1st year 14u - Swing mechanics what to work on

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Apr 20, 2018
4,607
113
SoCal
Anybody comment on this:

"another is the arching of the rear lower back." When does this take place? Thoughts on hip extension, arch of lower back flattened in stance.
 

fanboi22

on the journey
Nov 9, 2015
1,138
83
SE Wisconsin
In the example you give the knocking knuckles are not aligned.

Yeah, i see that now. Was just looking for a bat lag photo. Was only questioning the knock knuckles as it would seem to promote the elbows to be closer which i was wondering if it would produce a less than ideal slot. In little league DD had been that told to her to align her knuckles and every time at the plate to verify by pointing both pointer fingers in the air. That started her forearms in an inverted 'V' before any movement on the swing. We stopped that a while ago and try to leave it as however she naturally grabbed the bat. But in looking on my DD currently, she seems to have a strong grip, at least how i know it to be in a golf swing, maybe too strong, or just the rear elbow too high as a function of that.

As in golf a stronger grip allowed you to close the club face and create different action on the ball. I am not a pro but if i recall it either duck hooked or pulled the ball of the tee. Curious is there is a school of thought on what the grip does in a baseball/fastpitch swing.

I was always told many years ago that the knuckles grip allowed you to get more bat speed as it allowed your hands to roll over at contact and hit the ball with greater speed and force. I know that now to be incorrect.

I suppose if i think about it from a force perspective, i would rather punch thru a wall with the power metacarpal knuckles not the knockers. Ala, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill with the 3 inch punch out of the coffin.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,037
0
Portland, OR
Anybody comment on this:

"another is the arching of the rear lower back." When does this take place? Thoughts on hip extension, arch of lower back flattened in stance.

Please re-read the post ... it describes 'when' this happens.

It is fairly key ... and is feedback pertaining to whether or not the torso-engine was sufficient or not.

Archin-Of-Lower-Rear-Back.gif
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,607
113
SoCal
Would you say the lower the pitch location the more this arching happens? Sierra doesn't seem to have a lot of this action. A least not on this swing. Does it kinda happen naturally? Here we go again Natural Hitting. LOL. I am going to keep an eye out to see who does this and who doesn't. Never really noticed it as do or don't in a swing. Thank you for the explanation.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,037
0
Portland, OR
Would you say the lower the pitch location the more this arching happens? Sierra doesn't seem to have a lot of this action. A least not on this swing. Does it kinda happen naturally? Here we go again Natural Hitting. LOL. I am going to keep an eye out to see who does this and who doesn't. Never really noticed it as do or don't in a swing. Thank you for the explanation.

The way I teach it, I want the initial torso-engine action to be steep enough to lead to this arching in the rear lower back. That is, the initial torso-action that accounts for say the first quarter-inch of barrel action will be this steep. I want this regardless of pitch height. However, the hand/forearm engine will in a sense 'rob' from the torso-engine ... so for a pitch higher in the zone you will see less.

This does not happen naturally for a lot of young developing hitters. I find it needs to be taught. Years ago I described this action as "brushing off your rear butt cheek to start your swing". That probably deserves a bit of an explanation ... I'll follow up.
 
Apr 11, 2015
877
63
Would you say the lower the pitch location the more this arching happens? Sierra doesn't seem to have a lot of this action. A least not on this swing. Does it kinda happen naturally? Here we go again Natural Hitting. LOL. I am going to keep an eye out to see who does this and who doesn't. Never really noticed it as do or don't in a swing. Thank you for the explanation.
It's the movement of the rear hip getting "in front of" the hands/barrel, and nothing more. It's just more visible or evident with the more forward (sagittal plane) tilt the hitter has....that the turns into lateral (coronal plane) tilt as the hitter turns the hips/swing forward towards the ball/pitcher.
 
Last edited:
Jun 17, 2009
15,037
0
Portland, OR
Years ago I described the initiation of the swing as “brushing off the rear butt cheek to start the swing”.

Imagine that you are standing and decide to sit on a bench located directly behind you. Unfortunately the bench has small pieces of sticky popcorn on it ... left behind by a parent that was watching their kid hit with you in your prior hitting session. As you sit, you sense that your rear butt cheek (right butt cheek for a RH hitter, left butt cheek for a LH hitter) sat on the popcorn. You are curious if the popcorn is now adhering to your rear butt cheek. So you stand up, and look behind at your rear butt cheek as you begin brushing off your rear butt cheek with your rear/top hand.

Keep in mind that the torso basically has three main motions … it can be ‘turned’, ‘laterally bent’ and/or ‘arched’. As you are in the act of looking behind at your rear butt cheek to brush it off, your torso was in a sense resisting the forward ‘turning’ action of the torso, while actively performing the actions of laterally bending and arching.

From this orientation with your rear hand brushing off your rear butt cheek, you simply redirect your vision forward and place your rear arm/elbow/hand in a semi-slotting position … and you’ll assume an orientation roughly similar to what you see above.

Basically … you use your torso in a manner that is similar to the action of brushing off your rear butt cheek. From the perspective of the torso … you brush off your rear butt cheek to start your swing.

You use the torso-engine to create circular energy. The hand/forearm-engine, which many will feel as ‘firing’ at the same time as the torso-engine, actually reacts to the torso-engine. It is important that the initial pull of the torso-engine is occurring as the hand/forearm-engine is initiated.



Here’s a link to Teacherman helping a hitter learn a similar feel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRSTv2PzUXA
 
Jan 6, 2009
6,627
113
Chehalis, Wa
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I heard about arching the lower back from Hubiemagic. He said it's way to bring the core into the swing and uses the Psoas directly. I'll post a little more info if your interested.
 

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