Brandon's Journey Continues

[Teacherman]

Day 2 Of Our Christmas Vacation

http://www.teachersbilliards.com/Hit...ndn122106a.mpg http://www.teachersbilliards.com/Hit...ndn122106b.mpg

Another view shows sheds some light on things.

Many things stand out. One disgusts me. Which one do you think it is? I just wrote about it in the tht/bht thread.

[Stealth]

Let me guess it has do with going around the corner..........

He needs to do some Happy Gilmore Swings - running and swinging at the same time. If he can ever get his legs/hips to not be "planted" he might be able to make this tip and rip work.

His timing looks better.

[dmac]

I would experiment with dropping the hands and tilting the front shoulder down more along with taking a stride and showing the back pocket more as he tips.

I agree with this 100%.

[dmac]

The positions that Tom mentions are right in this picture.

[swingbuster]

teacherman

1. I would let him get the distance of his hands from his body where it works best for him. I would enforce the tip with hip load/ loading back side with weight. Starting away from the body is not an absolute. You might find his swing is better in a little closer.....I would experiment there

2. I also like the idea of " starting on the back and finishing against the front more". the high level swing does link leg firming with rear elbow up and over.

[Teacherman]

http://www.hittingillustrated.com/Br...ndn122206a.mpg http://www.hittingillustrated.com/Br...ndn122206b.mpg http://www.hittingillustrated.com/Br...ndn122206c.mpg

[Stealth]

Just get him off his back side (like ministealth) - he needs some forward momentum. Better each time.........

[swingbuster]

The easiest indicator point..

Is his head moving back as the barrel comes into the zone.

Yes or no

If yes SHIFT. "Start on the back and finsih on the front"... John Daily

[Teacherman]

[Lclifton]

I see Improvement from Thanksgiving.
I see a lead arm that I like, (a little stretch)
an agressiveness that I've not seen before,
and he's getting off the backside better,
I see a little tip and a good arc, shoulder tilt to load and then reverse to launch.
Is it because his hands and arms are in a position to unload? Yes...
...They are not trapped, I like them.
He has a clear path to the ball.

Now----
immediately after the lead knee kicks in, if his foot was off the ground while doing so, a stride would be the next, most natural, easy to implement, and helpful thing. 1 foot Brandon, move out 1 foot and see what happens, pick that front foot up 1" and gliiiiiide forward,,,see what happens.
OR---
Widen up ---Go Jim Edmonds---show the cleats to the pitcher--drop the heel and go.

OR--take what you have right now.
Hit, don't think, hit some more, and go make the team.
I, for one, am cheering for that to happen.

[swingbuster]

Something doesn't look right and I watched it a zillion times?

Point taken on Bonds head. BUT looking again...Bonds starts narrow in stance moves the COM and reestablishes a forward center of pressure ( lead foot). THere is more body lean in Bonds and a little less revers pivot.

What about the hinge angle?

When does it start unhinging on those side view?.

If a shift is to move it( the hinge angle) out front and and you cannot move it out front unless you move the COG to leverage the lead shoulder then..... is that what I am seeing..?

Can you put it quicktime and / or frames to see when the unhinge starts?

Is he swinging the bat( with some casting) or releasing the barrel( after accelerating it into the backside of the swing arc? Not sure....happening too fast

Need more clarification in imagery maybe. I think these questions are worth seeking answers to

[Teacherman]

If you compare input to output, while still imperfect, those last three swings are as good as he's been.

I'm with you on "something isn't quite there". We lowered his hands, believe it or not. What felt significant to him can be measured in millimeters.

They are still too high IMO. Facility is closed for 4 days. The first thing we'll do when we go back is exaggerate the lowering of the hands. Take them too far, and then work up.

His "cue" that was producing these swings was "immediate launch and spend" AND "hip cusp at the same time" as the handle is torqued. And, all this happens at "go"....no movement first then go (with the hands). He had to "feel" the forearms about to supinate/pronate in the setup to make sure they applied the torque immediately. Then, he tried to time that to the hip climax.

I really like the early batspeed in these clips. I think it is too high and slightly too far back. I think it can be better if the hands stay more in the arm pit area instead of above it.

[Stealth]

Teacherman - next time try a stride. If just for you and Brandon to experiment with. Put his feet closer together so he HAS to stride. Make sure he is striding a similar distance like Bonds. Exagerate it if necessary. Video this and lets see what it looks like. I like the upper body but don't like the lower body so much. I have a gut feeling adding a stride will take care of it to a certain degree.

In the next four days get Brandon to do the walk up drill and also have him hit some balls off the tee where his feet are next to each other - like the Babe Ruth clip. This will force him to move his COG.

I have been doing this with ministealth - I am curious what the next video's will look like.

At some point like Lclifton says you will have to let him go and just hit, hit, hit. When he goes back to school he can't think too much - just hit the ball!

Keep working at it!

[Teacherman]

I agree with the feet closer together like Bonds and then a stride.

We will experiment with that and the height of the hands.

Good suggestion.

I'm real happy no one said "add some tension in his lead arm and shoulders". Inside joke.

[Cut_Three]

Still, very good

I agree with Buster there is something there "we don't like."

But there is tremendous improvement shown here.

The last swing is great. Very aggressive and very cuspy. Not MLB yet. But jeez, good enough to hit hell out of it in small college? I would think so.

What I think "we don't like" is maybe just the agonies of PCR. There are some aspects of that he is holding on to and they are stubborn.

My take: More pronation/supination to start. I see a lot of aggression early, which is good. But the arc looks a little weakly. More turning of the forearms to start the bat. More Mantle and Yaz. Maybe really pronate to jut the elbow. Works wonders.

Lower body. This might sound simplistic and should not be taken literally. But it looks he needs to "step into it." I know it's a bromide, but it's what I see. Is that off base?