Random but great post

[Mike]

Overlap in your swing

From a one-legged, weight back, very solid balanced position, his rock solid rear leg, is trying to turn the knee down and in, against the torso and arm action which is shifting/turning rearward, he opens his hips to clear them.

His rear hip is loaded by/against the rearward moving/turning (sometimes leaning) torso....not against the closing of the front leg or hip. The rear leg is trying to 'go'....by turning forward.....but it is resisted by the torso....as he clears his hips. The lead leg movement increases the stretch in the groin area. Tom has called it 'spreading the legs'. So the lead leg is stretching it as it moves forward and opens.....as the torso is holding it back.

From the resulting position....a highly loaded rear hip socket......he continues to resist with his arm action until 'go'.

Most consider the coil into the rear hip as the load. IMO, the coil is just the trigger for the running start. The coil turns to uncoil immediately. If it was a load you'd be bleeding your load immediately. The proper load is the rear hip trying to go forward....but can't....because of the rearward resistance of the upper body. And at 'go' the hip/leg thrusts to break through the resistance/load.

A rear hip turned rearward or a front hip turned into the rear hip, or the lead leg turned rearward into the hip, are not quality loads because the resulting action is a push of the rear hip forward. A push forward to break through the resistance.....resistance which is in front of the load. That does little good, other than momentum, when the thing that needs to be accelerated is behind you (the ball in this case). Your pushing the boogeyman. You're working your ass off to push the lead hip...or the lead leg. Which does little for the goal of accelerating the ball....which is behind you. The ball does not feel anything but momentum from the rear hip defeating the front hip or leg. There is no direct connection from the rear hip to the ball. All you have is arm action and lower body momentum......no drive train.

A good load has the rear hip trying to go forward against resistance behind it. This is a critical aspect of the overlap. The ball will feel the full benefit of the rear hip defeating the torso and arm action....which is behind the rear hip. The torso and arm will get defeated....the arm will get whipped....and yanked forward.

[Mike]

More on being fused

For you that are not into the theory....here is the teach.

By feel.....(video may show slight variations)

1) You must be onelegged.
2) You can not fall forward off the barstool because of forward momentum.
3) You must be back around the ball of the femur.
4) You must have a fused torso....such that....the turning in the hip socket IS THE ONLY MOVEMENT....by feel.
5) You must have a fused torso....such that....the sudden turning in the hip socket, that results from the SnF unload, turns (or can turn) the entire torso 90 degrees......NOW.
6) Your barrel turn must be BEHIND that....not along side. A no brainer if the SnF is strong.
7) Your belly button turn must be so fast and so complete that it is impossible for the hands to pass it up.
8) If your belly button does not face the pitcher.....NOW....you either are not SnF'ing.....or.....your torso is not fused into a unit.
9) The feeling must be.....that your torso is a box. A unit. A fused box unit. With the lower rear corner of the box sitting on the ball of the femur.
10) Any movement of the ball of the femur....MUST TURN THE ENTIRE BOX. It doesn't bend/twist. The entire torso moves or it doesn't.
11) Any loading or pulling back of the hip/back/scap must pull back the entire box.
12) You fuse your lower torso by sticking your butt out....arch of the back....lumbar lordosis.
13) You fuse your upper torso by only allowing the triangle turn and lateral tilt.

This is a very wordy explanation.

It is simpler than this.

I am working on a demonstration.

In short....the discovery was two things.....

1) You must have a fused torso for the SnF unload to turn the belly button 90 degrees.
2) That energy to turn the belly button must be full and complete.... and NOW....even if pitch location limits it.

[Mike]

Bleeding the corner discussion

Permission received....as long as I post Lynnelles new and improved future swings for redemption. Fair enough. She is a pleasure to work with.

There are several members who try to duplicate everything I do in an effort to learn so they can be more effective with their kids.

Lynnelle is one of them. And in our exchange last night some very revealing things happened. Things that I'm certain exist in 90% of everyone here....things that are misconceptions....misunderstandings....that keep them from the pattern.

First she offered this....



while attempting this....



Can YOU see the difference?

Then we talked and she came back with this....



An improvement....much better.....but something still not right.

I then asked her to add the next step....add the handle torque as she does the same thing that she was doing above. This was offered....



Compare it to this....



What do YOU see?

[Mike]

more on the corner

Almost every clip posted here.....has a corner bleed. The kids are not 'getting' a one legged drive train....they aren't feeling it....they aren't getting loaded properly....so they rely on.......

MOMENTUM

That slight little corner bleed Lynnelles shows....is a NEED for momentum. And the need is there because there is no one legged drive train.

Momentum is needed when there is no load against resistance. When the load is just turning back to get more 'range of motion' with which to go forward.

Momentum is needed when there is no 'thumb against the forefinger' type load.

Momentum is needed when the forward act doesn't happen until go....meaning....there is nothing pulling forward against rear side resistance PRIOR to go. There must be a forward action attempt without movement....because of the resistance....before go.

Look very closely at these two clips.

A low effort on my part. Just a demo. Yet.....can you see the subtle....slight....hip socket load against the rear hip? Its very slight....all done in rhythm.

