Thread: Front Side Resistance

Here are images of Williams' lower half and Hamilton. Their forward hip turn is timed with the opening of the front side. They stay closed until they reach the point of transition when their hips reverse and begin to turn forward. Many kids will open their front side way before their hips begin to turn forward. IMO having a goal of letting the forward hip turn open up the front side can pay dividends.

ted closed to open.JPG

hamilton closed to open.JPG

Originally Posted by MTS

No one would take shots if you just eased up on the whole "the way I teach it is the best way and everyone else's way sucks" routine you have been shelling out recently.....especially when you admit you were not even teaching the back leg action the same way others do.....but thought you were.....

Carry on

Could you please explain the part in bold? What back leg action am I not teaching that I thought I was?

Also for the record, I agree a lot with what several other posters on here teach. Others I agree with some of the time but not all of the time. I can't think of anyone that I don't agree with at least some of time.

Also, thanks for bringing up my DD's back foot. It got me thinking more about what I can do to try and compensate for her knee to hip alignment issue that she was born with.

Originally Posted by MTS

No one would take shots if you just eased up on the whole "the way I teach it is the best way and everyone else's way sucks" routine you have been shelling out recently.....especially when you admit you were not even teaching the back leg action the same way others do.....but thought you were.....

Carry on

IMO Wellphyt gives a reasonable explanations for why he believes what he believes. You do as well. Enjoy posts from the both of you.

Originally Posted by tom.guerry

see the ted/wassup youtube:

ted williams swing in slo motion with breakdown of rotational mechanics - YouTube

See phase 2 around 40 sec mark:

While front foot opens there is a forward push using rear foot as base and "pull hands back to wind upper body"

This upper body resistance/synch is the key regardless of when/whether front foot opens.

REAR side resistance

Thank you Tom. Feel free to add more.

Originally Posted by MTS

You mentioned that you had taught your daughter to turn the back knee down and in as part of the Elvis move.....and thought it was the wrong path.....no one advised anywhere on this board that the Elvis move has you actively turning the back knee down and in....

Thanks for the clarification. I'm not going to go back and dig up every single quote that I've ever written on here about the back leg. Instead I'll save myself some time and simply clarify my view on the back leg. I believe I have been consistent in talking about maintaining pressure at the back foot until the hips reverse. When I was teaching my DD to simultaneously drop the front heel while lifting the back heel (my definition of the Elvis), it promoted an action where her hips would not begin to turn forward until she performed the "Elvis". I view the "Elvis" move as an active use of the back leg. IMO there is little to no distinction between doing the "Elvis" move and turning the back knee down-and-in. When performing the "Elvis" move, the back knee does in fact begin to turn in.

I abandoned the "Elvis" move in favor of maintaining pressure at the back foot until the hips transition from turning back to turning forward. IOW IMO it is much better to have the weight shift cause the "Elvis" move, than it is to have the "Elvis" move cause the weight shift.

Originally Posted by tom.guerry

see the ted/wassup youtube:

ted williams swing in slo motion with breakdown of rotational mechanics - YouTube

See phase 2 around 40 sec mark:

While front foot opens there is a forward push using rear foot as base and "pull hands back to wind upper body"

This upper body resistance/synch is the key regardless of when/whether front foot opens.

REAR side resistance

I've seen this video before and IMO it is a very poor interpretation of what Ted said he did. Just one more instance of someone ignoring what Ted said he did and using their own believe system to describe what Ted did. One of the biggest revelations I had after reading "TSOH", was how so much of what Ted said has been distorted over the years.

Probably the most blatant distortion is the "you have to go back before you can go forward" cue that so many instructors and coaches use. Every time I've seen this cue used by D1 coaches, it's always accompanied by the coaches shifting weight onto the back foot; which is not at all what Ted meant.

Regarding the video, I have never read anything from Ted saying he "used his rear foot to push forward". IMO he would not agree that he was actively pushing forward with his back foot during the stride, or actively pushing with his rear foot to open his hips. When I hear the term "pushing with the back foot" I envision a kid actively and forcefully pushing off the ground with their rear foot. That's not what Ted did.

During the stride he specifically said that you fight against coming forward. You should only come forward enough to keep yourself balanced. That doesn't sound like an active push off the ground to me.

Then there is the weight shift or opening of the hips. Ted always describes that action as using the hips or the butt.