Frustation for my little guy

[callyjr]

Couple days ago Kaleb decided with a little help that it was time to learn over lap and that has turned into trying to learn how to sit and coil and explode. He has always just pulled his hands stretched before he starts any lower body movement.

Its been the 2 most frustrating lessons we have experienced together. Yesterday he would take his whole upper body and lean it towards the catcher. Today he would shift all his weight to the front and come up in his stance before he went out.

I have never had a problem getting a kid to do something I am asking. Especially not Kaleb. Lost for words, I have video but probably shouldn't post it because someone will end up putting it out in the real world and its pretty sad.

thoughts......

[Tewks]

Do it slow. Physically put him in the right positions. Force the feeling.

[Teacherman]

IMO, and without seeing a clip, MOMENTUM is likely the culprit.

And not necessarily 'forward' momentum.

'Loading' momentum, the act of loading, gives the 'look' but not the feel of the high level swing. What most call loading is simply 'taking out slack'. What happens from there is the true loading. It is silent. Invisible.

Once again I will offer this clip....

Just Turn The Barrel

I get into an attack oppo position. I hold it for several counts. THEN.....I simply.....TURN THE BARREL. I'm tight in my hip socket....hip is loaded against the internally rotating leg (can't see it....no movement). I'm tight in my lat (can't see it....no movement). I'm tight in my scap (can't see it....no movement). I am slackless....and holding that position. I feel my lower back and butt is tight. My rag is wrung.

THEN.....I simply turn the barrel. And that act of turning the barrel IS the true final loading that causes overlap. That act of turning the barrel against that tight lower back is the last bit of stretching. The rearward launch is the stretching. The rearward launch is countered by the rear hip.

Because my rag is wrung.....turning the barrel works. Without a wrung rag....it falls apart.

And....WITH a wrung rag....if I launch with my hip and not my leg....is falls apart.

The rearward launch against the wrung rag is the overlap.

Most kids want to feel momentum into this launch position. And in the process they avoid....they skip....the true load. They use the momentum to power their swing. They never learn the rear leg drive train.

Remember.....the stretch is the load. The ultimate stretch is the barrel going rearward against the wrung rag.

That's the long version.

I bet he is not rear leg driven. I bet he is unloading his hip.

[callyjr]

I bet he is not rear leg driven. I bet he is unloading his hip.

your right, but he is struggling with understanding it and I am struggling with helping him understand it. I will go edit the clips and post, but I warn you ahead of time I can't figure out how to make a small clip in Ulead. Post it in 5 minutes or so

[callyjr]

yesterday, I didn't get the dry swing video,

http://hitrotational.com/HI%20CLIPS/Kaleb%201.17.11.mov



Here was tonight, We went from TKD straight to the facility


http://hitrotational.com/HI%20CLIPS/Kaleb%201.18.11.mov

with suggestions we will get back at it again tomorrow

[callyjr]

Once again I will offer this clip....

Just Turn The Barrel

I get into an attack oppo position. I hold it for several counts. THEN.....I simply.....TURN THE BARREL. I'm tight in my hip socket....hip is loaded against the internally rotating leg (can't see it....no movement). I'm tight in my lat (can't see it....no movement). I'm tight in my scap (can't see it....no movement). I am slackless....and holding that position. I feel my lower back and butt is tight. My rag is wrung.

THEN.....I simply turn the barrel. And that act of turning the barrel IS the true final loading that causes overlap. That act of turning the barrel against that tight lower back is the last bit of stretching. The rearward launch is the stretching. The rearward launch is countered by the rear hip.

Because my rag is wrung.....turning the barrel works. Without a wrung rag....it falls apart.

And....WITH a wrung rag....if I launch with my hip and not my leg....is falls apart.

The rearward launch against the wrung rag is the overlap.

Most kids want to feel momentum into this launch position. And in the process they avoid....they skip....the true load. They use the momentum to power their swing. They never learn the rear leg drive train.

Remember.....the stretch is the load. The ultimate stretch is the barrel going rearward against the wrung rag.

That's the long version.

I bet he is not rear leg driven. I bet he is unloading his hip.

gonna try the clip above with him tomorrow

[Stealth]

I would get him to stand taller. He is really crouched....the only thing you can do is stand up during the swing when you start out that low.

[Teacherman]

These are better than I expected.

He is one legged.

He does drive from his rear leg.

He gets the benefit of my one legged drill.....but doesn't get the benefit of the SnF.

His whoosh is out front.

So the issue is really in his lack of rear side resistance.

Better use of his scap is necessary.

He unloads it to swing instead of holding it.

When you hold the scap....the rear leg drives....turns forward....against that hold. When that happens, the lower back really gets tight. Your rag gets wrung. Then a simple barrel turn releases that stretch. BAM.

When you don't hold the scap....when you unload by unloading the scap....you 'give up' your rear leg. The scap out runs the leg. The leg can no longer pull it.....the scap is moving/sliding forward....slop exists between the leg and the scap....so all you get from the lower body is momentum....as the scap/arms push forward....the whoosh moves out front.

In the drill I show....I hold the scap until I can't hold it any longer. I maintain the rear leg to scap connection....because of the hold....for as long as I can hold it. Which isn't very long....but....I don't unload it either. I hold it until I reach the corner when all the forces are unleashed. I couldn't hold it if I wanted to at that point.