My lead leg moves....your lead leg moves. As MY lead leg moves forward I have this slight rearward 'twist' going on in my hip socket....against my leg. You can 'see' the movement in the arms/shoulders/torso....but it is taking place in the hip socket. It is so natural to me....now....I never think about it anymore. When I pick up my lead leg it just happens....hip coils against rear leg. As YOUR lead leg moves forward, your rear hip and rear leg move forward with it...slightly after the lead leg...but in unison. I see no arm/shoulder/torso 'twist'.

What you are doing is what Builder says is lead leg bleed. And it is bleed if you never get hip socket separation. And this is why he is clueless to what we are saying. No matter how many times you try to tell him....he talks over you and won't listen. IF he would walk through it step by step with me....like you are doing....he would come out a believer. But....his ego will not allow the fall.

Your little momentum move of the lead leg moves AWAY FROM your rear hip and leg, so does mine, but because you need to push into it....against it....(because of no 'thumb/forefinger load in the rear hip socket....no rear side resistance to pull against)....the 'disapperance of' the lead leg....is a bleed. You've bled the corner....nothing to push into/against if the lead leg is running away from you. THAT is what Builder says and sees in the swings. THAT is why he claims Brandon's lead leg is pulling him forward....when NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. If the lead leg is not there to push into....in his mind....it must be pulling you forward. When the reality is....the real action....is in the rear hip socket separation and lat and scap.

Today he made a ridiculous comment about the unweighted lead leg being stronger than the weighted rear leg. You see....his unweighted lead leg IS strong (I still don't think stronger than the rear leg)....because he is the one using the lead leg....I (my teaching) do not. It isn't necessary. He uses it to push into. He needs it to unload into. He uses it to hold back....against his forward pushing 'the move'. That is why he speaks of 'pressure between the knees'. He continues to spew about Brandon's lead leg 'pulling' the rear hip forward...and his lead leg 'slamming into the hip socket' then pulling the rear hip forward. I mean....that is complete nonsense. That is what happens when you try to ADD what we teach to what you already teach....when what you already teach is wrong.

To understand what I teach you MUST replace your 'stuff'....with my 'stuff'....not add it to what you already think.....when what you already think is wrong....and proven wrong by the video.

I think I got sidetracked here. But it is important to understand what the lead leg should do....how the rear leg/hip/lat/scap load creating rear side resistance....so the lead leg doesn't provide resistance. Lead leg resistance PROHIBITS overlap.

It is this very issue (that is actually indisputable, even though they constantly dispute it) that keeps Builder, lclifton, cosmo, hitnpeas.....(Mud is fighting through it...making progress)...et al....from 'getting it'....and it is why they left.

Trust me.....WE KNOW SOMETHING THEY DON'T.

[Mike]

little understanding on Momentum

First of all....when I speak of the evil of momentum, I'm speaking of forward momentum. I'm not speaking of a barrel tip or a barrel float or arm action loading or hip coil. I'm speaking of moving forward.

Now.....

You have hitters who sway.

And you have hitters who shift too early.

The NEED for momentum is the cause of both.

NEED as compared to WANT.

Momentum is the biggest obstacle in the way of learning the proper load.

Kids bypass.....skip....miss.....overlap....due to rushing. Rushing that comes from momentum.

Your hitter that sways.....does so because he hasn't developed a thumb/forefinger type load. He can not just stand there and unload like a mother. He has to 'get going' first. That will someday bust him.

Your hitter that shfits too early.....does so because he hasn't developed a thumb/forefinger type load. He can not just stand there and unload like a mother either. He needs to 'get going' also. Why? Because he isn't thumb/forefinger loaded.

When you are thumb/forefinger loaded....by way of the internally rotating leg against the coiling hip....with the added lat and scap action.....you should be able to just stand there and unload with tremendous force. IF you keep the corner.

I suppose you can make a case that there is momentum within that hip/leg/lat/scap loading.....even though you aren't moving. But it isn't forward momentum.

Kids use momentum in place of proper loading. They have some success at lower levels. They will be at the pitchers mercy soon.

Momentum should be the icing on the cake....added after they learn to hit in a phone booth. It should be added for rhythm and timing and that extra 10%. Until they learn to hit in a phone booth....they will rely on momentum....and never learn the suddenness that comes from a proper load.

As to ministealth....I have yet to see someone point out what he does differently than EVERY OTHER KID that has ever tried to duplicate his Happy Gilmore drill. I have yet to see a kid do what ministealth is doing in his Happy Gilmore. Whether natural....or taught by his dad....or taught by a former coach.....ministealth loads properly. And he was able to build momentum into his well loaded hip/leg/hands by way of the Happy Gilmore drill. Was it luck? Natural? Taught to him? I don't know. But it really doesn't matter when 99 out of the next 100 kids you see will not be doing what ministealth does. And if it is your job to teach them what he's doing....forward momentum will only lengthen their learning.

Lets go back a ways....



