Fast Hands ??

[FiveFrameSwing]

FiveFrameSwing, is there a drill that can be done to reinforce hips going forward while hands go back? Thanks.

Yes Scflash … there are drills that one can perform to help capture the ‘feel’ associated with having the hips move forward while the hands load rearward.

First … it comes down to one's mechanics and swing sequence. What you want from a drill is to capture the ‘feel’ associated with the desired action and then to bring that ‘feel’ into your normal swing.

You are the person that determines what you decide to stress during a particular drill.

Many momentum drills offer a good opportunity to ‘feel’ the hands loading rearward as the hips move forward. Some momentum drills that one can stress this “point-of-emphasis” include the “walk-up” drill, the “walk-through” drill, the “step-back” drill, and “cleating-feet / happy-feet / marching-feet” drill.

Almost any momentum drill can be used to capture the ‘feel’. You can bounce back and forth between a momentum drill and normal swing … with the intent being to perform the action during the momentum drill and capture the feel, ... and then carry that forward into your normal swing. Go back and forth ... working on getting the action correct and capturing the 'feel'. The notion being that 'feel' is easier to reproduce than an approach of targeting angles. You want to be actively engaged during the drills in terms of working on capturing 'feel'.

As an FYI … before you remove a hitter’s “hitch”, think twice … and then think about it a bit more. A “hitch” … a downward ‘hand pumping motion’, can be an ideal trigger and timing mechanism for separating the hips going forward while the hands load rearward. It can give the ‘feel’ of a ‘throw’ … as in throwing the barrel. Remove such a movement pattern from a hitter, and you risk removing their ability to properly sequence this action.

In fact … one way to introduce this into a hitter is to simply have them perform overhand throws. Many “points-of-emphasis” can be extracted from an overhand throw … and one such “point-of-emphasis” is that the hips move forward and the hands break rearward … and from an overhand throwing perspective you’ll see a sequence in which the rear leg is loaded, the rear leg serving as a rock-solid platform for the thigh/hips/core to work off of, and the throwing arm lowering/breaking (i.e., think ‘hitch’) which triggers the bringing of the hips forward as the throwing hand breaks rearward. Where am I going with this? One moderately easy way to get this action is with the introduction of a hitch .... which can be inserted into a hitter's movement pattern ….. that is, for many, the presence of even a small hitch can serve as a triggering mechanism for this action (hips moving forward as the hands load rearward).

 

[Bouldersdad]

A simple drill you might try for this is to have the hitter in her ready position with her hands slightly outside the plane of her shoulders as your looking at her from the side. Place her feet together and have her step out to weight shifted toe touch while leaving her hands where they are. In other words walking away from her hands. Its a pretty simple drill to let her get the feel of actually doing what it takes to feel that slight stretch in her core.

Once she does this and has the feel its a small step to actually move the hands rearward if she feels she needs more separation at toe touch. Keep it simple so she can feel the movement of her body. Better yet if she can see herself do this in a mirror. She will get a visual as well as the physical action feel of it. As the big guy says. Find it feel it fix it.


Tim

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Good Bouldersdad. Another variant of this has the hitter standing on only their rear leg, holding that position for 1-3secs, and from that position moving smoothly to swing ... this will often have the hitter loading their hands rearward (or at least "walking away from their hands"), as they move forward, in can feel like as an effort to remain balanced.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Bouldersdad ... just following up with a demo of the drill described above ...