Biggest lie?

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Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR


I came across this video and wondered if anyone else has watched it and had any thoughts. I agree with the idea that we are utilizing the upper half of our bodies to create stretch in the fascia of our muscles or what he calls it as our "springy X pattern." More specifically, when I load the upper half, I feel more of a stretch in my lead-arm side's lat. I also believe that most here agree that when a batter does " the move," that it is an absolute that we don't turn or rotate our bodies so that our back knee causes our lower leg to externally rotate. IOW, the back knee should basically remain static. At the 4:10 mark he talks about the Goldilocks Golden rule meaning we shouldn't go too far back or not at all but then he states that he would rather have "my hitters load their springy tissue this way," with a neutral hip position. So again, I agree with the statement that we shouldn't go too far back or not do it at all, but what about creating separation with the lower half? There has to be a stretch between the upper and lower halves.
I don't see how one creates this with loading the top half exclusively. Isn't true that we are creating a powerful swing from the ground up starting with our lower half?

Looking at Noontime's GIFs, I see that most hitters do show the pitcher their back pocket during the sequence. Video evidence doesn't support the idea that the majority of HL hitters have a quite lower half that I think is being taught in the video. I did find some clips though that show some great hitters without a pronounced or barely noticeable turn in their hips. So is the IR (front side) and showing the back pocket (lower half) an absolute or hitting style? Are Harper and others below a part of the "Biggest Lie in Hitting?"

Examples of showing the back pocket:

Title is wrong as this is Evan Longoria.

[video]https://media.giphy.com/media/kjm7V6sDmVsIM/giphy.gif[/video]

David Wright

https://media.giphy.com/media/s2PBDpRZrHEg8/giphy.gif

Miguel Cabrera

https://media.giphy.com/media/kwnIcoSixGfQI/giphy.gif

Bryce Harper

https://media.giphy.com/media/xT4uQsF9a28gS908NO/giphy.gif

Examples of Not Showing the back pocket:

Will Clark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AOmyjDHVf8

Ryan Howard

https://media.giphy.com/media/73YG362XcTVcc/giphy.gif

Barry Bonds

https://media.giphy.com/media/tafPnqSiApMLC/giphy.gif


This is a decent description of what I mean when I tell my hitters to load their core.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
There is:
tumblr_oq9wwjWh871usf292o1_400.gif

This particular 'model' of the swing ignores the frontside contribution ... the entire core is used.
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,591
113
Chehalis, Wa
I’ve only read a portion of Myers book (Catapult Loading System), so I can’t say definitively what he teaches for later portions of the swing. But isn’t it more important to create separation while moving forward (FBC?), than to start separated via a more static position?

Several recent threads have referred to “getting sat” and “hip hinge”. It looks like Myers would agree with those ideas based on his stance during the video. I’m only speculating, but I think the neutral hips / belly button cue is Myers’ way of helping hitters avoid an all back/all forward or door-hinge swing.

I can load the rear leg by twisting back, but if I add that hip hinge, I feel more tension with less rearward twist of the pelvis (or is hip bone the right term?). To tie this back to the video, less twist means when I dip my front shoulder, I’m getting greater stretch of that backside “springy-X”, which turns into more power when you start to swing (and that backside stretch becomes a contraction).

Regarding the ground up forces - remember that it’s a reactionary force - a “ground up” swing is kind of a misnomer, b/c the force, as I again understand it, really starts in our core, THEN travels down our legs to both help us push off our back foot (depending on the swing style) and eventually brace and straighten our front leg. (But in all honesty, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if this last paragraph gets blown up, I mean corrected, by DFP’s more knowledgeable members!)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Most of the visual stretching happens between toe touch and heel plant.
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
Hello Guys, I am new and have a comment. In the video, when the guys says float he has actually coiled into his hip and did not stay parallel to the plate. He does rotate. Maybe not as much as others but he does. I agree that with him that it could be over done and that's why I would agree with the "move" guy descriptions along with "In fact, this hip coiling action is countered by the leg's INTERNAL Rotation." Put those to ideas together and you will have a powerful swing(turn).

Buttermaker, I don't know what your talking about. " To use anything but the hands/forearms to start the barrel will lead to a plunge of the arms."

Hitter has to get this part right before anything else good could happen with forearms. But I will listen to your forthcoming explanation.
 

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