Kevin G
07-30-2008, 01:23 PM
This is kind of thrown together.... but the gist is here.
I have some philosophies based on observational skills, analysis and practical implementations from 20 years of high level golf . I’ve been doing some pretty extensive work trying to solve the youth hitting problems from an intent perspective.
I recognized from the golf arena, that just telling the player to get into or through "x" position won't work unless it is supporting the correct "athletic intent".
This intent is often subconscious, so the player can't help, and often confuses the issue.
example: Bat drag.(where the back elbow gets way in front of the knob at the beginning of the swing)
I found there to be insufficient understanding of it and of course much frustration in trying to fix it. Most seem think it is a "connection" issue as well as trying to "muscle" the bat with the back arm.
I've determined it’s most common root cause is actually the hitter’s “intention” (all be it subconscious) to get the whole bat into the plane of the incoming pitch substantially before the swing is initiated. One of the reasons for this intent is a poorly developed neuro-muscular system, which limits the ability to create, accumulate, transfer and deliver momentum while at the same time react and adjust, according to rapidly incoming visual stimuli.
The video reveals that as the pitch is coming in at the usual steep angle, the hitter subconsciously wants to get the bat down, below the horizontal, so that when he “swings” the bat into the ball, it is traveling in the opposite end of that steep angle of the pitch and minimal adjusting during the stroke will be necessary. This actually, from the kid’s perspective "solves" the number one criteria pretty efficiently..... insuring contact with the ball. He lets the bat fall to horizontal and lets it roll of the back shoulder.This rolling of the bat (that almost ALL kids do) off the back shoulder takes time.........
While that is happening, the hitter begins to move forward with the upper body to "engage" the bat, and as it clears the back shoulder, he begins to rotate.
This pins the lead arm tightly against the chest and as the back elbow “slots”, it naturally seeks a position of “freedom” in front of the not yet quickly rotating side of the torso. This is the classic bat drag position. I also call it “wrapping around the axle”
This position is actually VERY WELL CONNECTED to the rotation, all be it for too short of a time), and it is effective(once it is established) in moving the bat forward. The problem is twofold:
1. The action takes way too much time to develop.
2. This tightly wound configuration allows for very little adjustment….. but of course the hitter “wants” to eliminate the burden on the system of adjustment (at least with the arms [they will collapse the legs or stand up…etc.]) during this phase.
Point number 2 can be very effectively rectified, however in a pattern I call Type 1 bat drag. (Type 1 are kids who always seem to make contact but rarely exhibit power).
The adjustment phase for type 1 begins with the next movement, which is to throw the lead upper arm off the chest toward the pitcher as the torso rotates around the corner (disconnecting). This is the part of the swing more obvious to the naked eye as the classic “arms” swing. It is only after the lead arm is “thrown off” the chest that the hitter can now begin to refine his adjustment to the pitch. (this is the perfect time in a child’s world because only now has the ball been monitored long enough to make good judgments about it’s likely path). This is where it is important for the back elbow to be in front of the chest (in the classic “bat drag” configuration), in it’s position of “freedom”. It’s not about powering the bat by dragging it through, but that hands and arms are going to be quickly called upon now to “fish” for the ball, in the final move to contact.
The paradox at this point is that the hitter NEEDS to have the arms and bat slowing so that he can have control (or “try” to have control) of the bat into contact with the hands for the final adjustment to contact..(if you were to have a good bat head release caused by centrifugal force, it would have a lot of gyroscopic stability to it and much more difficult to maneuver).
For the most part the shoulders have stopped turning at this point to allow the “throw off and float” segment.
This is why almost all type1 bat draggers need to make contact so far out in front. Often when these swings are analyzed, a suggestion will be made to encourage the hitter to let the ball get “deeper”, and even commenting that it can be mostly a timing thing. If they would let the ball get deeper, some of this would fix itself. It isn’t normally the case, that this constraint will on it’s own spur them into a better pattern.
Note: Bat draggers can have good power, owing to the fact that the “wrapped around the axle” form of connection, while pinning the arms in place, can and most often does, develop a short burst of good acceleration.
Now for the follow through. Type 1 bat draggers, having disconnected, decelerated and manipulated their way to contact need to somehow reconnect. The body and head usually get pushed backward and both arms straighten, but the lead shoulder remains disengaged just long enough for the back forearm to very quickly roll over the “submissive” lead forearm and the knob of the bat will “pivot” around a fixed point in space. This is much more like a golfer’s release, which is necessary only when the shoulders are rotating outside the plane of release.(This is of course not the case with baseball and is something I believe to be a number one priority to remove from the baseball swing). The lead shoulder can now engage rigorously after this brief period of passiveness. As the slack is taken up, the bat can be “yanked” over the lead shoulder to what can sometimes looks to the naked eye as quite a nice finish.