Keep the scap pinching rearward. Make sure it is going rearward when the hip turns forward. Make sure he turns the barrel rearward. All of that rearward stuff (hip coil....lat....scap....barrel turn) make that rear leg pull. The harder it pulls against that resistance the more sudden it unloads when the resistance is given up.

Tewks drill....where he pushes the scap rearward as he pushes the knee forward....creates the feel that hitters need to learn to do on their own. You have to activate muscles of your back to do that....to achieve the rag wrung feeling.

His bent over posture....at least to the degree he does it....may be in the way of proper rag wringing.

[Teacherman]

When speaking of the 'balanced balance'....that must be achieved to reach the high level pattern....a good checkpoint is.....WHILE LEARNING....can you do a deep knee bend from your stance without falling over? Straight down. I'm not saying you do a deep knee bend when hitting....or in your stance. I'm asking....could you do one without falling over? Could you do one without first adjusting?

Obviously, there are many different 'final' hittingstances with varying degrees of weight distribution. I'm not sure Pujols can do a deep knee bend from his stance....he is sooooo wide. But, I think Bonds could, Manny could, Ted could....etc etc.

My point is.....there is a 'balanced balance' to learn from. Maybe later you can use a different look. But to find the feel....to learn the feel....many kids set up MAJOR road blocks to learning by their posture.

Kaleb is doing that. Cheyenne does it....having been taught from Power's drill. You simply can not SnF from that position.

Sway.....is a great example of the LACK OF SnF. And a great example of a NEED for momentum....which KEEPS kids from learning to generate power from their body....from a stationery position. What I call 'hitting in a phone booth'.....forces hitters to learn to produce something from their body that they will normally sway through....they will momentum through it....and skip it.

I can not....and I don't think it is just me....I can not sway from a good SnF loaded stance. The bind in my hip socket doesn't want to sway. I can coil into it a little deeper....but I can't sway from it.

[Teacherman]

Look at these hitters....



Everyone of these hitters....the first thing that happens....when they lift their front foot.....is.....THEY GO FORWARD.

NONE of them sway back.

That forward move happens BECAUSE....AGAINST....the scap hold/clamp/pinch.

It tightens the stetch.

So.....you think I'm crazy. First I say take away the forward momentum. Then I say 'looky here'....the first thing these hitters do is go forward.

The difference is.....THEY ALREADY KNOW....ACHIEVE....UNDERSTAND....THE SnF....and their immediate forward move enhances that stretch.

A young kid who goes forward....without ever having developed the scap hold and SnF feeling....gets a totally different result.

IMO.....YOU MUST LEARN THE UNDER THE HOOD STUFF FIRST.....THEN ADD SOME MOMENTUM LATER.....AND THAT FORWARD MOMENTUM YOU LEARN....LATER....WILL ENHANCE THE UNDER THE HOOD STRETCH THAT YOU JUST LEARNED....IT WILL NOT REPLACE IT.

[mcallister]

I would get him to stand taller. He is really crouched....the only thing you can do is stand up during the swing when you start out that low.

and get him to swing with some balls off of a high tee...

He has no concept of launching from a less crouched position...

then go with all of the wonderful detail teach commented on...

also didn't you use to do some Epstein stuff?

Does his swing look anything like he is getting to a good 1 position (i.e launch position)

[callyjr]

and get him to swing with some balls off of a high tee...

He has no concept of launching from a less crouched position...

then go with all of the wonderful detail teach commented on...

also didn't you use to do some Epstein stuff?

Does his swing look anything like he is getting to a good 1 position (i.e launch position)

You know this is not his normal swing, he was trying to learn how to sit into the coil and was over doing it. He does not usually sit that deep, like i said it was a frustrating 2 days.

We will work on the scap load tonight and also getting him standing more upright again. I just hope I understand the scap load correctly.


Thanks Teach

[Teacherman]

Scap load is not an arm movement, although the arm will move.

It is not a deltoid thing.

It is moving the scap toward the spine with the rhomboid muscle.

[callyjr]

We had practice tonight so we didn't get to work much on this transition. We did take 15 minutes or so after practice but you really cannot tell much. The scap load we worked on left as soon as live balls starting getting tossed.

you can see the 1st 3 or 4 clips he is still sitting down to much and then I remind him and the last 2 swings he gets a little more upright.

He was really tired though, had speed and agility from 4 to 5, then practice from 5:30 to 7:30 plus our family has been sick and now he is as well.

I notice his hands still come back to soon, should I stress waiting longer? Maybe not try and get as much push?

The scap pinch should be held as long as possible?


http://hitrotational.com/HI%20CLIPS/...%20%281%29.mov

[Teacherman]

This clip....

Kaleb

....is the best of the group. I would say he kept his scap pinch pretty well.

Kaleb really likes momentum. Really REALLY likes momentum. He likes it because he knows....either consciously or subconsciously....that to hit the ball hard he must have it. His mechanics require it. It isn't a helpful addition to his swing. It powers his swing.

Somehow we have to get him to create an engine that will eventually benefit from momentum but doesn't require it. He really needs to develop some SnF.

I didn't see his version of my attack oppo clip. Read Ben's thread. Everything I said to Ben applies to Kaleb. I would like to see a 'turn the barrel only' clip from Kaleb in the manner Ben is attempting. See the clip of Tyler in Ben's thread. Duplicate it.