Rear Femur ....

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

Oct 13, 2014
5,471
113
South Cali
Informative... so would the cue be to " keep the back foot grounded let the front hip pull the back leg"?

I recently worked with DD on something similar . The cue was to not push with the back foot or rotate the back knee but to " let the knee sink and rotate the BACK HIP" while keeping the back foot flat to the ground and letting your momentum pull the back foot up.

She was casting a bit before . So I figured the weight was to far back causing this. It has gotten better but I would like to know if that the right training cue.
 
May 3, 2014
2,149
83
Glute yes. Not automatically getting scap tight. But, if it works for you like that then go with it. You can coil the rear hip without using the scap. Try to coil and then pull back the scap. See if that feels different.
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
Manny%20Drill_zpsw7dotii6.gif

www.GIFCreator.me_mHhKRo_zpsdzocnxkm.gif
 
Oct 13, 2014
5,471
113
South Cali
My scap is getting tight because my core was stretching which made my scap tighten. But the feel was just bringing the back hip around and having a feeling of " deadening the rear foot". The foot felt pulled. I feel like I look like the Manny clip with a lot less flexibility and muscles and Swag etc. etc. haha.

Does this sound like I'm doing it right?
 
May 3, 2014
2,149
83
Gotta be honest. Not feeling it that way. Coiling the rear hip does not tighten my scap unless I turn my torso at the same time which I don't think you should be doing.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Gotta be honest. Not feeling it that way. Coiling the rear hip does not tighten my scap unless I turn my torso at the same time which I don't think you should be doing.

I would think you would feel the hip coil in your core and the scap tightening would occur when you load your hands, after you coil your hip, then try and keep them there as your lower body moves forward.
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
See if this helps:
tumblr_ooqc7iiduE1usf292o1_100.gif

The First Engine is the lower gear seen above. The First Engine is the rear leg. High level hitters are one-legged, meaning the vast majority of their weight is in/over their rear leg AT LAUNCH. Their lead leg is on the ground. It supplies balance. But it has no significant weight on it at launch. It has no real function in the swing other than to 'catch' the swing so you don't fall over as a result of the momentum created. In the act of 'catching' the swing, the lead leg will provide a 'block' so that the energy created continues around the rear leg and into contact rather than bleeding forward linearly. But it does not actively push back. It blocks.

The rear leg is the driver of the swing, not the hips. The rear leg is loaded by the coil of the hip and the pulling back of the muscles of the back against the leg. A spiral-like load around the rear leg is created. Strong external rotation pressure will be felt by the rear foot at the ground. This pressure is caused by the coiling hip. It is not caused by any external rotation of the leg. In fact, this hip coiling action is countered by the leg's INTERNAL Rotation. A rag wring-like load is created in the rear hip socket. The hip is coiling rearward as the leg tries to turn forward. A bind is created. This means, the rear leg, while attempting to internally rotate actually has strong external rotation pressure applied to it because of the strength of the coiling hip. The rear hip coil is done by the rear hip socket coiling around the ball of the rear femur. The pelvis is a solid bone so the entire pelvis will pivot as this coiling occurs in the rear hip socket. However, the pivot point of the pelvis' turn is the rear hip socket. It is not the center of the pelvis which would happen if the hitter swung around a spinal axis.

As the hitter picks up his lead leg and starts to move out, his back muscles will begin to counter that forward momentum by pulling rearward in the same direction of the hip's coil. This action is shown well by this clip...
tumblr_ooqccf2dVW1usf292o1_250.gif

I call the above the 'Missing Frames'. Because they are missing in swings that are not high level. Most amateurs and many pros do not have the missing frames. But every great hitter has them.

Pedroia is using his back muscles to ARREST his forward momentum. That action creates a strong rubber band-like stretch around the leg. The rag wring-like stretch that was already established in his rear hip socket is enhanced by the muscles of the lower back and scap pulling rearward against his forward momentum. This action maintains the corner, around which the barrel is launched. Without this action the hitter would turn forward too soon and thereby bleed his stretch. Notice his center of gravity lowering. That happens as a result of the back working to arrest the momentum. The degree the center of gravity lower varies and it is mostly based on the hitters original stance and the amount of forward momentum he uses. But no matter, the hitters goal is to 'stay on the barstool'. Stay on his pedestal which is his rear leg. The hitter does not allow his weight to shift forward. The stretch is 'around' the rear leg and up the back to the scap. The front side has no involvement in this stretch process. Pedroia's lead leg extends forward involuntarily to maintain the body's balance. It moves much like your arms move when walking. You don't think about it. But they move on their own to provide balance. Front side involvement would require weight to be shifted forward. If weight is shifted there is no stretch around the rear leg. You can't have both. You can't have a quality rear hip/leg load and have weight forward. In order to get weight forward you MUST bleed any load you had in the rear leg.

When the above load is achieved, the hitter simply turns the barrel rearward and that triggers the leg to snap through the 'hold' of the hip and back and the barrel gets whipped forward with a quickness that no other technique can match.
More clips showing the rag wring-like load
tumblr_ooqcj4HY2P1usf292o1_400.gif

tumblr_ooqcobxVfV1usf292o1_250.gif

Each of these hitters are pulling rearward with their back and scap against their forward move out. This action keeps their weight back and around their rear leg.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,468
Members
21,443
Latest member
sstop28
Top