The rear leg

[mann]

Does a bow supply power to the arrow all the way to its target?

Does a bullet, How about a hand grenade,, an atomic bomb, a punch, a horseshoe, A jet, pull up, a curl, a basketball shot, a tasergun,

 

[Wellphyt]

I don't see any indication that Utley is ERing the femur....constant IR....no shaking in the knee due to contrived ER....

Not sure what you mean by "shaking in the knee due to contrived ER"? Utley is absolutely ERing. He is doing the same action as these hitters, which is the same thing as my dd is doing.

I don't think some understand the concept of "closed chain articulation" as it relates to distal body parts. All of the hitters in these clips are using their butt muscles to ER and abduct the rear leg. Since the rear foot is in a cleat in the dirt, it can't turn back...."closed chain". When the muscles that abduct and ER an unweighted leg fire while the leg is weighted, it does not visibly abduct and ER, it pushes the pelvic bone forward and into rotation.

Occasionally you'll get a clip of a hitter like Trout where the foot slips; showing even more clearly the direction of force that is being applied by the butt muscles.

 

[RayR]

I guess it comes down to whether or not you believe the rear femur and rear hip are changing their relationship or is any ER of the femur you see simply a byproduct of the back twisting away from the pitcher as part of the load....and whether you believe the swing is hip driven or rear leg driven....

 

[straightleg]

I guess it comes down to whether or not you believe the rear femur and rear hip are changing their relationship or is any ER of the femur you see simply a byproduct of the back twisting away from the pitcher as part of the load....and whether you believe the swing is hip driven or rear leg driven....[/QUOTE]




I believe both

SL

 

[RayR]

Both as in the rear hip and rear leg move as a unit rotationally?

 

[Wellphyt]

Here is a golf video explaining how the back leg works. This guy is saying the same thing as sevam1 says in his video and the same thing that Miyahira says in his article. The feet together drill this guy shows is a good drill to help kids feel the correct back leg action. Just swing a bat instead of a golf club. Start with feet together and gradually move the feet apart. Try and not unweight the back foot on purpose. When done correctly at full speed, you will find it's virtually impossible to keep the back foot from lifting off the ground heading into impact. One obvious difference is that the impact point is different between a golf ball and a softball, and in most cases the back foot will be unweighted heading into contact when swinging a bat.

The key moment when doing the drill is the moment of transition when the pelvis changes from turning back to turning forward. See the Hamilton clip showing the back foot at the moment of transition. The direction of pressure at the moment of transition is back towards the catcher. That backward directional pressure is the butt muscles leveraging the ground via the rear leg to unwind the pelvis or launch the pelvis into the forward weight shift.

 

[NoonTime]

Hey Wellphyt,
Welcome back to the discussions! I hope your DD is doing well! Have you been following this whole thread? Did you see my exercise here:
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-technical/12372-rear-leg-12.html#post146185

PStein was kind enough to answer my one question with regards to adduction
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-technical/12372-rear-leg-12.html#post146206

but can you also give me your thoughts on the experiment and also the question of if when one adducts as I am describing if the femur also becomes IR'd?

If I start in a position where my rear leg is flexed and abducted, is it also starting in an externally rotated position?

If from there I use the muscles to adduct (keeping my foot on the ground), while staying flexed... my femur adducts, but does it change it's position relative to being in ER or IR? Would it now be said to be in a position of being internally rotated if I adducted it far enough... i.e. if I adduct it part way do I get back to neutral with regards to being in ER/IR... and then if I adduct it more does it go into IR?

(during all this my foot is not turning on the ground, nor are my hips turning or shifting laterally to either side, I am just asking about the change in position when I adduct from a flexed, abducted starting spot)
Cheers,
NoonTime

 

[HYP]

Yes i agree that that the path to the ball must be being decided early, that is why my focus has shifted this year to the very start of the swing.
You get that part? "the start"
When a player has bat wrap, gets on a plane way behind themselves, there is now way to adjust, so i get that you must reconize early.

My point is the Power to the ball, is not complete, till contact, (approx., so i do not get misquoted)
The back leg, is not suppling power to the whole swing, till contact, is it?

No it is not. The barrel is gone. The energy has been produced. The swing happens pretty quick. I think a study said about .167 secs.

 

[HYP]

Yes i agree that that the path to the ball must be being decided early, that is why my focus has shifted this year to the very start of the swing.
You get that part? "the start"
When a player has bat wrap, gets on a plane way behind themselves, there is now way to adjust, so i get that you must reconize early.

My point is the Power to the ball, is not complete, till contact, (approx., so i do not get misquoted)
The back leg, is not suppling power to the whole swing, till contact, is it?

No it is not. The barrel is gone. The energy has been produced. The swing happens pretty quick. I think a study said about .167 secs.

 

[tom.guerry]

Pujols tries some rear hip ER and the move:

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j413/abathletics/Fun/Pujols-Fall-Avatar.gif