Thread: dd swing what needs improving

Originally Posted by cshilt

I don't think weight shift should be thought of in spatial terms of back then forward, as that can be confusing. Certainly there are examples of hitters who's hips and shoulders move backwards, just as there are examples of hitters who's hips and shoulders stay in relatively the same spot while they perform a weight shift. I think Ripken's game swing is an example of the former. Here is another:


Start at 44 seconds.

To me weight shift is transferring the weight to the back leg (thus storing the energy "back") before shifting it back to the front leg as part of the swing.

Cshilt ... thank you for posting this. I get a lot of value out of watching hitter's pre-swing movements.

Originally Posted by Bouldersdad

Hitting drill from Alabama, 13 long balls in 2 weekends. Notice the load, weight shift and elvis move, hand separation at load, toe touch. In another of the drills they were teaching keeping alot of the weight back on the back leg but you can see how it transfers thru at weight shift. If the best softball team in the country uses it I think its a no brainer to endorse it.

Tim

Tim do you think when they do this drill they put any emphasis on on keeping the weight on the inside edge of the rear foot? Or is it strictly for feeling the weight transfer, I have used this drill some but with younger kids <12u they tend to get out of balance a little. Would you think that following this drill with Face the Fire drill would be a good sequence, I have done that some it seems to help them understand a little better. Just curious what your thoughts are on that.

Originally Posted by stiksdad

Tim do you think when they do this drill they put any emphasis on on keeping the weight on the inside edge of the rear foot? Or is it strictly for feeling the weight transfer, I have used this drill some but with younger kids <12u they tend to get out of balance a little. Would you think that following this drill with Face the Fire drill would be a good sequence, I have done that some it seems to help them understand a little better. Just curious what your thoughts are on that.

I call that the "kick stride" drill. But I wouldn't do that little pause at toe touch. That defeats the purpose of the weight shift. Of course, they may be doing it for a different purpose.

Originally Posted by FiveFrameSwing

Wellphyt ... isn't it true that Ted was already 'balanced' prior to his weight shift?

I view balance two different ways when it comes to hitting. There is the balance in the stance that Howard and his fans emphasize. Then there is dynamic balance, which begins as soon as the front foot is lifted to cock the hips. I've found dynamic balance to be the biggest challenge to get right. Kids can be balanced in their stance, and then get out of balance when they pick up their front foot. The pros are able to keep their head close to centered between their feet at least up until contact.

Originally Posted by Bouldersdad

Hitting drill from Alabama, 13 long balls in 2 weekends. Notice the load, weight shift and elvis move, hand separation at load, toe touch. In another of the drills they were teaching keeping alot of the weight back on the back leg but you can see how it transfers thru at weight shift. If the best softball team in the country uses it I think its a no brainer to endorse it.

This is a nice drill, sort of takes the matrix/slow mo drill to the next level.

One minor bit of disagreement, though. I'd tend to agree with what Wellphyt has been putting forth: it's better to think about it less as an Elvis "move" and more as an Elvis "result" of other more important actions.

Tim, or anyone else, can you provide the definitive definition of the Elvis move? As part of your instruction, do you actively teach front heel down back heel up as something hitters should think about or actively do or is it a checkpoint they see if they get to?

TKS.

Originally Posted by Bouldersdad

Hitting drill from Alabama, 13 long balls in 2 weekends. Notice the load, weight shift and elvis move, hand separation at load, toe touch. In another of the drills they were teaching keeping alot of the weight back on the back leg but you can see how it transfers thru at weight shift. If the best softball team in the country uses it I think its a no brainer to endorse it.

Tim

My daughter has been to the AL camp a number of times, the drill has up to 5 parts:
1. Bring the front ankle to the back knee, then stride and swing, what you see on the video,
2. Bring the front ankle to the back ankle, then stride swing,
3. Bring the front foot next to the back foot tap the ground with the toe of the front foot then stride and
swing,
4. You use normal swing at the beginning and bring the back knee past the front knee pointing at the pitcher,
5. They show you can combine drill 2 & 4 to get the feel of load and follow through.

The purpose is to gather momentum in the load and continue in the direction of the follow through.