POSTURE – definition – examples – drills

[julray]

Julray, when you say posture "as per pitch location" is this part of getting leveraged fyb ? IMO the fyb hitting position happens on every pitch and posture will change based on pitch location but not until after a fyb leveraged position is established.

Precisely... what happens(posture) prior to toe touch/heel plant (FYB) is mostly batter stance style... posture established at toe touch/heel plant and maintained through out the swing is what matters. And that all depends on pitch location.

 

[julray]

I think the hands and legs are in charge of side bending and forward bend more. I don’t think guys tilt with their torso more or less to get on plane. I think the hands/legs and butt adjust. I don’t think it’s a function of the torso. We can agree to disagree.

All good with me, wouldn’t expect everybody to agree with me. Just not sure why anybody would bend at the waist and not use their torso... seems terribly inefficient to me? Anyway my point was not about how somebody bends at the waist, it’s the fact that they do to get on plane.. I think you agree.

 

[julray]

An explanation of why the young ones struggle with posture

- EliteBaseball.TV- Little League World Series and Keeping your Eye on the Ball

I don’t know if I totally agree with Stone on why young ones have trouble maintaining posture.. but nice explanation on what posture is and how why it’s important to maintain through out the swing. It’s all about optimal bat path

 

[TDS]

Precisely... what happens(posture) prior to toe touch/heel plant (FYB) is mostly batter stance style... posture established at toe touch/heel plant and maintained through out the swing is what matters. And that all depends on pitch location.

Yea, thats what I use to think as well.. The pre-pitch actions are what allows the hitter to be dynamically balanced while getting fyb..

Compare Bonds movement to this young man... Do you think his pre-pitch actions would have allowed him to sit off-speed like Bonds ?

 

[julray]

Yea, thats what I use to think as well.. The pre-pitch actions are what allows the hitter to be dynamically balanced while getting fyb..

Compare Bonds movement to this young man... Do you think his pre-pitch actions would have allowed him to sit off-speed like Bonds ?

TBH I am not seeing his pre pitch actions.. the pitch is already on the way. I think his pre pitch actions mean very little, unless its some completely ridiculous stance. First thing I would suggest to this young man is to be a little lighter on the front foot.... stop lunging. I'm not saying pre toe touch/heel plant actions are not important.. what I am saying is the posture that determines bat path is established at toe touch/heel plant, determines bat path.. if you maintain that posture through out your swing you will be in good shape. Batters stance is just style.. stand tall, stick your butt out, put your hands two feet above your head (exaggerating) .. who cares unless you 1. get to a good FYB position.. 2. establish good posture in relation to pitch location, 3. Maintain this posture throughout your swing.. IMO, at a high level that's 90% of the swing mechanically speaking. If you can get a kid to perfect that, they will be in good shape.. mechanically speaking

 

[fanboi22]

Chopping down is what JD Martinez did prior to his swing adjustment... after swing adjustment the hands still did the same thing, but he established better posture and sequence. JD more successful with the "chopping down " swing or the later?

Ever hear a pro talk about half of the concepts you talk about? With all due respect I agree with most of it. Some things are obvious.. lateral tilt, aligning shoulders with plane of pitch is one of them. In the Miggy vid you posted .. you can't see how his shoulders are adjusting. Again I keep referring to shoulders.. magic happens at the waist when establishing posture.. but of course other body parts support that "bend" or "non bend".

The shoulders will work around the spine period, I agree. And proper posture will dictate proper bat path. I don't just want my shoulders rotating around the spine.. I want them to stay behind and through the ball.. if not, then I am swinging around the ball and not through. Good luck hitting line drive missiles with that approach

Again the shoulders are a measuring stick.. it's not about them doing so much.

Why are you so fixated on dropping the back shoulder, I'm not talking about dropping the back shoulder. You need to explain why you think establishing posture has anything to do with the back shoulder. The plane of the shoulders(as a result of tilt at the waist) will drop or stay level depending on pitch location. Back shoulder only drops after launch... again depending on pitch location

Yep tilt, hands to the ball.. which normally is down because that's where the strike zone is... if no tilt then you are just chopping down on the ball.. AKA JD Martinez original swing

If one is actively laterally tilting or side bending. That’s dropping the back shoulder. It’s should be a result of hand path.

heres Mike talking about some of that and how to fix the back shoulder drop and how lateral tilt is the culprit. The thought is level shoulders and ‘down to’ or ‘on top’. I know it’s not what you see. But neither was TTB.



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For some reason I don’t think Trout knows what he does. A lot of what he says sounds like what he was coached as feels. So not sure I can take him as his work. Like Josh D who articulates feels and reals.

