Who said you have to move forward?

[John 800]

Not much shift, there might be a little shift caused by the swing. There isn’t a forward shift like Hank Aaron.

So with sotos short stride is he getting that to work because he is just shifting at the precise correct time?
The other thing that strikes me is how still his head stays before and during the swing. It is something that is talked about by golf dorks, but I really don’t hear much about it when discussing softball and baseball swings.

 

[clemenslee1]

Yeah there are two different things being discussed here I think (and technically, as I have said numerous times, your weight doesn’t shift during a swing just like the length of your nose doesn’t shift during the swing...)

Yeah possibly 2 different things discussed. Important to define what is meant by weight shift

 

[Shawn]

Let me put it this way, Soto has more weight shift backwards then he has forward.

 

[Shawn]

So with sotos short stride is he getting that to work because he is just shifting at the precise correct time?
The other thing that strikes me is how still his head stays before and during the swing. It is something that is talked about by golf dorks, but I really don’t hear much about it when discussing softball and baseball swings.

Timing is important regardless how much you shift.

 

[clemenslee1]

Let me put it this way, Soto has more weight shift backwards then he has forward.

It's not as much shift rearward as you think. One it's camera angle and two he starts open at basically 50/50 and really wide. Therefore if he was to just pick up his foot from there with out a negative move he would automatically fall forward. So he has to create a slight negative move to get him back to even in relation to the plate.

 

[Shawn]

This clip is a little funny, the swing is at 60 fps and I think the stride/load is at 30 fps. It wasn't adding up correctly measuring the entire clip at 60 fps. So, I think this is somewhat close to the first pause at release. I'm not 100% sure, like I said something wasn't adding up. The second pause is at the launch position, the swing itself is at 60 fps, I'm sure of that anyways.

 

[Shawn]

If you look at the girl in the blue shirt, she comes into the picture as he shifts or loads back. Her head can then be seen through most of the swing until he is into the follow through. So yes he has more weight shift backwards then forwards.

 

[julray]

Santo is already forward for the most part.. he doesn't get stacked over is back leg like Harper does.. therefore very little forward movement is necessary to get FYB. Also, the forward movement during FYB isn't about generating forward momentum to power the swing(although I would argue that it is apparent in some of the classic swings).

Regardless they all pretty much get to the same position at heel plant

 

[julray]

If you look at the girl in the blue shirt, she comes into the picture as he shifts or loads back. Her head can then be seen through most of the swing until he is into the follow through. So yes he has more weight shift backwards then forwards.

By girl in the blue shirt you mean those creepy rear cutouts .. right?

 

[Shawn]

Santo is already forward for the most part.. he doesn't get stacked over is back leg like Harper does.. therefore very little forward movement is necessary to get FYB. Also, the forward movement during FYB isn't about generating forward momentum to power the swing(although I would argue that it is apparent in some of the classic swings).

Regardless they all pretty much get to the same position at heel plant

Agreed they all get to the same spot. There are different styles to get there. Soto is in the launch position from the start. If we compared Soto and Betts, we would see Betts get to the launch position differently.