Knees working together

If both knees do not rotate a little forward can you stay over the plate? IMO, if you are swinging one legged or two legged the knees still release together if you are going to hit through the ball. The front leg can straighten after they move together. IMO, if both knees don't move simultaneously you will not hit through the ball. Thoughts?

Tango, imho, one legged and two legged are marketing terms for someone who wants to control the conversation, try to recruit and impress new followers and keep people confused. If you go back to Charlie Lau, he talked in terms of a platform having to be built for the hitter. That "platform" has been defined in several ways but, for me, it is easiest when thinking about the front "soft" knee and leg landing and then the back hip action straightening that front knee/leg. The last time I looked, the reality is that both legs are used to hit. The last time I looked, in many exceptional hitters, both feet are off of the ground at some point. I recall and would mention that Albert Pujols hit a ball out of the Astros home field. All the way out. His back foot was off the ground. I had that picture up on my wall for years. Much of this one legged hitting springs from video of one legged golfers. Ironically, at the same time that became a point of discussion, those gurus who had a different philosophy than the guru who is now pushing the terms one legged and two legged accused another guru of teaching spinning. Ironically the same person wanted to talk in terms of what the body did but wanted to discount or ignore the front hip action and instead wanted/wants that hip open. The result is a swing that can't easily be adjustable which results in much higher strikeout rates.

For me, hitting is really about being about to control the middle. For me getting into a position called many different things but invariable is best demonstrated by the check swing and is where the hitter has been able to read the pitch and react one way or the other is controlling the middle. When looking at that position, both feet are on the ground and two legs are in operation.

Sorry for the above response and I hope I have not destroyed your thread.

Off topic:

I have heard people refer to controlling the middle. Middle of the zone? Middle of the hitters body?

Westwind said:

Off topic:

I have heard people refer to controlling the middle. Middle of the zone? Middle of the hitters body?

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I can't speak for others. For me, it is the core. I don't believe a person hits with their arms. Yes, they have to use their arms. However, if I asked you to hold your arm out straight and not let me move it downward, I can move it downward with one finger. I do that demonstration in the hitting presentations I give. If I ask you to put that arm in a 45 degree bend out in front of your body and not let me move it, typically when I grab that with my hand and push downward or pull, the who body of the individual will move. My point then is that there is a relationship with that core which makes us stronger and we need to hit with an emphasis on those body parts. IMO, those body parts will not only give you strength as a hitter, they are critical to the ability to adjust to a pitch. For example a pitch up and a pitch low and away will require differ "tilt angles" from the pelvis. The way I coach, the back hip is critical to success. I want a load that has a subtle "get in the way to get out of the way of the front hips." I want the hands to come into connection and ride that connection to the back shoulder for a very brief time and then get "thrown off the merry go round" as they seek the ball. (NOTE - "thrown off the merry go round" in its real meaning and not the one created by others that involved angles, ferris wheels, ... IOWs, if you jumped on a spinning merry go round, you can hold on for a second but then you will be thrown off. I once talked to Nyman about this and that was his analogy.) Gosh, I hope this makes sense.

Teach the front hip to work rearwards after foot plant. Will help control both knees to work efficiently

Thanks CB! It does make sense!

Cannonball, is there any comparison of the hands and arms of a figure skater speeding up the spin by pulling their arms in and a hitter doing the same (speeding core rotation) only letting them get thrown off the merry go round. How about a race car being slung out of the corner?

Rolling Hard said:

Cannonball, is there any comparison of the hands and arms of a figure skater speeding up the spin by pulling their arms in and a hitter doing the same (speeding core rotation) only letting them get thrown off the merry go round. How about a race car being slung out of the corner?

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RH, I don't know about that. Back in the day, that was one of the discussions. However, I just can't say that there is enough centrifugal force in the actions of the core. Perhaps look at it another way, as the hands come into connection and ride that very brief connection, the brain is processing the pitch location and then the hands/arms seek the ball.

Can the hands just start on the merry go round?

All this talk about merry go rounds reminds me when I was a kid. We would take the teeter totter and wedge it on to the merry go round and have a kid sit on teeter totter and try to hold on when we spun the merry go round. Nobody could ever hold on and would eventually get flung off like a rag doll. There was pain but miraculously nobody ever got hurt too bad. That is why they started chaining the teeter totters to their fulcrum. Kids nowadays don't even know what a merry go round or teeter totter is as they have been deemed too dangerous. LOL

RH, sure they can. However, I don't like that as much since I want my hitter to have a running start. I'd like a part of that running start to be the action I described. I'd suggest that some hitters who don't have the action I describe and of whom begin their hands already in connection tend to turn their shoulders too much and so, cast or swing around the ball. I'm positive you can find some MLB hitters who do as you suggest.