Feel The Rear Hip Pivot Point

[Teacherman]

Duplicating the head movement in these two clips will help (those who need help) understand what is missing in the Yeager theory.

And maybe this analogy will help.

Imagine these two hitters are in a phone booth (each in their own phone booth....not both in the same one) with their rear leg/foot against the wall opposite the door. Assume the door is open.

Both Howard and Macias lift their front leg and 'reach' out of the booth a little. They both develop a little forward momentum by either the fact that they lift their lead leg....which puts them somewhat out of balance and they fall forward due to gravity....or they push lightly against the ground....or a combination of both.

Howard does this and his head remains in the same position.....as you see in the clip above.....and Macias does this and his head drifts forward.....as you see in the clip above. And by the time they swing.....Howard's head is still in the same position....with very little movement at all from load through launch....and Macias' head moves forward a foot or two. Howard's head is still deep in the booth. Macias' head is out of the booth.

What is the difference? What is going on in one hitter that is not happening in the other? Where is it going on? How is it being done? Why is it being done?

[ropes]

Macias drift forward limits his lateral shoulder tilt. Lost the load of the rear hip to early by forward movement. Howards rear hip is still loaded waiting to be used. He achieves good lateral tilt from staying somewhat preped.

[Teacherman]

Excellent.

And....if I may....

Howard feels 'turning' of the hip around the ball of his rear leg's femur almost immediately as he strides. Because as he strides he does so against the upper body's load....the upper body's 'hold' on forward momentum. Don't confuse 'turning' with losing the load. In fact....there must be turning there to keep the load.

Macias does not.

Howard will feel resistance in the rear hip to that forward momentum created by the stride. He is trying to arrest the weight shift....to not let the weight shift before 'go'.....while keeping some momentum. Therefore he turns it into rotation.

Macias does not. In fact....he is trying to generate forward momentum. And in so doing shifts then swings.

One of the biggest killers to the high level pattern.

Please try this. You don't need to do anything but stand up and attempt both techniques and you can immediately 'feel' the difference.

[Teacherman]

Looking for the right words to describe this rear hip feel.

Try this.

The rear leg is pushing.
The rear hip (and the upper body) is resisting the push. Trying to hold the body back. With a downward or 'sit' type load of the rear hip onto the ball of the femur. This 'sit' can be seen....or unseen. But, it's there. You don't 'see' Pujols sit.....he presits in his stance. Same with Rowand. You do see Bond's sit during the swing process. You can see Manny sit...although not as pronounced as Bonds. Same with Howard. You see Ichiro's sit just before his forward momentum.

And the 'compromise' between the two actions....between the rear leg push and the rear hip resistance.....is the weight stays back but the hips open. The energy of the push has to go somewhere....so it is metered into the lower body running start....into the rotation into footplant....into the hip clearing.....into the hip opening before 'go'.

Then....at 'go'....you have a total unload of all the force producers at one time. The forearm rotation, the lateral shoulder tilt, the triangle rotation, the rear leg push, the rear hip thrust from the middle. The lead leg 'catches' the swing. The lead knee extends and ensures no slide.

[ropes]

Teach, I understand what you're saying. Swing from an athletic position, be powerful. Drifting takes you out of that position. My son tends too drift a little.

[tom.guerry]

richard said:

"However......they ALL arrest the forward momentum in order to maintain their rear hip load.....to keep the weight from shifting before 'go'......which leads to the hips turning open early.

"Pitchers do exactly what Pujols does....they ride forward quite a distance. They generate forward momentum....without allowing their weight to shift....and then at 'go'....they do the same thing hitters do."

BINGO.

Gup - how do they do this ?

[pointnumberone]

Macias' "flaw" is not in his "timing". It is in his unload/untip of the barrel. The swing should happen ASAP after max bat tip. What he does is unloads, waits, then swings. He needs the unload to be the swing.

[pointnumberone]

GroundUp.

Tell me if this is lead arm extension:

[Teacherman]

Anyone get in the phone booth yet?

Or is it just so obvious after pointed out that you don't need to.

I believe it is.

The feel Howard has in his rear hip joint is FAR different than the feel Macias has in his.

And, by feel, here is what has to happen to get Howard's feel.

Rotation has to start.....in both pivot points.....BEFORE the weight shifts.

The handle torque and the augering (upward) of the rear leg start BEFORE the weight shifts.

And don't confuse weight shift with momentum. Weight shift has momentum. Momentum doesn't necessarily have weight shift.

[Teacherman]

Immediate 'turning' in the rear hip.

[Teacherman]

The guy on the right shifts then throws.

The guy on the left does not.

[HiddenGem]

The guy on the right shifts then throws.

The guy on the left does not.

Rich..why is Macias laying the bat off so much ealier than that Howard in these clips? In my opinion, if he would keep that barrel vertical longer like howard, he would be less prone to pulling the knob.

I do see the shift, then swing..Howard stays back much better in these two clips.

[GroundUp]

Rich..why is Macias laying the bat off so much ealier than that Howard in these clips? In my opinion, if he would keep that barrel vertical longer like howard, he would be less prone to pulling the knob.

I do see the shift, then swing..Howard stays back much better in these two clips.

Do you feel if Macias' bat was angled similar to how Howard's bat is angled (in the "ready position") that Macias would be less prone to "pull the knob"?

[pointnumberone]

Do you feel if Macias' bat was angled similar to the how Howard's bat is angled (in the "ready position") that Macias would be less prone to "pull the knob"?

Macias was not taught how to apply pressure to the handle to rotate the bat.

This HOF'er "lays the bat off" early.



The hitter on the right lays the bat off early, but he knows how to use his top hand. The hitter on the left does not.

[GroundUp]

Do you feel if Macias' bat was angled similar to how Howard's bat is angled (in the "ready position") that Macias would be less prone to "pull the knob"?

Here's my thought on this ... when I instruct my students to have their bat angled more like we see Howard's bat angled, then their top hand/arm sidearm throwing mechanics yield a barrel motion similar to what Richard describes as a 'C'.