Weight Distribution at Toe Touch?

[FJRGerry]

Rather than highjack the "Squish the bug" thread I thought I'd ask separately "What is the weight distribution at toe touch?"

I've been teaching my daughter 70% back & 30% front at toe touch, so at heel plant she has the ability to drive her hips when pivoting them into contact where weight distribution is around 70% front & 30% rear. At contact then her rear foot appears as if standing on one's toes (ball of foot is off the ground). I've read posts and seen pictures of MLB hitters where their rear foot is pointing straight down & off the ground with 100% of the weight on the front leg at contact, but when trying this myself I tend to lunge.

Thanks!

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Rather than highjack the "Squish the bug" thread I thought I'd ask separately "What is the weight distribution at toe touch?"

I've been teaching my daughter 70% back & 30% front at toe touch, so at heel plant she has the ability to drive her hips when pivoting them into contact where weight distribution is around 70% front & 30% rear. At contact then her rear foot appears as if standing on one's toes (ball of foot is off the ground). I've read posts and seen pictures of MLB hitters where their rear foot is pointing straight down & off the ground with 100% of the weight on the front leg at contact, but when trying this myself I tend to lunge.

In good FP and BB hitters, when the front heel plants the weight distribution is generally about 30/70 back/front.

All of the weight then goes onto the front foot at the POC due to the rotation of the hips.

 

[softballphreak]

When teaching squish-the-bug style shorter strides were also emphasized. That is not a problem when more weight stays on the rear foot. But when using the non-weight-bearing style on the rear foot a short stride will end up causing the weight shift to be on top of the front foot instead of against the front foot. I have found that increasing the stride 3 or 4 inches better allows the weight to shift against the front foot.

Extra care must be taken to avoid teaching a lunge when getting rid of the "bug". The weight shift is primarily at the hips--not the chest.

 

[Hitter]

Rather than highjack the "Squish the bug" thread I thought I'd ask separately "What is the weight distribution at toe touch?"

I've been teaching my daughter 70% back & 30% front at toe touch, so at heel plant she has the ability to drive her hips when pivoting them into contact where weight distribution is around 70% front & 30% rear. At contact then her rear foot appears as if standing on one's toes (ball of foot is off the ground). I've read posts and seen pictures of MLB hitters where their rear foot is pointing straight down & off the ground with 100% of the weight on the front leg at contact, but when trying this myself I tend to lunge.

Thanks!

Rather than highjack the "Squish the bug" thread I thought I'd ask separately "What is the weight distribution at toe touch?"

At toe touch not heel plant we teach 50/50 so the weight is still moving forward and we are still making the decision to plant our heel. I feel when the elbows begin to connect and move heel plant is triggered and we begin to rotate. The weight distribution will be different during heel plant than it was at toe touch. Don Slaught has worked with UCLA Engineering on this prior to the last Olympics and if I recall correctly Mendoza was at 30/70, Whately was at 90/10 and Bustos was the only one that was at 50/50. There where pressure plates on the ground and a digital read out so the players could see what they were actually feeling. Again if I am reading your question correctly it is at toe touch that you ask what was the weight distribution. Bustos was also independently tested for this also and checked 50/ 50.

We teach to land on the inside edge of the lead foot, with a flexed knee, so the baby toe can be seen off the ground with the shoes off and this is termed eversion.

Thanks Howard

 

[tom.guerry]

best info I have seen is Yeager's pressure/ground plate MLB measurements.

by definition at toe touch there is hardly any pressure because the toe is just touching, assuming stride.

pressure at front foot center of pressure maxes out late in swing at 130% of body weight.


How you choose to relate this data to the concept of "weight shift" is up to you.


yeager has a full report you can get at his website:

Dr. Yeager's Baseball

 

[Hitter]

When teaching squish-the-bug style shorter strides were also emphasized. That is not a problem when more weight stays on the rear foot. But when using the non-weight-bearing style on the rear foot a short stride will end up causing the weight shift to be on top of the front foot instead of against the front foot. I have found that increasing the stride 3 or 4 inches better allows the weight to shift against the front foot.

Extra care must be taken to avoid teaching a lunge when getting rid of the "bug". The weight shift is primarily at the hips--not the chest.

You bring up a good point as most who teach will tell you toe touch is a mental concept however not something that is actually done. Have your hitter take off her shoes and load and stride and see what toe or toes are actually on the ground? We teach to land on the inside edge of the foot so the baby toe is off the ground slightly so the weight transfer does not stop completely. The flex in the lead foot knee also helps in being able to shift the weight and not stop the momentum.Also look at the position of the knee cap and heel of the lead foot. If you see the heel turned towards the pitcher look at the knee cap and it will be turned towards the first base dug out as a right handed batter and the weight shift has effectively come to a stop until you turn the heel back towards the catcher a little. If we wanted to STOP or SLOW the weight transfer, landing more flat footed would help this. This is what Lovie does and then uses more hip action to counter it and it takes a lot more athleticism to accomplish it.

Thanks Howard

 

[ifubuildit]

50/50 Is the best IMO

I am with Howard on this one. With a 50/50 weight distribution your hitter should have little problem getting that back toe to come up during rotation while staying in a perfectly balanced position. As well as rotating around that front hip joint. The better they are balanced the better the swing plane will be to match the plane of the ball.

How do you verify this one?

At the finish of the swing ask your hitter to jump up in the air with both feet. If they can do that and not loose balance then they are pretty close to 50/50

Dana.

 

[PEPPERS]

If you see the heel turned towards the pitcher look at the knee cap and it will be turned towards the first base dug out as a right handed batter and the weight shift has effectively come to a stop until you turn the heel back towards the catcher a little.

Thanks Howard

Should this be just before contact?

 

[Hitter]

Should this be just before contact?

PEPPERS

I want to be sure I explained this correctly, we do not want the heel pointed towards the pitcher. We want the lead foot to be at a slight angle and the knee cap pointed in the direction of the normal playing position of the second basemen if they are right handed. When they get to touch touch and land on the inside edge of the foot on a flexed knee the weight is still shifting and when the decision is made to swing I see the back elbow lowering as the heel is being planted and the hips are starting to rotate. This happens a little more and is slightly different as to each hitters athleticism in my opinion as to the exact sequence. It is something every hitter tries to improve and makes them great and unique. The front leg is still flexed and then at point of contact the firming up of the front leg happens on its own. Try it yourself...put a ball on a tee load and step on a flexed knee with the hands separated slightly and stop. Now swing as hard as you can and I bet your front leg firmed up and no one told you to plant your heel. We call this the attack mode drill so it becomes instinctive to the hitter so they will not have to think about it anymore.

Thanks Howard