Someone explain to me the obsession with "knee drive" for hitting

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May 12, 2016
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Just coil your hip and shoulder inward as you stride forward. Get in front of a mirror and try it yourself. You can learn this in 15 minutes. Try it, it's easy.
Yes I know how to coil, I’m asking you how does a hitter coil? What muscles/body parts are they using?
 

TDS

Mar 11, 2010
2,926
113
More than one way to skin a cat! Is he a prototype TM hitter?

No !! He is about swinging down to and looks to keep his rear foot anchored.

UHgkblZ.gif
 
Oct 13, 2014
5,471
113
South Cali
"My question is this - which action do you think makes more sense teaching a hitter at that stage of the swing? "Drive the knee" or rotate the hips in order to coil and uncoil?"

Well there are a couple of issues with using the hips to create your torque.
1) Using the hips can or will create a premature opening of the front shoulder. I think it is hard to refrain when the hips are the focus.
2) The hip focus creates a false hip rotation, in that the back hip never fully closes. This can cheat the batter of potential power.
The back leg is a potential anchor and the back hip never fully closes to a position perpendicular to the pitch plane.
3) If your hips are rotated open, then how do you handle outside pitches, change of speed, or pitches moving away? If you use
the back knee to initiate the swing, and drive the hands, then your upper body can stay detached from the hips when
needed, so even if your hips are closed, your chest can stay oriented over the plate or strike zone to handle the pitch issues
mentioned above. The chest and shoulders release as required by the particular pitch.
4) Focus on hips rotation can affect your bat path. It can create a bat path that can be shaped like a "V" or "U" as some would
say. You want the barrel not in the strike-zone, but on the plane or path of the pitch as long as possible. The "rotational" theory
hitting isn't taught much anymore. Focus is on the marriage of rotational and linear theory to allow the long bat path. You
can't eliminate all rotational aspects of hitting, but you can swing with almost no linear aspects of hitting.

This is me at age 66, nothing pretty, but you can see the back knee, and separation of this movement and the chest. In fact the Chest may continue to face RF while the hips are completely closed to the pitcher. Hip focus will likely take that ability away.

neither is adjustable.
 
Jul 28, 2020
17
3
Yeah I think I've seen enough. Nothing is going to make me say "knee drive" to anyone.

When I talk about coil, I am referring to the opening of the left hip and drive of the right, while the midsection resists the movement. The right knee drives as a complimentary move in my opinion. Uncoil is releasing that midsection resistance and let the body bring the hands to the front inside swing position. Proving how that part of the swing isn't rotational could win a Nobel prize for science. Tech it up all you want but there is no way I look at the Trout video and see anything more than simply that.
 
Jul 28, 2020
17
3
"My question is this - which action do you think makes more sense teaching a hitter at that stage of the swing? "Drive the knee" or rotate the hips in order to coil and uncoil?"

Well there are a couple of issues with using the hips to create your torque.
1) Using the hips can or will create a premature opening of the front shoulder. I think it is hard to refrain when the hips are the focus.
2) The hip focus creates a false hip rotation, in that the back hip never fully closes. This can cheat the batter of potential power.
The back leg is a potential anchor and the back hip never fully closes to a position perpendicular to the pitch plane.
3) If your hips are rotated open, then how do you handle outside pitches, change of speed, or pitches moving away? If you use
the back knee to initiate the swing, and drive the hands, then your upper body can stay detached from the hips when
needed, so even if your hips are closed, your chest can stay oriented over the plate or strike zone to handle the pitch issues
mentioned above. The chest and shoulders release as required by the particular pitch.
4) Focus on hips rotation can affect your bat path. It can create a bat path that can be shaped like a "V" or "U" as some would
say. You want the barrel not in the strike-zone, but on the plane or path of the pitch as long as possible. The "rotational" theory
hitting isn't taught much anymore. Focus is on the marriage of rotational and linear theory to allow the long bat path. You
can't eliminate all rotational aspects of hitting, but you can swing with almost no linear aspects of hitting.

This is me at age 66, nothing pretty, but you can see the back knee, and separation of this movement and the chest. In fact the Chest may continue to face RF while the hips are completely closed to the pitcher. Hip focus will likely take that ability away.

I think your photo supports my point, it's impossible to "drive the knee" and still generate something that looks like a swing without involving the hips/glutes. Your hips in the photo are not closed to the picture are not closed as you say they are opening just as they should.
 
Oct 13, 2014
5,471
113
South Cali
1596986421474.gif

1596986490993.gif

you must get into the ground. The legs absorb more than drive. They stabilize/support launch. These are a match. Trying to drive a knee or rotate the hips is a directional flaw/leak.
 
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TDS

Mar 11, 2010
2,926
113
Trout is far from a TM prototype. The best allow there hands to be pulled by the core down to the ball.

zVTMBFH.gif


 
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