you understand.



On the left, the weight shift too far too soon....and isn't available at "go" and the system bogs down.

On the right the shift is at "go" and gives a large boost to the launch.

The key to look for is the degree of hip opening prior to go. On the left, weight has shifted but the hips are pretty closed at "go". On the right the hips open earlier/more and then the weight shift.

Another way of saying it is.......on the right.....he rides the back leg, he maintains the load in the rear hip, until "Go". On the left he lost the load of the rear leg by shifting too far too soon, then swung.

For those trying to learn.....notice the difference in the hips.

how were you able to change his mechanics in a matter of days?

yes richard his hip clears on the right picture inddors

quote:

Originally posted by y0y0blackk:
how were you able to change his mechanics in a matter of days?

Good question.....but backwards.

His better mechanics (right clip) were developed over a several week period last summer as we changed what we had been doing to the better "high level pattern". Which....still needs to improve.

The "bad clip" was a set back. We were having one last hitting session before he went off to college last fall after a 10 day layoff after having a great summer.....and "there it was". A pitiful session. It stunned both of us. But, it was a HUGE learning experience.

We studied and studied and swung some more and swung some more. Trial and err.....over and over.....until we found the culprit.

He was not opening the hips in the running start. He was laterally shifting and landing closed instead of open. The weigth shift was "in front of" instead of "behind" the swing.

Therefore...no stretch between the upper and lower body....therefore...no push available at "go". Therefore no "stretch and fire" at "go".

Simply "out of sync". Rushed the pattern. Didn't let it develop. Short cutted the process.

And.......although all too typical from this kid....setbacks are a natural occurence in the learning process.

I see what you are saying about no strecth in the clip on the first page. He starts out with everything open then when he steps square that brings his hips and shoulders square, then he starts his swing with no torque build up. His swing looks long in the clip on the left, and his shoulders and hips quit at contact.

Loose Cannon, the thing I notice the most is the picture on the right has your son rotating his hips earlier than the photo on the left. The hips are following the running start begun by the rotation of the front leg as it is heading into foot plant. On the left picture, he is rotating into foot plant, but the hips delay (compared to the right picture).

That earlier hip turn accelertates the running start, creates stretch (better separation between lower and upper body), and clears the way for the upper body. I see the barrel getting into and through the zone much quicker because of the earlier rotation of the hips.

So, to me (and my untrained eye lol), I don't see a difference in weight shift as much as I do a better running start of the lower body and better upper/lower body separation.

Your thoughts.

Save this clip, put your cursor on top of his head in the left swing, then play the clip. Repeat with the right swing.

What do you find?

Now, compare the landing differences.

What do you find?



BTW.....you are committing the Cardinal sin of hitting video analysis if you aren't actually trying to duplicate both swings. Many, many facets of the swing will not be "seen" until they are "felt".

I'm not getting the weight shift difference part.

Sorry (meaning it's me, not disputing you). But, I do see the hips working better, and, after putting the cursor on his head, I do see the hands working better/sooner in moving the barrel into swing.

I'll keep looking for the golden nugget. lol

edited: I think we are comparing the glass half full vs half empty. I am saying I see the hips opening before foot plant and weight shift. I think you're saying weight shift comes after the hips begin to open. Either way, I see what you're saying. Thanks.

loose, can you post a pic at ball contact???

Best I can do right now.

If you want a still let me know.

It will be later tonight or tomorrow.

What I see is that the bat is tipped more in the right video and his hips are turning once his foot lands in the right vid. His head also seems in the right vid to stay quiet rigth on his front shoulder. Because of all these things he is storing much more power at contact. Am I evne close here?
Coach W

Yes....you can summarize it just like that.

As long as the weight is back....a load exist in the rear hip joint....separation is created....forearms are prepped to rotate.....all of it can unload at once.

If, however, any of that goes out of sync....in this case his weight shift preceded his hip opening....it preceded "go".....you lose load and therefore power.

What must be understood is that "loading" is not the turning away of the hips from the eventual load direction.

Loading is actually opening of the hips against the upper body. The stretch is the load. The load is in the torso as it is stretched.....not in the pelvis.

Here is a page full of em.

Don't take my word for it.

It's in everyone of these swings.

Each has his own style...but underlying is the same thing.

Hips open, shoulders closed, weight shift at 'go', rotate the forearms turning the barrel rearward at "go".

The Running Start

For those of you that fear 'bleeding off energy', 'pulling off the ball' etc etc because the hips open early.....

Forget it.

IF you keep the shoulders in there and turn the forearms at "go" and laterally tilt the shoulders, there will be no bleed off.

In fact, you will gain the mechanical advantage.



That same pattern doesn't keep this guy from lining an outside pitch into the opposite field for a hit.

While this lower body separation stuff is critical.....the hands control the entire process once you get it. It's the hands that "hold" the upper half closed while the lower opens. It's the hands that launch the swing because the hips are like the people mover at the airport....they start and just keep going. They are continuous...they crescendo in speed....but there is no "Hip go". They are already going. From the time the max coil turns forward on. The stetch builds to the point that the hands are in control and they decide when to release the barrel.

Can you talk a little more about "turning the forearms." I'm not sure what you mean by it exactly but I want to.

Pronation of the lead forearm. Supination of the rear forearm. Replacing the front elbow with the rear elbow....as the front elbow "juts" upward....what I call rotating the triangle....the triangle formed by the two forearms and the chest.

This sends the barrel into an arc rearward....the barrel going rearward gives it a running start AND the weight of that movement provides resistance that the body uses to separate against.

Another term I use is "swivel" the hands.

It's the only thing I know that produces this barrel path.





This is how that rearward path is created....that generates early batspeed....AND ALLOWS THE HANDS TO STAY PUT......at the armpit.

DOrtiz's triangle...



The hands are the apex of the triangle. They stay out over the plate just like your dad taught. And the forearms and elbows rotate the triangle about the hands....turning the barrel in the diagonal plane.

Another view of the triangle rotation.



The triangle rotates at "go", creating early batspeed, AND IS HIGHLY ADJUSTABLE.

Notice how the triangle gets distorted as he "goes down for the ball" yet there is no significant loss of batspeed....evidenced by the result of the swing.

IF you rotate the forearms and the triangle, the arms are available for adjustment to pitch location without degradation of the swing.

This is not possible using shoulder rotation and "the box maintenance"....which is not supported by video of mlb players.

Although the triangle isn't drawn this may be the best view of the triangle's rotation about the hands.

A clear sign of hand/forearm action.......the Second Engine. The only answer for bat drag.