My question is on how the cans are the driver of this action. Sure mentally the brain will tell the hands where to get the ball, but my DD is all over dropping her hands from the ‘plane of the shoulders’ to go get the pitch. IMO the torso and core which I think we agree drives the swing has to happen pulling the hands around. If the hands aren’t in a good starting spot then bad things can happen.

If there is a kinematic sequence to be followed how can the hands lead? I know you say the hands will get ahead shortly after and I don’t disagree. But I feel my body,core, start that process.

If I just stand straight up I can hold a bat and swing with no posture and get the bat where I want but if I don’t want to chop down at it I need to lower my hands to the ball.

Now if I put tilt in play then I can stay behind and thru the ball. That is why I feel the tilt has to happen first by the firing core to get the hands down to from my hand starting position.

WRT the FYB I also tried to tilt my posture with my weight on the front foot and 50/50. I could not get the proper tilt from the front foot. You cannot achieve lateral tilt with only one effective front hip. You need the rear. It a bit better 50/50 but only true tilt and proper posture is if you are starting from that FYB as shown a lot with Casey smith vids.

In my real life example my Dd is not getting the proper tilt and is part of the issue that she doesn’t have good posture and has dropping hands and more 50/50. When she gets leveraged and keeps good posture it results in better tilt and with a proper hands set allows her to come down and up thru the ball.

I feel hands are independent after launch to go get the outside or wild pitches that the body just can’t align with very easily. This is where athleticism comes in. Just my opinion obviously. Everyone have a good weekend. Hope we don’t get rained out.

 

[BigSkyHi]

I don’t know if I totally agree with Stone on why young ones have trouble maintaining posture.. but nice explanation on what posture is and how why it’s important to maintain through out the swing. It’s all about optimal bat path

I relate it to basketball. If you shoot a medicine ball, you are on even terms with them.

 

[FP26]

TBH I am not seeing his pre pitch actions.. the pitch is already on the way. I think his pre pitch actions mean very little, unless its some completely ridiculous stance. First thing I would suggest to this young man is to be a little lighter on the front foot.... stop lunging. I'm not saying pre toe touch/heel plant actions are not important.. what I am saying is the posture that determines bat path is established at toe touch/heel plant, determines bat path.. if you maintain that posture through out your swing you will be in good shape. Batters stance is just style.. stand tall, stick your butt out, put your hands two feet above your head (exaggerating) .. who cares unless you 1. get to a good FYB position.. 2. establish good posture in relation to pitch location, 3. Maintain this posture throughout your swing.. IMO, at a high level that's 90% of the swing mechanically speaking. If you can get a kid to perfect that, they will be in good shape.. mechanically speaking

What happens prior to toe touch is definitely important. I don't think anyone is debating that. It's just that some people view "style" as a bad word for some reason. Personally I have never been able to figure out why... IMO there is no way to debate that these two hitters below don't have dramatically different upfront actions. In both cases those actions, and specifically the timing of those actions, are important to their overall success. Coaches would be wise to allow their hitters to develop their own patterns and help them when/if needed.

 

[julray]

What happens prior to toe touch is definitely important. I don't think anyone is debating that. It's just that some people view "style" as a bad word for some reason. Personally I have never been able to figure out why... IMO there is no way to debate that these two hitters below don't have dramatically different upfront actions. In both cases those actions, and specifically the timing of those actions, are important to their overall success. Coaches would be wise to allow their hitters to develop their own patterns and help them when/if needed.

• Batters stance to me is all style.. and I'm not saying some funky batters stance can't hinder the overall swing.
• How a hitter gets to toe touch/heel plant is all about the hitters timing IMO. Hitters use different styles/methods to get their timing down correct. Bo Bichette goes to no stride on 2 strikes, but he still arrives in the same FYB position as his stride move. As long as the hitter gets to FYB on time, then all good. Young hitters who having trouble with their timing may want to start slow and early.. some do not have that control, so a no stride or smaller move might be helpful. I found no stride and a smaller mover(starting open) to be really helpful for those hitters who step in the bucket

 

[FP26]

• Batters stance to me is all style.. and I'm not saying some funky batters stance can't hinder the overall swing.
• How a hitter gets to toe touch/heel plant is all about the hitters timing IMO. Hitters use different styles/methods to get their timing down correct. Bo Bichette goes to no stride on 2 strikes, but he still arrives in the same FYB position as his stride move. As long as the hitter gets to FYB on time, then all good. Young hitters who having trouble with their timing may want to start slow and early.. some do not have that control, so a no stride or smaller move might be helpful. I found no stride and a smaller mover(starting open) to be really helpful for those hitters who step in the bucket

No argument here...