The cure to bat drag is to change the “intent parameters”…………..more to follow.
Kevin
I have some philosophies based on observational skills, analysis and practical implementations from 20 years of high level golf . I’ve been doing some pretty extensive work trying to solve the youth hitting problems from an intent perspective.
I recognized from the golf arena, that just telling the player to get into or through "x" position won't work unless it is supporting the correct "athletic intent".
This intent is often subconscious, so the player can't help, and often confuses the issue.
example: Bat drag.(where the back elbow gets way in front of the knob at the beginning of the swing)
I found there to be insufficient understanding of it and of course much frustration in trying to fix it. Most seem think it is a "connection" issue as well as trying to "muscle" the bat with the back arm.
I've determined it’s most common root cause is actually the hitter’s “intention” (all be it subconscious) to get the whole bat into the plane of the incoming pitch substantially before the swing is initiated. One of the reasons for this intent is a poorly developed neuro-muscular system, which limits the ability to create, accumulate, transfer and deliver momentum while at the same time react and adjust, according to rapidly incoming visual stimuli.
The video reveals that as the pitch is coming in at the usual steep angle, the hitter subconsciously wants to get the bat down, below the horizontal, so that when he “swings” the bat into the ball, it is traveling in the opposite end of that steep angle of the pitch and minimal adjusting during the stroke will be necessary. This actually, from the kid’s perspective "solves" the number one criteria pretty efficiently..... insuring contact with the ball. He lets the bat fall to horizontal and lets it roll of the back shoulder.This rolling of the bat (that almost ALL kids do) off the back shoulder takes time.........
While that is happening, the hitter begins to move forward with the upper body to "engage" the bat, and as it clears the back shoulder, he begins to rotate.
This pins the lead arm tightly against the chest and as the back elbow “slots”, it naturally seeks a position of “freedom” in front of the not yet quickly rotating side of the torso. This is the classic bat drag position. I also call it “wrapping around the axle”
This position is actually VERY WELL CONNECTED to the rotation, all be it for too short of a time), and it is effective(once it is established) in moving the bat forward. The problem is twofold:
1. The action takes way too much time to develop.
2. This tightly wound configuration allows for very little adjustment….. but of course the hitter “wants” to eliminate the burden on the system of adjustment (at least with the arms [they will collapse the legs or stand up…etc.]) during this phase.
Point number 2 can be very effectively rectified, however in a pattern I call Type 1 bat drag. (Type 1 are kids who always seem to make contact but rarely exhibit power).
The adjustment phase for type 1 begins with the next movement, which is to throw the lead upper arm off the chest toward the pitcher as the torso rotates around the corner (disconnecting). This is the part of the swing more obvious to the naked eye as the classic “arms” swing. It is only after the lead arm is “thrown off” the chest that the hitter can now begin to refine his adjustment to the pitch. (this is the perfect time in a child’s world because only now has the ball been monitored long enough to make good judgments about it’s likely path). This is where it is important for the back elbow to be in front of the chest (in the classic “bat drag” configuration), in it’s position of “freedom”. It’s not about powering the bat by dragging it through, but that hands and arms are going to be quickly called upon now to “fish” for the ball, in the final move to contact.
The paradox at this point is that the hitter NEEDS to have the arms and bat slowing so that he can have control (or “try” to have control) of the bat into contact with the hands for the final adjustment to contact..(if you were to have a good bat head release caused by centrifugal force, it would have a lot of gyroscopic stability to it and much more difficult to maneuver).
For the most part the shoulders have stopped turning at this point to allow the “throw off and float” segment.
This is why almost all type1 bat draggers need to make contact so far out in front. Often when these swings are analyzed, a suggestion will be made to encourage the hitter to let the ball get “deeper”, and even commenting that it can be mostly a timing thing. If they would let the ball get deeper, some of this would fix itself. It isn’t normally the case, that this constraint will on it’s own spur them into a better pattern.
Note: Bat draggers can have good power, owing to the fact that the “wrapped around the axle” form of connection, while pinning the arms in place, can and most often does, develop a short burst of good acceleration.
Now for the follow through. Type 1 bat draggers, having disconnected, decelerated and manipulated their way to contact need to somehow reconnect. The body and head usually get pushed backward and both arms straighten, but the lead shoulder remains disengaged just long enough for the back forearm to very quickly roll over the “submissive” lead forearm and the knob of the bat will “pivot” around a fixed point in space. This is much more like a golfer’s release, which is necessary only when the shoulders are rotating outside the plane of release.(This is of course not the case with baseball and is something I believe to be a number one priority to remove from the baseball swing). The lead shoulder can now engage rigorously after this brief period of passiveness. As the slack is taken up, the bat can be “yanked” over the lead shoulder to what can sometimes looks to the naked eye as quite a nice finish.
The cure to bat drag is to change the “intent parameters”…………..more to follow.
Kevin