As far as I know.....I am the first to 'talk about' hip socket separation as THE teach. Separation to everyone else was between the shoulders and the hips.....what I now call waist separation. Waist separation is sloppy and slow. Waist separation NEEDS momentum because it is sluggish....a slow moving vehicle. There is NOTHING....absolutley nothing....sudden about the unload of waist separation.

Yet....ministealth looks like he's 10-12 years old.....and he's separating in the hip socket. And we weren't even talking about it then. At the time of these clips this site was 100% Second Engine. If we weren't talking about it....I'm pretty sure no one else was. I see him getting stretch between the hands and the rear hip. I see hip socket separation.

I am only anti forward momentum until they show me a propler load/unload.

And the truth of the matter is.....there is tremendous momentum that comes out of the unload of a properly loaded rear hip/leg.

[Mike]

more on the corner

I just wanted to give members some feedback on what my thoughts were and what I felt during the swing on the right (white shirt).

This was the first time that I did not start my swing with any pre-coil in my hip or any pre-set scap clamp. I wanted to get some rhythm and flow during my snap stop.

When I lifted my lead leg, I simultaneously started to...
1. coil my rear hip rearward (which helped cause my scap to retract)
2. allowed my lead leg to move forward keeping my weight over my rear hip. My lead leg started moving forward in an internally rotated position because of my rearward hip coil.

I focused on staying on my rear leg until the bat rotation about my HPP caused my weight to transfer. I also focused on turning my rear hip fully.

I honestly did not think about my hands/arms/scap (upper body) much at all.

The feeling that I felt in my rear hip was a like a trampoline! Since I had always pre-set the coil before, I had never felt this much total rearward motion in my rear hip. I coiled into my rear hip and could feel the entire depth of the coil. When the coil bottomed out, my hip was rebounded (just like off a trampoline) into a forward hip rotation. You know how you jump into the trampoline and displace the material 1 foot downward, but your body explodes 3 feet into the air, that was the feeling!

I hope this helps someone else find/feel it!

[Mike]

Triangle and getting the elbow

GET THE REAR ELBOW THROUGH.

But HOW you do it is extremely important.

Tewks found the benefit of getting the rear elbow through, but then went off the deep end by teaching to do it through EXTERNAL ROTATION of the humerus.....which is an automatic swing lengthener. External Rotation of the humerus simply can not be allowed.



Cabrera keeps his elements in line. Colabello Externally Rotates his Humerus.

So....how do you get it through correctly? You fuse your torso and make sure the three elements of the Second Engine all work concentrically (if that is a word)....at the same angle....as much as is physically possible. The hand pivot point turns the barrel perpendicular to the rear forearm. But....the angle at which the rear arm sets in your handset, determines, initially, the angle the barrel takes in relation to the strike zone. We call it the diagonal swing plane. So....you have to make sure that the triangle turn (lead elbow raising and rear elbow replacing the lead elbow.....the jut) and the lateral tilt (torso tilting over the back of the ball of the femur) are concentric with the barrel turn. Yes, pitch location eventually distorts the triangle and the tilt. But you have to do your best to keep them concentric. Otherwise you have three elements working against each other instead of with each other.

Proper triangle turn and lateral tilt, will make sure the rear elbow gets through. And by doing it this way (as compared to the External Rotation way) you will create and maintain the corner.

But if your three elements are not working concentrically, your elbow won't get through, and you'll find yourself with a spinal axis. The rearward launch of the barrel by the hands/forearms WITH the triangle turn....that action gets the elbow through and keeps you behind the corner.

Another check point is the vertical rear elbow.....or....keeping the hands up by the rear ear through the beginning of the launch.



YOU DO NOT SLOT THEN SWING.....however.....pick up a bat.....turn the barrel.....but do it so that the rear elbow slots and the lead elbow juts. Do it with the intention of getting the elbow into and through the slot. You can do it wrong. You can turn the barrel and not get the elbow through. Practice it. Get it right. You'll find a quicker bat. You'll find a deeper contact point. You'll find you will never pull off the ball again. You'll find you will not roll over.

You will also discover, if you haven't already....THE END OF THE SWING. And the end of the swing is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. How can you time a pitch if there is no end to your swing. Timing a pitch means getting the end of the swing to the ball at the right time. Timing is not getting the bat moving and hoping that the ball intersects within a window of time. Timing is timing the ball to a spot. A spot at which the barrel and the ball arrive at the same time. Remember....the swing must be INSTANTANEOUS. Sudden. Over. Done. Launched and Spent. Instantly. Therefore, by it's very nature....there must be an end. Learning about the end....knowing the end....knowing what the end feels like....and working to get the end to the ball at the right time means.....waiting waiting waiting waiting waiting....BOOM. SUDDEN. NOW. It means WHEN you launch you have to know the end. You have to know what you're doing. Where you're going. And when you need to get there....which is always NOW. So what is timing? Timing is judging the WAIT period.....it is not judging the swing length. The swing length must be the same for all pitches. Fastball, offspeed....ALL PITCHES. It must be as humanly short as possible. It must be instantaneous. To be instantaneous there must be an end to it.

Learn the end.