Pre-motion body lean foward

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Sep 10, 2013
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What are the benefits of a lower pre-motion body lean? while it varies among pitchers, the best seem to do lean almost more - close to 90 degrees.
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Last edited:
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Probably the same reason sprinters lean at the starting line. I don't have any background in kinesiology but my guess is bio mechanically it is best way to get the most explosive push forward off your rear leg. I'll let the experts chime in though with a more scientific answer.
 
Last edited:
Jun 19, 2014
846
43
Raleigh,NC
The lean helps activate the glutes....when glutes are activated, the angle of push is different and more effective, you are able to push up and out vs the more up that you see younger girls do. Much like you see a sprinter do when coming out of the blocks. images.jpg
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Jun 19, 2014
846
43
Raleigh,NC
We want to focus on becoming glute dominant instead of quad dominant(which is quite common in girls/women). Most women move from their knee joints as opposed to their hip joints; they’re “quad dominant.” Their knees move first, stimulating the quadriceps muscles to fire at the onset of movement. This is a dangerous thing because the hub of your wheel is your pelvic area—not the quads. You want to absorb force through the more powerful center of your body toward your glutes, which will enable the limbs to work together to produce force.
 
Mar 26, 2013
45
0
There is a lot of difference between a bend and a lean. Lean gets you shin angle which directs the force exerted forward. Bend can be good or bad especially in younger girls. Some bend instead of lean, which not only doesn't give a positive shin angle but creates a weight forward issue they don't correct.
 

javasource

6-4-3 = 2
May 6, 2013
1,347
48
Western NY
Couple of snippets on creating efficient positions/postures to assist in movement efficiency...

So why is it better to visualize movement in terms of the skeleton as opposed to the muscles?

Bones can transfer compressive or pushing forces from one part of the body to the other.

Bones are better than soft tissues for accurately and efficiently transferring pushing forces...

Of course, the bones will only effectively communicate forces through the body if they are well aligned. Let’s say you want to transfer force from your legs to your hand. There is a certain angle that the femur must push into the pelvis that will cause the pelvis to push into the spine. Similarly, the spine needs to be angled properly to push the shoulder to its target.

Imagine flexing at the ankles to lean your weight into a straight arm to push open a heavy door. If the boney alignment is correct, the door will open with very little muscular effort, because the skeleton will transfer forces from the feet all the way to the door. The action will be perceived as smooth and effortless. By contrast, if you do not lean forward, and bend your elbow while pushing, the potential forces generated from the body weight and pelvis are lost, and you must use a significant muscular force in the triceps and/or pectorals to open the door. The action will be perceived as strained and awkward.

From these examples we can see that the alignment of the skeleton determines how much muscular force is necessary to perform a certain action. Therefore, an optimally aligned skeleton is essential for efficient movement.

In regards to muscles...

visualizing the position and orientation of the bones as you move will assist in proper skeletal alignment, which will assist in movement efficiency and health. By contrast, focusing attention on the contraction of certain muscles while moving will tend to put you in the mind of creating excess muscular effort to move, which is contrary to the goal of increasing efficiency. In efficient movement, the sense of effort tends to disappear, even when the forces generated are high.

Muscular visualization is even more problematic in the context of movement, because the complexity of muscular action during any movement is mind boggling. For example, what is the first muscle to fire when the arm is lifted straight in front on the body? The deltoid? One of the rotator cuff muscles? No, it’s the soleus, located in the calf! The soleus needs to fire to prevent you from falling forward when the arm unbalances the body by moving out in front of the center of gravity. The point here is that muscular contractions are so fabulously complex and often counterintuitive, that hoping to visualize or understand movement in these terms is hopelessly confusing.

After a few reps paying attention to the movement of the bones, see whether the action feels smoother, more clear and efficient than your habitual way. Feel any better? When did your glutes fire? Who cares? As long as you took your bones where they were supposed to go in a smooth motion, the glutes did what they were supposed to do.

So... if our bones are well-aligned... sprinter position... not bent at waist... this alignment, puts the body in a position to do work, EFFICIENTLY.

Quotes aren't random, I borrowed them as good examples of this topic from Todd Hargrove... a pretty smart dude, and good writer.
 

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