Dan is correct I do not recommend this device or drill as the heels must be used through out the swing for maximum power to be generated. Being balanced is not accomplished by the heels of the shoes being off the ground. Look at the coaches corner...Difference of opinion for a post with Ifubuiltit for balance details.
Howard
Re: Power Beam Hitting Aid
Reply #12 - 12/28/07 at 12:10am Quote Modify Remove
Hitter 23 we know each other and you asked my opinion... I'm not knocking the concept however reality is not reached using this product in my opinion. First it would have to be at least 12 inches wide minimum or more for most kids not just girls. And that surface would have to be 36 inches in length to accommodate both boys and girl hitters. The front foot needs a landing area that allows the lead foot to plant so the toe and the heel can completely get down and have a place to settle down, so to speak, to create a foundation to rotate on or block the hip into rotation.
Next the back foot needs to roll inside on the inside edge of the foot so the weight of the knee is going inside the back leg or the knee being inside the back foot allows it the knee to go under and forward as you rotate. You will see a skipping action or the back foot totally leave the ground or slide forward under the hitter. Without non skid this would or could cause you to slip. Without the platform being wide enough this could not happen. This could promote squishing the bug as you could rotate on the toe because you can not keep the inside edge of your foot engaged on the platform.
As far as the balance...stepping, striding with a bent, flexed front knee has nothing to do with the surface you are actually landing on. It has to do with going to toe touch on a flexed front knee regardless of the surface you are stepping on. Without the knee being flexed the hips will not move forward and the weight will not move inside the back foot knee. Consider the surface you actually have in the batters box and what is it remotely similar to the beam or the beam flexing? Is the ground flexing while you are going to toe touch?
Consider Carol whom I know and I doubt in my opinion would use a 2x4 because she would not have the foot i.e. toe being touched down without the heel being planted as she uses RVP techniques. She would not have the hitter be on just their toe without the heel being down also. Now if this was prior to 2004 then maybe she did it but in my opinion she stopped doing it after Dec. 2004, when she met Don Slaught.
I have seen this technique of using the 2x4 being used at clinics in this area and without the heel being planted on the lead foot however how could you block the front hip and acheive rotation properly. This is promoting squishing the bug. This is as bad as promoting to swing level or down on the ball. No one I know of at the ISF or NPF level promote this and no one on TEAM USA uses or promotes this technique but we do in this area of the country.
You would think the NFCA education taking place and or Candrea or Enquist having their success by not swinging down or level on the ball we would listen and learn from the best of the best.
However they do teach swinging at a slight angle to match the plane of the incoming pitch. This is not a new concept except in this area of the country. We are still in some respects locked into the 1986 era of hitting.
A college coach here locally said, "It is not the distance between home and first base that is the greatest distance, it is the distance between your two ears," and "When you stop learning it is over as a coach!"
You want to feel balanced and flexed by bending at the waist first and then softening the knees in that sequence and step on a flexed front knee, no matter what surface you are landing on and you are on your way....but Hitter 23 you knew that...Nat Bug hit her first home run this year in college on her first at bat!
Howard