Hitting and Hitters Discussion Hips leading your Hitting

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The point of impact with the ball is what separates the best from the not so great. Many pro baseball players look very different in stance and how they have their arms positioned at the start of their swing. If you took the time to put their impact with the ball shots next to each other, they would look very similar. Pro golfers are the same, they can look different during the swing but at impact, they are almost identical. JMHO

 

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I don't think there is any doubt (or that anyone said) that top of their game instructors can't help a lot of the people they instruct. What I don't think is that there is only one way to do anything. The same holds true for teaching kids in school, or managing people in the workplace. Some teachers are more effective with some kids, and other teachers, with different philosophies, are more effective with other kids. And I think a lot of effectiveness comes from the relationship/rapport/confidence a teacher/coach builds with the student, and not just from the philosophy or technique.

 

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Not sure what you are responding to - you might want to read my post again. Multiple ways to perform different tasks. Every golfer swing the same? Every QB throw the same? NO.

I guess all MLB teams should fire their in house hitting instructors. They are at the top of the world in their game, and therefore should not need to "perfect" their swings any further because they cannot do any better. What will some so-called expert be able to offer a hitter like Pujols? They should just do whatever works.

 

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Not sure what you are responding to - you might want to read my post again. Multiple ways to perform different tasks. Every golfer swing the same? Every QB throw the same? NO.

There are differences in style, but there are not differences in mechanics that are effective/will not cause injury. Doing "whatever works" as you suggested is probably not a sound teaching method. If you look at good hitters throughout history, they have different styles, but are all in nearly identical positions at key points of the swing. (enter the whole linear v. rotational arguements now)

 

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This explains a little about the differences in style as opposed to what is deemed sound mechanics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrU-wWo3wBU

 

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What some people confuse is style from form. To me style is what gets you to contact. Form is when contact is done correctly. Every hitter has a different style, be they contact, power, slap , bunter. Take time to look at different girls youll see all different styles. But if they are doing form correctly its amazing how they all look similar at contact.

There is Obviously more than one way to do things, which is correct? Which is a better way to drive a ball with power? It will take a better Instructor than me to figure it out. I prefer what we have been taught by Bustos and the big guy and we have been verry successful with it, not only for my dd but others I have had the privilege to teach.

If I have a kid that hits the ball a ton consistently and is a straight rotational hitter There is no way I would try to correct or change what she does.Now if she struggles and cant hit a lick then yes try it my way.

What ever side of the debate you side with if you believe in it and use it and are successful with it your view wont be swayed. Its almost like politics or religion. Attend clinics, go see the big guy and Bustos. Then go to others that teach the opposite belief and decide for yourself. No matter what style you choose be ready to throw thousands of hours of time into perfecting it.

Im confident enough in the style we teach to challenge people to look at other ways of doing things. Better informed is better prepared.


Tim

 

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Like in this video, if you get your hips to lead in your swing while your hands are back you WILL be a more powerfull hitter.


Straightleg

I would agree in general, hips first, hands last as to a sequence just as I would for throwing, as it is a way to generate a sense of timing and rhythm and momentum. This is the negative move or towards the catcher and the positive move towards the pitcher.

You do not have to slam the heel down to rotate the hips. Crystl demonstrates and shows her front foot heel being off the ground slightly when doing the matrix drill as it helps work her calf and hamstring and glutes. You will see her on the ball of her foot or what we term toe to toe and feeling the pressure between the knees as if fielding a ground ball.

Look up ground reaction forces on Google.

Efficiency however begins with how you load/coil and when the weight is more inside the back leg verses being over the leg in my opinion. Being able to simply lift the lead foot indicates the weight has been transferred to the back hip (glutes) in order to be able to stride. Keeping the movements simple especially with the younger hitters seems to work well as the develop their style.

If you stand with your shoulder against a wall and your feet directly under you, you can not lift a foot because you can not lean to shift your weight.

The studies that have been done concerning the neuro muscular skills of the females have indicated the boys are a little more advanced.

Combine that with the process of puberty and the female is going through a lot of differences in the changes to their body.

The Holy Grail to the female throwing and hitting better comes from landing on the ball of the foot with a flexed knee to throw. For hitting it is landing on the inside edge of the foot or what is termed eversion on a flexed front knee.

The glutes do not fire the knees in the female and it does in the male.

Think of the male knee working like more of a hinge and the female knee works more like a ball joint. The females center of gravity is also lower so the old baseball cues of stand taller in the box when you hit takes the efficiency out of the legs.

In my opinion this is why you see many hitters who appear to be upper body dominant because the swing does not start from the ground up.

Lovie Jung steps flat footed however can make her hips move efficiently. I have not seen many young ones that can master that move however.

How you get to toe touch and what happens after toe touch is where power is generated either efficiently or not as efficiently.

 

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well said Tim.

 

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I bet Hitter will not disagree. Anyone that knows anything about hitting will tell you that power comes from the core, and the hips are the central focal point of the core. If you release the hips too late then power diminishes.

Ted Williams called it "cocking the hip", or hip-cock. After the front leg positive move (read toe touch) and the negative move of the load, the next move should be the start of hip rotation. I believe hip rotation should start after toe touch, Hitter believes it should occur after heal plant, but in either case the hips should start to rotate (also reffered to as freeing the hips) before any forward movement of the hands. Straightleg is absolutely correct.

Maybe you misinterperated what Straightleg meant?

