Weight Transfer

[SBFAMILY]

FFS watch closely as she is in her ready position (bat on shoulder) until the pitcher begins to deliver the ball. Then she becomes set and you will see this as she raises her hands and begins to step forward, she bends at the waist during her move forward and sets into her back leg (she said this is how she loads and can feel it in her hip and foot) keeping the weight more towards the inside of her back leg and focused in the big toe area.

She does not recommend this for all kids however, as it requires more athleticism. She explains at the clinics she wants this to become automatic as they separate to toe touch and to stop thinking so much and let it become a feel and become more aware of how your body feels while doing it in slow motion.

By bending at the waist slightly and allowing the knees to move towards the toes, it allows the hitter to feel the heel of the foot is off the shoe while the heel of the shoe may still be in contact with the ground. If they sit too much we put a bat under their butt so they can feel the difference of sitting on the bat verses a slight bending of the waist or what you term pelvic tilt.

Simply pushing on the hitters back or upper chest will get them to fee if they are indeed balanced as to static balance. If they are rocking up on their toes or back on their heels start over. Most want to feel as if they are sitting and this is incorrect.

Because their center of gravity is lower than a male and the spine is more erect (males are tilted slightly forward at the sacrum) a little more bending at the waist and less bending of the knees and they can feel it when you push on their back and upper chest and you will see little to no movement in their feet.

Does the sequence of bending slightly at the waist and then softening the knees make a difference? Try it. Bend the knees first and then soften the waist second and you should be able to push them over. It is termed sequential core loading by some and the certified trainers term it hip hinge angle and use gymnast sticking their landing as examples. We try and keep it simple as we are dealing with kids and parents and coaches who are trying to help the kids.

We do not need to know how to build an atomic ball, just tell us when we need to push the button.

 

[Cuddy93]

We use the BASEBALLANCE to gain the negative movement toward the load, then use the device to force and exaggeration of an explosive back hip, forcing rotation.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

FFS watch closely as she is in her ready position (bat on shoulder) until the pitcher begins to deliver the ball. Then she becomes set and you will see this as she raises her hands and begins to step forward, she bends at the waist during her move forward and sets into her back leg (she said this is how she loads and can feel it in her hip and foot) keeping the weight more towards the inside of her back leg and focused in the big toe area.

This sounds like what I was describing to you earlier in this thread. At one point I thought you were trying to tell me this was just for male hitters and that females were different in this regard ... which IMO is not the case.

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-technical/4867-weight-transfer-10.html#post48815

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-technical/4867-weight-transfer-10.html#post48821

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-technical/4867-weight-transfer-10.html#post48831

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-technical/4867-weight-transfer-11.html#post48838

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-technical/4867-weight-transfer-11.html#post48840

 

[softballphreak]

I believe the female vs male difference is insignificant wrt hitting mechanics. I believe the most significant difference may be in physical preparation (conditioning). And that conditioning is not part of the technical aspects of hitting.

In other words what applies to males can just as easily be applied to females. This may not sound important but experience from the early days of fastpitch tells me that females can be short changed if someone thinks they're different. And that opinion usually ends up with the female being thought of as less able.

I personally believe we would have more qualified coaches if we think in terms of baseball and softball hitting being the same. That goes for everything else except pitching, also.

 

[SBFAMILY]

answer to well
Well said, "Also, IMO game footage does not support the claim that Bustos drives off her back foot to shift her weight. What I see in the clips that I have, is her foot becoming unweighted due to her excellent weight transfer. As Ted says; it's hard for the back foot not to come off the ground with a good weight transfer."

She actually demonstrates driving off the back leg during the 7 step matrix and even says, I may not always use it in a game however that is what I am thinking and this is what I want my body to do. Some clips based on location and baiting can be viewed differently however what were the results. The swing everyone remembers from the 2004 game was talked about at the clinic this past weekend. She asked if anyone knew where the pitch was? She said ask me as I was in the batters box! It was ten inches inside and I baited her to throw it and had to really open up to square up on the ball.

She said everyone thinks they know my swing and went on to add, did they know the count, where the runners were, how many outs or what inning it was? I do a lot of things that people do not understand and then the people on the boards try to explain what I did or was attempting.

Probably about 200 to 300 people her heard say that this past weekend.

It is funny that what you see verses what see feels and teaches and how the video as interpreted by you can be so different. We respect her opinions as much as you value TSW. The nice part is we get to actually talk to her at clinics and it is not second hand information.

Her swing is featured on the RVP program and Don explains, possibly a little different than you view it, as he used her as a model swing at a clinic we recently were at while viewing Manny.

Also the video of Josh, is there a purpose or reason for stepping what appears to be at least two times or maybe three times? I'm reading on a baseball site about Epstein and how he has changed how he teaches weight shift in the last couple of years, I wonder if that had anything to do with his argument with Don Slaught?

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

FYI ... the dimensions of the batter's box are such that the batter's box is 6" from the plate. If one baits the pitcher to throw an inside pitch by stepping on the chalk of the batter's box, and if the pitch is thrown 10" inside, then it would be thrown 4" inside the batter's box.

 

[Wellphyt]

answer to well
Well said, "Also, IMO game footage does not support the claim that Bustos drives off her back foot to shift her weight. What I see in the clips that I have, is her foot becoming unweighted due to her excellent weight transfer. As Ted says; it's hard for the back foot not to come off the ground with a good weight transfer."

She actually demonstrates driving off the back leg during the 7 step matrix and even says, I may not always use it in a game however that is what I am thinking and this is what I want my body to do. Some clips based on location and baiting can be viewed differently however what were the results. The swing everyone remembers from the 2004 game was talked about at the clinic this past weekend. She asked if anyone knew where the pitch was? She said ask me as I was in the batters box! It was ten inches inside and I baited her to throw it and had to really open up to square up on the ball.

