Scap load

RD, I wasn't trying for a "got ya" if you might have thought I was. As you might know, I teach "pull the bow back." If you will recall in some of the video I once posted of my dd, she would "pull the bow back" and "tip and rip" at the same time. The movement was short but in doing so, I do feel and she felt a sense of loading the scap. I think the difference between what you and I believe would be that sense of it being held for a split second (may shorter) before the unload. In the above video, ARod exhibits a sense of what I am talking about. I guess we might see the same thing but disagree on the description.

rdbass said:

If that helps with the 'feel' then OK.

I'm more of 'around'. Cue I used was 'elbowing someone standing behind you. Not standing beside you.

How can you draw a bow and not use your arms and hands. I know you don't want to use your hands to turn the barrel but, how is that even possible.

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Of course you hold onto the bow with your hands, of course both your hands and arms move when you draw a bow... but the main muscle you should be using is your back(pulling your shoulder blade to your spine). I can go to Walmart and by a plastic bow with suction cup arrows and only use my arms all day long with out any issue. But if you are using a more powerful traditional bow, hands and arms alone will not get the job done. Maybe the original poster only meant arms and hands only to draw a bow, but in my experience the analogy is good when using the proper muscles to draw a bow.

How I want to do to turn the barrel is irrelevant. Can only speak from experience. Focusing too much on turning the barrel with the hands did not end in good results for my daughter. And some of the GIFs posted on here do not look like MLB players loading, and then only using their hands to turn the barrel.

I think the whole "scap loading" issue comes under the "walking away from the hands" part of the swing. I think it can also be described as part of the "resistance". You're fighting that forward motion until the last split second when you've just got to release all that power built up. It's a tiny fraction of a second, but the hips fire and the upper body resists tagging along. Like a rubber band pulling back you're building that kinetic energy. I may be describing it all wrong, these are my own words, but I can see how people think of it as scap loading.

'Scap loading' is the REACTION of keeping the hands back. The scap will be 'active'.

Like a rubber band pulling back you're building that kinetic energy

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How about...

Is the rubber-band stretched forward and held back?

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Just going along with 'walking away from the hands' saying.

I think we're saying the same thing. You don't really focus on "scap loading", but instead walking away from the hands.

Until the hitter understands that it's a scapular retraction action, "walk away from the hands" can be problematic with some hitters. I have seen a few interpret this cue as moving the hands rearward towards the catcher, created by straightening the front arm.

Eric F said:

I have seen a few interpret this cue as moving the hands rearward towards the catcher, created by straightening the front arm.

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That's exactly where my DD was a while back.

justanotherguy said:

That's exactly where my DD was a while back.

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My DD also battled with arm bar issues. Nasty habit.

justanotherguy said:

I think we're saying the same thing. You don't really focus on "scap loading", but instead walking away from the hands.

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Personally, my DD understands loading/pinching the scap better to get the desired movement vs "walking away from the hands". By pinching/loading the scap she can create the necessary resistance for separation. She use to be all back and all forward...

I've also had hitters that use the "poke your elbow behind you" type cue too literally. If you overbake that the only way to get out of that position is to push out of it. Try it. You can elbow poke "wrong" especially if you don't simultaneously "clamp" the scap -- if that makes sense lol.