Importance of lead shoulder speed.

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Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
MB, just a follow up …..

I suspect that TDS over at the other site has had a similar experience in working with young developing hitters. Notice his coverage over the years … from buttock/belly-button to the more recent focus on a FYB leveraged orientation. Hence, I suspect he’s trying to crack a similar nut.

You can tell a young developing hitter that a major purpose of the ‘move out’ is to prepare to launch the swing, and you can show them the details of launching the swing, yet many (not all) will fail to use the ‘move out’ properly to prepare their body to launch their swing. How best to get them there is the question? I find that Donny’s “Rock the U” works quite well … but like TDS, I’m always interested in a better approach.

Note: The above is my interpretation of what TDS has been working on. It is possible that I have his intent incorrect. It has been my intent to work with young developing hitters on improving their passage through a healthy swing launch orientation.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Geez Five, why you gotta go, and do that? Now I gotta go add another name on the ever going list of the...."position of power"(Hudgens), "connection point"(Slaught), "position of truth"(Tewks), "torque position"(TM), "launch position"(many), “hitting position”(many), and now "hitting orientation"(FFS). Hahaha... :p:)

In all seriousness, we need a thesaurus for all the different terms that are really the same thing. It's taken me years to figure out that some people are talking about essentially the same thing with different terminology.

It really can be daunting for people who are trying to learn about hitting.
 
Apr 11, 2015
877
63
MB, you literally made me laugh out loud. :)

I work with a fairly wide-array of hitters. Always looking for a better way to get these hitters to pass through a favorable/powerful swing launch position/orientation.

You would think that if you showed someone how to use their hips/torso-engine, that they would naturally prepare their body during the 'move out' to use their hips/torso-engine ... and some do ... but I tend to work with a good number of hitters that need to be specifically instructed to pass though such a position/orientation.
Agreed, and why I've also talked coaching to the hitter's natural abilities, and comfort levels vs. the simply "cookie cutter" instruction I see so often.

I think that this is not understood by some who only coach their child[ren] or just a couple others, and haven't experienced the wide array of athletic abilities, coordination, and proprioception that one discovers after having coached a multitude of more players than that.

I had an AC turned friend who coached his own son be be a very accomplished hitter (college ball, and then Indy ball) who then decided he should open a hitting facility, and coach others what he did his son. Unfortunately his son had a rather unorthodox swing that worked for him, but not always (very rarely really) for others...and after about a year, and a half or so of declining students, he eventually sold the facility to one of the other coaches he brought in near the end who was gaining clientele because he didn't coach the same thing to everyone, and therefore he had much better success.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
During the 'move out' the slack in the torso & lead-arm is taken out of the system, as the hitter moves towards a leveraged swing launch orientation. For young developing hitters this can be easily realized with a goal as simple as "Rocking of the U".

With the slack out of the system, the torso-engine will cause the lead lat to elevate and move out ... the lead-arm is being pulled upon. During the initial pull on the lead-arm, the lead-arm will have the lead upper arm put 'on plane' and the hands will become 'leveraged' ... the job being to turn/pry the barrel around the lead forearm. Some refer to this as "turning the barrel". The important thing is that this be a leveraged action in which the lead-arm is being pulled upon by the torso-engine.

dHdhoPB.gif
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
I don't have a pic of no-stride Pujols handy to compare, but with no move out he has most of the slack out from the start. Different strokes...A move-out I think is the better approach for most hitters helping with timing and slack-tightening.

One more thing about the subject of the thread, 'lead shoulder speed'. I've grown fond of the knob-up cue, it puts the sensor closer to where the real action is and gets barrel 12-6 with a tight pivot point. Do it, and the lead shoulder will work up and out of the way in a snap :)

Added: As for Rock the U, I like it, especially as it adds the slow and early load part of the equation (ie, rock it back, knob to catcher). In the past I've often used the downward V between the elbows and talk about 'slam the V' toward the pitcher, which I think helps with the the elbow working up idea (work the lead elbow up a ramp) and the launch suddenness you need (in much the same way as knob-up), FWIW.
 
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