She said everyone thinks they know my swing and went on to add, did they know the count, where the runners were, how many outs or what inning it was? I do a lot of things that people do not understand and then the people on the boards try to explain what I did or was attempting.

Probably about 200 to 300 people her heard say that this past weekend.

It is funny that what you see verses what see feels and teaches and how the video as interpreted by you can be so different. We respect her opinions as much as you value TSW. The nice part is we get to actually talk to her at clinics and it is not second hand information.

Her swing is featured on the RVP program and Don explains, possibly a little different than you view it, as he used her as a model swing at a clinic we recently were at while viewing Manny.

Also the video of Josh, is there a purpose or reason for stepping what appears to be at least two times or maybe three times?

Many of us played ball growing up and some of us still swing a bat to better understand the correct movements so we can better communicate what needs to be taught. Alot of us aren't just sitting behind a computer screen guessing at this stuff. There is also overwhelming evidence too suggest that many pro players don't accurately describe what they do. Mark McGwire thinks he swings down off of his front foot. Do you think that's how he actually hit? Before TSW began to really study the science of hitting, he believed in the level swing.

"Much of it (science of hitting) has been poorly defined, or not defined at all, and some things have been told wrong for years. The consequence is a collection of mistaken ideas that batters parrot around. I know because I'm as quilty as the next guy. The level swing for example, has always been advocated. I used to believe it, and I used to say the same thing. But the ideal swing is not level, and it's not down, and I'll tell you why as we get to it".
-Ted Williams


When I swing a bat, I find that heading into heel plant is the most explosive part of the swing where a lot of things are happening simultaneously. I have taken many, many swings while placing "feel sensors" at my back foot, my hips, my back knee, my hands etc., during this point of the swing, and I find it extremely difficult to isolate "cause and effect". When I get to that point of the swing I am basically on autopilot and everything I'm doing is just naturally happening. It's not at all unusual for different people to describe what they are feeling at that point in the swing, differently. We've been having this debate on another board for a couple of months now.

When I mentioned that I had abandoned the "Elvis Move" in favor of "The Move", you responded to my post with a post about what Bustos teaches and the differences between males and females. The implication being that "The Move" is not something females can do.

Then in a later post in responds to FFS, you post this comment about Bustos;
"FFS watch closely as she is in her ready position (bat on shoulder) until the pitcher begins to deliver the ball. Then she becomes set and you will see this as she raises her hands and begins to step forward, she bends at the waist during her move forward and sets into her back leg (she said this is how she loads and can feel it in her hip and foot) keeping the weight more towards the inside of her back leg and focused in the big toe area."

The above description very likely means that Bustos and I are describing the same movement at that point in the swing in different ways. If would take about 30 seconds in person to confirm this as it's easier shown than described.

When I look at this clip of Bustos
[video]http://photos.imageevent.com/siggy/hitting/olympic/CrystalBustos_Olympics.gif[/video]

I see her back heel turn in slightly as she begins her stride similar to this guy. [video]http://coachdm.hittingillustrated.com/murray3a.gif[/video]

IMO, the similar back foot action that I see indicates that both Bustos and Murray are applying force against the ground in the same manner as they head out to toe touch. I do the same thing when I stride, because if I don't I can't remain in a good balanced hitting position as I approach toe touch. I've tried every which way I know of to get to toe touch balanced, and the only way that I've found that works is to apply external pressure against the ground with my back foot as I stride. I challenge anybody to get into the same balanced hitting position at toe touch that Murray and Bustos get to, with a neutral rear foot.

IMO, Bustos does many if not all of the same critical movements that MLB players do. Perhaps we are decribing the movements differently, but the video doesn't lie. And, the movements I'm talking about have zero to do with pitch location or differences between males and females.

Edited to add: The reason Josh steps a couple of times is because that's his personal style. Chipper Jones does something similar. It's a timing mechanism that works for them. It's not unusual for hitters to change these kinds of style movements over the course of their playing career.

 

[cshilt]

...the only way that I've found that works is to apply external pressure against the ground with my back foot as I stride.

External? As in the outside edge of your back foot?

 

[Wellphyt]

External? As in the outside edge of your back foot?

Go have a catch. As you stride does your front foot stay closed like these guys?


This position is why I use the overhand throw as a model to teach hitting. When the front foot turns in during the stride, the body needs to create an equal and opposite action to maintain balance. Most of us men do it naturally with absolutely no thought to it when we throw overhand. IMO, the equal and opposite action is found at the back foot in the dirt. Hence the name "Secret In The Dirt". You can Google it if you want. Anybody can experiment with this at home. Most of you likely already do it naturally when you throw overhand, but don't know you're doing it precisely because you do it naturally.

In "QuickTime" open up the clip on here of Bustos just before toe touch. Is her front foot open or closed?

Some of us have come to realize that the force against the ground that is created at the rear foot when we throw overhand, is the same when hitting. If this force at the ground is simply maintained and not purposely given up as we approach toe touch when hitting, other secondary movements simply happen automatically. The coil in the rear hip is maintained until it's not. IOW, it's simply "coil and uncoil". It's not, "coil...push with the rear leg...uncoil".

I know, I know. Bustos doesn't teach this. Shame on me for doing independent research on my own and testing it out by swinging a bat and showing it to my DD.

 

[cshilt]

Clearly the picture of Kenny Rogers shows him pushing off of the inside edge of the back foot.

BTW, no reason to be snide. I'm just asking a question.