Rotational Hitting

[Slapper23]

Posey,

Please know I say these things respectfully to you. You are to be commended on reaching the success you have, and I mean that. But now we're talking hitting and I want to be honest with you. Your quote...

The hips cannot lead the way! Your hands have to get out before your hips go...

This makes absolutely no sense to me and is incredible. Are you saying hands go first? What do you mean by hands have to get out before hips go?

When your hips go first, your hands do go back into scap loading. Look at video of most any ML hitter. Their hips lead while the hand/arms/shoulder loads. Stretch is created in the core by the lower torso working against the upper(not talkng about counter-rotating which is a bad thing), and you get stretch reflex - creating an explosive whipping of the bat through the contact point.

This hapens in ML swings and in some D1 fastpitch swings. Personally, I like the UL-L hitters coached by Mike Lotief. But at least Coach Candrea did a much needed 180 and says on the RVP CD, "the fastpitch swing is the MLB swing", or something to that effect. he used to preach hands to the ball, squish the bug, swing down, but I give him a ton of credit for saying what he said on the RVP CD.

Mike

 

[TeamPosey13]

Mike,

I can see where you think the hips lead the way. When you look at video, the hips begin to open bc of the push off of the back foot. Therefore, the hips will naturally open... it is not a forced movement. If your hips "pop" before your hands get to the ball... your hands go backwards. Your hands cannot get into proper position by going backwards. Do you teach hitting? If so, do me a favor... have your student get to contact and stop while leading with their hips. Have them hold their bat at contact and you go and push against their bat and ask them what muscles in their body they are using. I have done this hundreds of times to my students and 99.5% of the time they tell me that their arms is all they are using. Please know that I am not trying to demean you in any way... I am just passionate about the game... especially hitting and I can tell you that teaching hips first at the higher levels is no good. Your hips, however, do open naturally. But you cannot teach kids to lead with their hips because they pull off of the ball and roll over and their hands cannot get into the proper position. I can guarantee you that when you talk to the best in the world they will tell you the same thing.

 

[Hit Dr.24]

I have an idea that TeamPosey is now talking in terms of swing thoughts rather than true swing paths.Teaching and doing are two different things and finding the simplest way to get positive results is the answer.It's alot easier to relate to hitters when you have done it yourself and had the advantage to actually work with people like Candrea and major league players!

 

[Slapper23]

Posey,

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate and respect your thoughts on hitting, but I respectfully disagree. I'm always willing to listen to opposing viewpoints, because oftentimes I learn something from the exchange. Thanks for the discussion and presenting your thoughts on this.

Mike

 

[TeamPosey13]

Mike,

That is fine. We will agree to disagree. Best wishes.

 

[TeamPosey13]

Mike,

One more question... have you ever played baseball?

 

[Slapper23]

Hi Posey,

Mostly when I was a kid...

Why do you ask?

Hey, maybe I saw you play once...I took my HS softball team to see the Women's Olympic team play in Decatur, IL about 10 years ago. Also saw the ASA Women's Major championship there about the same time.

Mike

 

[TeamPosey13]

No, you probably didn't see me unless you were in Athens for the 2004 Olympics. Just wondering about if you played bc it much different between watching video and actually doing it... no offense.

 

[hitit29]

Hit Dr 24,
Rotational hitting reduces bat speed and also decreases bat control. Hitters become "one dimensional" when they have a rotational approach. I have never heard of a GOOD one dimensional hitter. When a hitter starts with a rotational movement, she begins a negative chain reaction. Every movement that her body makes after she originally "pops" her hips is going to produce negative energy & control.

 

[Pops]

Day One Update

Hi All,

We just returned from the three hour long day one session. Two girls my dd included and about forty boys. We checked in early my daughter was a little timid at first due to the mix. They were doing video of swings right away so there were forty boys watching my dd swing for the camera. She was a little intimidated on swing one but did better on the redo, but not her best. You'll see it when they email it to me and I figure out how to post.

They did some fundamentals i.e. basic footwork, hand position, movement, etc. and leg work to develop muscle memory. My dd worked in a group of fifteen including the other girl with three instructors supervising including Mike Epstein's son, Jake. They worked with special wooden bats that have a
sweetspot and narrow handles. They hit coach tossed light weight plastic balls and did pretty well. With some supervised adjustments round two went even better. More video that included adding lines onto the screen to highlight proper movements. Three hours went by fast.

Of course afterwards my dd wanted to go to the batting cages nearby and drop some tokens. So she got a chance to work with her new knowledge and applied it well. They assigned some homework for tonight which is basically working on the techniques they learned today. Overall day one was a good experience and my dd is enthusiastic. So we are looking forward to day two.

Will keep you posted,

Pops