Thread: dd swing what needs improving

Well said:

"My focus is on getting the kids to feel and use ground reaction forces. Which is what this drill by BM does. The main purpose of this drill is to teach the kids to hold onto the pressure at the back foot when the hips reverse. "

This drill forces you out of/prevents (eliteMLB/HLBB/Williams) pattern by losing resistance from upper body by ER at the rear hip. The Pattern requires ongoing IR, not IR-ER-IR.

see IR-ER-IR here:

http://i53.tinypic.com/wuqe5d.gif

Originally Posted by tom.guerry

Well said:

"My focus is on getting the kids to feel and use ground reaction forces. Which is what this drill by BM does. The main purpose of this drill is to teach the kids to hold onto the pressure at the back foot when the hips reverse. "

This drill forces you out of/prevents (eliteMLB/HLBB/Williams) pattern by losing resistance from upper body by ER at the rear hip. The Pattern requires ongoing IR, not IR-ER-IR.

see IR-ER-IR here:

http://i53.tinypic.com/wuqe5d.gif

The folks at HI have spent a year trying to discredit BM and what has been termed "The Move". For those who want to understand how the back leg/foot should work in a high level swing; Google "Sevam1 The Secret In The Dirt".

Whenever you see a hitter's back foot slip, it will always slip outwards. The reason it slips outwards is because that is the direction of the pressure at the back foot. BM's drill is designed to help kids feel what it means to hold onto that pressure during the transition when the hips reverse. Sevam1 explains all this in his video.

Originally Posted by Wellphyt

The folks at HI have spent a year trying to discredit BM and what has been termed "The Move". For those who want to understand how the back leg/foot should work in a high level swing; Google "Sevam1 The Secret In The Dirt".

Whenever you see a hitter's back foot slip, it will always slip outwards. The reason it slips outwards is because that is the direction of the pressure at the back foot. BM's drill is designed to help kids feel what it means to hold onto that pressure during the transition when the hips reverse. Sevam1 explains all this in his video.

Is this where you say the pressure should be on the outside edge of the foot again?

Originally Posted by cshilt

Is this where you say the pressure should be on the outside edge of the foot again?

Where did I say the pressure should be on the outside edge of the foot? I believe I have consistently said that the pressure is in an outward "direction". I know it's common to teach kids to keep the weight on the "inside edge" of the back foot and not let the weight shift back onto the outside edge. For the most part I try and stay away from teaching "inside/outside" edge displacement. My focus is on the "direction" of pressure at the back foot during the coil and the uncoil; as well as how to stay balanced when the front foot is lifted to cock the hips. My experience is that if kids get those two things correct, the weight at the back foot automatically goes to the inside edge when the front foot is lifted.

In my DD's case, she used to literally bend her back knee and lean back some when she lifted her front foot. Now she knows that the way to stay balanced after she lifts her front foot is to let her torso/head come forward. She doesn't purposefully try to come forward by pushing off the back foot; she just comes forward enough to keep her head close to centered between her feet. When a hitter comes forward after they pick up their front foot, the weight automatically goes to the inside edge of the back foot; right?

If a hitter coils as they come forward, they should feel pressure at the back foot in an outward direction because the hips are being turned against a firm rear leg. I think most would agree to that. I believe even Tom is on record as agreeing with that. The question is, what happens at the transition when the hips reverse and begin to turn forward? Sevam1, myself and many others believe that when the hips reverse, the pressure at the back foot at the moment of transition, remains in an outward direction.

Originally Posted by jbooth

Anatomically speaking, which is what Tom Guerry always does, it is a pivot point. From a physics aspect as to how the leg makes the torso rotate, the rear hip joint is NOT the pivot point. The femur pivots in the pelvic joint, but both feet are on the ground so the pelvic bone and torso rotate around the spine.

You do NOT sit on top of the back leg (femur) and pivot. You coil the front hip inward, and then push from the rear butt cheek. This causes anatomical pivot in the rear hip joint, but the resulting movement is a shift and rotation of the torso.

Agree. My problem with the rear hip pivot point concept as it relates to hitting is that the kids I have seen following the concept lean backwards in an attempt to literally rotate around the rear hip as if the center of axis is the rear hip. If you look at the Williams clip or any MLB hitter, the rear thigh begins to turn forward along with the hips. Seems to me that in order for the rear hip to be the center-of-axis the rear thigh would need to remain facing homeplate while the hips turn forward; like a gate on a post.

Wellphyt great explanation of outward pressure, while remaining on the inside edge of rear foot. I use an explanation similar to this when I get a player who is a severe bug squisher, and have had success.

Originally Posted by Wellphyt

Where did I say the pressure should be on the outside edge of the foot? I believe I have consistently said that the pressure is in an outward "direction". I know it's common to teach kids to keep the weight on the "inside edge" of the back foot and not let the weight shift back onto the outside edge. For the most part I try and stay away from teaching "inside/outside" edge displacement. My focus is on the "direction" of pressure at the back foot during the coil and the uncoil; as well as how to stay balanced when the front foot is lifted to cock the hips. My experience is that if kids get those two things correct, the weight at the back foot automatically goes to the inside edge when the front foot is lifted.

In my DD's case, she used to literally bend her back knee and lean back some when she lifted her front foot. Now she knows that the way to stay balanced after she lifts her front foot is to let her torso/head come forward. She doesn't purposefully try to come forward by pushing off the back foot; she just comes forward enough to keep her head close to centered between her feet. When a hitter comes forward after they pick up their front foot, the weight automatically goes to the inside edge of the back foot; right?

If a hitter coils as they come forward, they should feel pressure at the back foot in an outward direction because the hips are being turned against a firm rear leg. I think most would agree to that. I believe even Tom is on record as agreeing with that. The question is, what happens at the transition when the hips reverse and begin to turn forward? Sevam1, myself and many others believe that when the hips reverse, the pressure at the back foot at the moment of transition, remains in an outward direction.

Thanks for the clarification on your stance. It seems as though I misunderstood you when I previously asked you this question.

I wouldn't lose focus of inside/outside edge displacement, though. This is part of how we teach the stance and we do, in fact, place some emphasis on inside edge displacement. We call it eversion. Its an important part of how we teach balance as well.

I personally like to instruct a slightly pigeon-toed placement of the feet in stance to avoid leaking the coil as demonstrated in the clip you provided.