Attack Oppo

[Teacherman]

Here is a video that I hope explains Attacking Oppo fully. Again....the video is quite large. It will take a while to download.

I like doing these videos.....but I always think of things I should have said.

Attack Oppo

For example.....this is probably the best demo of the shoulder bypass that there is.....but I didn't say that. And how this assures deep contact. And that my particular handset is just an example....you can do this from the handset of your choice. And that this is the way to suddenness. And that this is perfect removal of the arms.

From the early slowmo demo you may see a 'hands to the ball' look. Yet....when you load this right.....with the hip moving in front of the rearward moving hands....and turn the barrel.....when the hip grabs....the suddenness is so great that the 'look' of the demo is overruled by the speed of the real swing.

P.S. My demo includes a narrow base....too narrow....because of my right ankle. I can not extend my leg forward and shift onto it without pain....it can't support that much weight yet.....so I can't take a full cut with full whip/cusp....and full tug of war rear hip winning. But, it seemed to be necessary to get the demo out there.....so there it is. Swing 'out from'....instead of 'around'.

[vibajajo64]

smaller file

http://s648.photobucket.com/albums/u...kOppo_x264.flv

[1chapterahead]

Here is a video that I hope explains Attacking Oppo fully. Again....the video is quite large. It will take a while to download.

I like doing these videos.....but I always think of things I should have said.

Attack Oppo

For example.....this is probably the best demo of the shoulder bypass that there is.....but I didn't say that. And how this assures deep contact. And that my particular handset is just an example....you can do this from the handset of your choice. And that this is the way to suddenness. And that this is perfect removal of the arms.

From the early slowmo demo you may see a 'hands to the ball' look. Yet....when you load this right.....with the hip moving in front of the rearward moving hands....and turn the barrel.....when the hip grabs....the suddenness is so great that the 'look' of the demo is overruled by the speed of the real swing.

P.S. My demo includes a narrow base....too narrow....because of my right ankle. I can not extend my leg forward and shift onto it without pain....it can't support that much weight yet.....so I can't take a full cut with full whip/cusp....and full tug of war rear hip winning. But, it seemed to be necessary to get the demo out there.....so there it is. Swing 'out from'....instead of 'around'.

I like it! Thank you.

[Pronk]

This is good stuff. Something most of the kids struggle with.

[cartersball]

Great demo Rich. This is exactly what I needed the other night at practice. Showed it to Boomer today before he went home, will work on it tomorrow and while we play five or six games over the following three days.

How do you save these to your computer? I want to keep this one handy.

[Teacherman]

Right click....choose 'save target as'.....or 'save image as'.....something like that.....pick a directory you want it in.....click on 'save'.

[LRS]

.....this is probably the best demo of the shoulder bypass that there is..... you may see a 'hands to the ball' look. Yet....when you load this right.....with the hip moving in front

Heh heh heh heh heh heh MONSTER GOOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LRS

[Teacherman]

Here is a short step by step process that I hope helps the kids find the order of the pattern. It is segmented, so they can see....and hopefully feel....what each step does. In a real swing it needs to flow better than the demo shows. The good news is teaching the flow is easy....once the kid understands the steps that create the feel.

Teaching Attack Oppo

Lynnelles asked a question some time ago about not seeing the coil step in high level hitters. I don't believe she was saying they weren't coiled.....but she didn't see the 'act' of coiling that you see in the demo. And she is absolutely right. When you get good enough to make it flow, the steps blend into each other smoothly. You don't see the segments. But....you do feel the feel.

That is the goal. Rhythm is very important. But many kids skip some of the feels.....because they skip some of the steps.....when they try to make it flow before they understand the feels that need to be present. They end up somewhere other than with good overlap.

Hopefully these steps help them feel the individual feels that need to be there.

Again....we are attacking oppo. We are using the corner as the point of cusp. We do not want to turn the corner then swing. We want the corner to be used to achieve the sudden unloading....the sudden unstretch. We want to be loaded around the corner. We want to make the corner give us the same or similar feel that bending a piece of sheet metal to just short of the crease point....and then letting it unbend.

You do that by swinging out from your body....not around it. You swing out from the body....with the diagonal swing plane.....tremendous stretch results....the hips wins.....cusp results.

[1chapterahead]

This demo is exactly what I was looking for and missing. To the naked eye and ear, I like what I'm seeing/hearing from tonight's swing. I'll get some video to look at over the next few days. Thanks again!

[Teacherman]

Pronk posted these clips in the New Mouse Test thread. They are excellent clips both for what he was showing.....and for the topic of this thread.





Pronk just happens to stop these clips at what point? At the point where swing 'out from your body' is very easily seen.

In all the clips....the hands are 'out from the body'....not 'around' the body.

I really think Ryan Howard's swing is a great example of Attacking Oppo from the deep handset that I demonstrated it from. I'm not suggesting that is 'the' way. It is just the way that is easiest for me to demonstrate it.

