Cues after toe touch

[whatsup]

Assume you're working with a hitter that has mastered grip and stance, loads well with a reasonable coil, and strides well to toe touch. What cues/drills do you use to describe and convey the feel of what happens next: heel plant, hips, uncoiling, etc?

 

[tom.guerry]

a controversial subject. if you believe there is an HLBB (high level baseball) pattern, then toe touch and foot plant are too late to be useful. here's a nice "little" discussion started by tewks who is a leading proponent of the high level pattern approach:

Toe Touch and Heel Plant

and for articles by tewks see:

Articles

and blog by a converted practitioner, see:

Everything Hitting

 

[jbooth]

Assume you're working with a hitter that has mastered grip and stance, loads well with a reasonable coil, and strides well to toe touch. What cues/drills do you use to describe and convey the feel of what happens next: heel plant, hips, uncoiling, etc?

The act of pushing from the back hip, and butt muscles; moves your front foot out to toe touch.
You are in the process of rotating the hips by the time you get to heel plant. You don't wait until heel plant to do something. You're already moving the hips and you should have already changed elbow positions and moved the barrel into position to go at the ball.

After heel plant, you connect and throw.

Here is the sequence defined by RVP and Don Slaught. The positions are his, the comments are mine:

 

[softballphreak]

You must be at toe touch before the ball arrives. It's not fatal to be early; it is fatal to be late. Trying to define when heel plant occurs is like trying to define what the second hand does on a clock between seconds.

At toe touch/heel plant, if the batter were to be consciously aware of it the rear hip would thrust towards the pitch, pulling the weight off of the rear foot. In many high level swings the rear foot is off of the ground at contact.

 

[whatsup]

Thanks! A lot of good information here.

I think I have a pretty good understanding of what is supposed to happen next. But, I'm not conveying that information to the 10U and 12U girls I work with as successfully/efficiently as I'd like. What I'm finding is that many girls tend to either spin their back leg or they peform a pseudo dance maneuver where they "switch" feet (put the front heel down and just lift the back one up).

Seems to me that the straightening of the front leg and the lifting of the rear heel are both driven by the rotation of the hips and the resulting weight shift. Using cues like "get your hips around" or "lead with your hips" doesn't seem to resonate with the girls or produce the results I'm looking for. So, I'm looking for some alternative cues or drills to try.

 

[softballphreak]

Thanks! A lot of good information here.

I think I have a pretty good understanding of what is supposed to happen next. But, I'm not conveying that information to the 10U and 12U girls I work with as successfully/efficiently as I'd like. What I'm finding is that many girls tend to either spin their back leg or they peform a pseudo dance maneuver where they "switch" feet (put the front heel down and just lift the back one up).

Seems to me that the straightening of the front leg and the lifting of the rear heel are both driven by the rotation of the hips and the resulting weight shift. Using cues like "get your hips around" or "lead with your hips" doesn't seem to resonate with the girls or produce the results I'm looking for. So, I'm looking for some alternative cues or drills to try.

That's it! It's that simple. Some call it the Elvis move. Of course, younger kids don't know Elvis. You'll have to be Elvis!

There's even a drill where you just say "heel down, heel up" over and over where the front heel goes down, the back heel goes up.

 

[whatsup]

I've promoted that move using the phrase "Switch and swing." The result, though, is not what I think it should be. As I see it, that move results in a premature and artificial unweighting of the back foot. The difference is subtle, but (to me at least) the model swing videos make it clear there's a sequence: 1) front heel plants, 2) hips continue rotating, 3) back heel lifts. The girls response to "switch and swing" is to plant the front heel and lift the rear heel simultaneously and the resulting hip action isn't right.

Not sure I can describe it adequately.

 

[whatsup]

Not sure this is the best example, but it illustrates what I mean:

It's:
1) Step to your toe
2) plant
3) turn
4) unweight

It's not "switch". And, using those words with the girls have resulted in nothing but blank stares....

 

[softballphreak]

I've promoted that move using the phrase "Switch and swing." The result, though, is not what I think it should be. As I see it, that move results in a premature and artificial unweighting of the back foot. The difference is subtle, but (to me at least) the model swing videos make it clear there's a sequence: 1) front heel plants, 2) hips continue rotating, 3) back heel lifts. The girls response to "switch and swing" is to plant the front heel and lift the rear heel simultaneously and the resulting hip action isn't right.

Not sure I can describe it adequately.

I think I understand. I have the same issue. I want them to thrust the hip toward the pitch with enough momentum it pulls the rear foot weightless. I believe what the rear foot does should be a non-teach, it just happens as a result of the hip movement.

I've tried the rear foot on a beam drill. That doesn't do what I want. The latest thing I've tried is where they actually lift the rear foot by bending the rear knee at contact—just for the feel. Too early to tell.

 

[whatsup]

Exactly! If I have them do the drill where they hold the bat horizontally, either in front or back of them, with their hands on either side of their hips, and then "spin" to hit a ball off of a "T" the motion is closer to what I'm looking for. But, it doesn't often make it into their swing when we go back to hitting normally...