FiveFrameSwing
Banned
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).