Fast Hands ??

So I have had several coaches come up to me while my DD was in the cage or hitting off a tee and comment on how she has "Fast Hands" . It sounds like a compliment but I will be darned if I know what the heck it means and why it is supposed to be good ?

Fast hands equates to a quick swing. Speed plus mass cemented by proper mechanics makes for a powerful combination. Fast hands can present their own set of issues. Proper hand path, Timing, and discipline in her hitting zone should become her top priority IMHO.


Tim

It is great to have bat speed. The trick is to turn connected with the fast bat.
Dont let the upper body get ahead of the lower body



Straightleg

See SL's signature quote ... "Hips go forward / hands go back" ... that is what leads to "fast hands". Basically, it's a throwing mentality ... at the point where some have a 'hitch' in their swing, the timing is that as the tail bone goes forward (or use hips as a reference if you prefer), the hands go back (... or think in terms of the rear upper arm instead of the hands ... from a balance or stretch perspective).

If you bring your hips rearward with your hands, and fire your swing from there, then you'll have what is termed as "slow hands" ... if you coil over your rear leg without moving forward, and fire your swing from there, then you'll again have what is referred to as "slow hands" ... but if you move your hips forward, as in forward-by-coiling (or striding), as the hands go rearward, and fire your swing from there, then you can have what is referred to as "fast hands".

Basically, "fast hands" is about having the sequence correct.

FiveFrameSwing said:

See SL's signature quote ... "Hips go forward / hands go back" ... that is what leads to "fast hands". Basically, it's a throwing mentality ... at the point where some have a 'hitch' in their swing, the timing is that as the tail bone goes forward (or use hips as a reference if you prefer), the hands go back (... or think in terms of the rear upper arm instead of the hands ... from a balance or stretch perspective).

If you bring your hips rearward with your hands, and fire your swing from there, then you'll have what is termed as "slow hands" ... if you coil over your rear leg without moving forward, and fire your swing from there, then you'll again have what is referred to as "slow hands" ... but if you move your hips forward, as in forward-by-coiling (or striding), as the hands go rearward, and fire your swing from there, then you can have what is referred to as "fast hands".

Basically, "fast hands" is about having the sequence correct.

Click to expand...

Can you toss in a video of this? I feel an epiphany comeing on and just want to confirm it visually.

undergroundga said:

Can you toss in a video of this? I feel an epiphany comeing on and just want to confirm it visually.

Click to expand...

Let me try a few quick examples …

First, the hands don’t physically have to go rearward … the rear upper arm can simply move rotationally towards your backside, much like in drawing back a bow of a bow-and-arrow … think in terms of the cue of “walking away from the hands”. In the clip below, see if you can view the rear upper arm moving back towards the direction of the rear butt cheek … while the rear hip is brought forward. In a sense he has used his rear upper arm to build stretch … to keep balance … to build body coil … to prepare to throw with his body ... a throw that will be faster because of the hips brought forward with a build-up of stretch ... a throw that can grab a ride on the lower body train that is about to create a dynamic stretch-and-fire acceleration.



One can also hitch … i.e., pump their hands down then up … and in the process have their rear hip (tail bone) move forward while the hands remain in basically the same spot … and the ‘feel’ can be that of bringing the hands back in preparation to make a throw. A hitch can serve as a viable trigger to separate the 'hips' and 'hands' ... so to speak ... that is, a hitch, even a small hitch, can be used to give a feel of throwing, while obtaining this valuable sequence.



Here’s an example of a no-stride … you’ll see that the hands haven’t advanced forward towards the ball, but the hips sure have … he has in a sense “walked away from the hands”. He’s set up to have “fast hands”.

Sofast hands is good?
Not to hijack the thread but there is a light bulb above my head that is slowly starting to brighten. So the batter steps foward away from the hands. The hands stay in the same place but the body shifts forward. When the front foot lands the heel comes down and the hips begin uncoiling pulling the hands along with them?

One could nic-pic your description … but I think you have the basic gist.

Yes … having ‘fast hands’ is ‘good’. Basically … having a ‘good sequence’ is ‘good’.

Think of it this way … if you can more quickly take your hands from ‘launch’ to ‘contact’, then you can delay the time necessary to launch your swing. In a sense, you can collect more information about the pitch prior to your launch. You can make a better decision.

There is also the matter of your swing being more powerful … that is, the lower body is about to forcefully accelerate ahead of the upper body (stretch-and-fire), and in the process dramatically increase the ‘stretch’ … and as you sort of described, accelerate the hands forward … in a major way. This sequence, according to Doc (Chris Yeager), leads to the second biggest source of force generation in the elite-level swing … that’s how important the dynamic ‘stretch & fire’ is … that’s how important getting the sequence correct is.

There is more benefit … in that a later launch is considered to allow for greater adjustability wrt pitch location.

Hence you have a swing that … gives you more time, more power, and greater adjustability relative to pitch location. There is a lot to be said for using a good swing sequence.

So once the hips fire will the hands go automatically follow?

Sorry, hit wrong button.
The front hip goes followed by the hands and the back elbow(which is connected to the back hip)?