Len

Len

What you said is exactly what I meant


Straightleg

 

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95% of the girls I have worked with come with a upper body dominate swing.
Upper body ahead of the lower body, or arms ahead of upper body that is ahead of lower body.

When I get them to use there hips with atad infront of the upper half, or even at the same time, it sure is more powerfull than the upper body dominate swing.


From there, you have many more things you normally can make better.

Landing inverted like Howard said, not flat footed, flexed knee, weight shift, hand path, not bobbing your head ect.



I just wanted to point out most girls swing with there upper body. Getting them to try and lead with the hips will make them hit it farther. IMO



Straightleg

 

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I have been to a ton of clinics with 2 baseball and 2 softball players , and everyone knows that your power comes from the hips.

 

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http://www.google.com/search?q=Grou...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

"With the weight shift forward and the shear force applied in the X and Y direction by both the left and right foot, segments were now accelerated to maximum velocities. The body coordinated an effort to produce bat speed. The left leg extended at the knee, pushing the left hip backward, while the right leg pushed the right hip forward, creating a counterclockwise acceleration of the hips around the axis of the trunk. The rotational velocity of the hips increased until it reached a maximum of 714"/sec, 0.075 seconds prior to ball contact.

The shoulders and arms, following the lead of the hips, accelerated to a maximum rotational velocity of 937"/ sec and 1 160?/sec, respectively, 0.065 seconds prior to ball contact. As a result of the body's coordination, the bat also moved around the axis of the trunk, increasing in both angular velocity and linear velocity. The two main components of linear movement were anterior or away from the body in the negative Y direction and downward in the negative."


I thought this article was written so about anyone could understand it easily.


Hope fully the link will get you there so you could read the entire article.

 

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Howard we speak ENGLISH in this country.......LOL

 

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Howard we speak ENGLISH in this country.......LOL

I wish that was true in SoCal - there is a lot of Engrish and Spanglish spoken here... :cap:

 

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Howard we speak ENGLISH in this country.......LOL

Hey Parma, it basically means this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e7p6nvA6po&feature=related

Len

 

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good video, and so much better, all that reading (Howard) gives me a headache

 

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Like in this video, if you get your hips to lead in your swing while your hands are back you WILL be a more powerfull hitter.


Straightleg

First I would just like to say, I had no intention of sparking the great debate on the best way of hitting. Nor did I ever say anything negative about Langenfields abilities.

I do however, still believe that straighlegs comment is a little misleading. Watch her back elbow it moves as soon as the hips do. It is connected and that is where I believe the power you are speaking of comes from. I could leave my hands back all day and open my hips, but if I am not connected to my lower half, then I am not going to be powerful.

Now as for making this swing more powerful. Keeping everything else the same picuture her going to toe touch and driving with the back leg to turn the hip????

" I didn't teach Crystl how to hit.... I helped her hit it harder!!"" - Howard Carrier

I have heard him say it 100 times

 

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good video, and so much better, all that reading (Howard) gives me a headache

:lmao::lmao::lmao:
Len

 

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good video, and so much better, all that reading (Howard) gives me a headache

We will put it together for you this weekend at the clinic.

The ability to fine tune the swing is what makes some hitters a step above the rest as we discussed yesterday.

Crystl has been tested on the plates and understand what she feels and how to teach it. This is why we teach the matrix drill as it is ground up and in sequence in our opinion.

Those that have read the Talent Code can see where this type of practice can produce the desired results, provided they actually practice.

Get you daughter to read the book to you

See you this weekend.

 

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First I would just like to say, I had no intention of sparking the great debate on the best way of hitting. Nor did I ever say anything negative about Langenfields abilities.
I do however, still believe that straighlegs comment is a little misleading. Watch her back elbow it moves as soon as the hips do. It is connected and that is where I believe the power you are speaking of comes from. I could leave my hands back all day and open my hips, but if I am not connected to my lower half, then I am not going to be powerful.
Now as for making this swing more powerful. Keeping everything else the same picuture her going to toe touch and driving with the back leg to turn the hip????
" I didn't teach Crystl how to hit.... I helped her hit it harder!!"" - Howard Carrier
I have heard him say it 100 times

This is what I meant by misunderstanding. Straightleg never mentions the elbow, he mentions the hands. This was never a thread about a debate on the best way of hitting. Straightleg simply makes a statement about more power in a swing. Also, the elbow does not start as soon as the hips turn. There is a very slight delay which makes sense considering the body is not a solid rigid system. The elbow does catch up quickly however in getting connected. This is why I stated that Howard would not dispute Straightleg's claim, and he did not because he understood what Straightleg meant.
In your second post you contradict yourself. The first thing you state is:

The back elbow needs to move prior to the hip rotating or you will lose power.

The second thing you state is:

Look at her back elbow and how it stays connected with her back hip as it comes through. ( The elbow is actually just a little late at first but cacthes up very quickly)

I believe the first statement to be false but the part in the parenthesis of the second statement to be true. In all honesty I have a tough time believing that Miss Bustos claims to start the elbow before the hips in order to produce more power. I hope she's not saying that because it is simply not true. Starting the elbow before the hips would be a reduction in torque, hence a reduction in angular momentum, and the result would be a reduction in bat speed creating less power, because the hitter would be uncoiling the upper part of the body before uncoiling the lower part of the body. And finally, Howard also states in one of his posts "The shoulders and arms, following the lead of the hips" which means that the hips do indeed lead the forward swing after heal plant, therefore Straightleg's statement is not misleading, and that is coming from the very hitting instructor you help at clinics.
　
Len