[Teacherman]

I said it in the original post....apparently I need to say it again. I can not land aggressively on my lead ankle. I can walk fine. But I can not jump...or run....or hop out of my van....without pain. The ankle can accept weight smoothly and slowly....but it can not accept it suddenly.

I am not promoting landing in different places for different pitch locations in the Attack Oppo video. You can do exactly what I am saying with normal front foot placement. I have demonstrated that in the past. I just can't do it now due to the injury.

Some will soon attack what that shows.

So, lets talk about it. I prefer the slightly open stance....so that the lead leg is moving in toward the plate as you coil. Then, as you make your 'line decision'...what line to swing on....the rear leg turn that turns you onto the chosen line....happens 'into' the lead leg moving in.....which is being done by the coil....so it happens 'into' the coil....so more loading happens. A tighter tug of war is achieved between the rear hip and leg. So....if your hip is coiling....bringing the leg in.....but the rear leg turns you directionally.....ever so slightly....it is turning into your coil....tightening the tug of war.

Now, back to the demo. I demonstrated the move from oppo to pull....one swing for each.....oppo, middle, pull...in that order. And I did it in that order because that is the order of the upper body. And the lead leg got further open with each location. That is not what I meant to demonstrate. At that point in the demonstration I was demonstrating the rear leg action.....how it turns the upper body into the direction of the ball.....and others were looking at the lead leg action. Reality is, in the batters box, from a slightly open stance, while your upper body is set for oppo, the lead leg is going to reach pull location first, middle second, and oppo last. It is moving toward the plate in real life.

My purpose in the demo was to show how the rear leg turns you to change the direction. And that action turned my lead leg to a different position for each location. IMO, if I used the lead leg normally, it would have hidden the action of the rear leg....which is what needed to be shown. This is an under the hood movement that can be seen best when brought out from under the hood. And my sore ankle does just that.

If I could use my lead leg properly, it would have been working toward the plate while this turning action was happening....but then to execute the swing I would have had to accept weight onto the lead ankle.

The freedom of the rear leg is critical. I've written many times before....IT needs to see the pitcher. Or...your private parts need to see the pitcher. IT can not work properly...and thrust into each pitch location....IF the lead leg is in the way. This is simply the 'clearing' of the lead hip. And your lead foot will land where it should.

An important thing to remember is this directional turning is done by the rear leg...not the hip. So the load is still there. It is just facing another direction.

P.S. This is also evidence that the knees do not swivel. They do not work in unison. They may move in the same direction at the same time at some point in the swing...but that is not from them working/doing the same thing.

[Teacherman]

This is what I was attempting to demonstrate.

Ortiz is hitting a ball oppo, middle, and pull. The degree of his rear leg turn aligns his oppo attacking upper body to each ball.....yet his lead foot lands in relatively the same spot.

There is a difference in the degree of rear knee turn....therefore rear leg turn.....based on the pitch location. Yet, the upper body remains the same in setup and in its initial approach.

When I taught pool, it was important for the player to have the same stroke every time. There are some shots that take a special stroke....specialty shots....but for the most part.....90% of all shots can be shot with the same stroke. The importance of that is.....that is how you get good at something. You do the same thing over and over and over. Repeatability. IMO, you get good at hitting when you come up with a stroke that can be executed the same way almost every time. Ortiz launches the bat the same way every time....then, he is just adjusted to the ball by his lower body.

Obviously the pitcher works hard to break that down....and has some success doing so. But....when you realize that you take pretty much the same stroke at every pitch.....and that you don't need several strokes.....and that you accomplish that by attacking oppo.....you can get pretty darn good at the one you need 90% of the time.

And, btw, this directional leg turn happens on the fly. It is not another move. It is part of the adjustability of the high level pattern.

[GroundUp]

Teach ... thank you for the clarification.

[1chapterahead]

Our first attempt to AO:

[Teacherman]

I see the attempt. Lets see if I can help.

First....attacking oppo depends highly on a properly coiled rear hip. Rear hip turned around the ball of the femur. A very specific movement in a very specific place done in a very specific way. See my demonstration of it in the Teaching Attack Oppo video. It is a unique move that is significant. It is a small move relatively speaking. The range of motion is not very much. I believe it is a step that is so under the hood that you will only stumble into it unless your a member here. The pros do it without the giving the 'look' that I show. It becomes natural to them and the 'look' is lost in their flow. But you know it's there by the resulting action.

My own son struggles with this.....so don't feel like the lone ranger.

A properly coiled rear hip wants to unload immediately. It wants to uncoil immediately. It doesn't want to shift forward....it wants to turn....open. The coil wants to uncoil. So picking up the lead leg to start.....should force immediate uncoiling. It should be wound tight....I know, what is tight? I suppose you can wind it too tight. But it is so tight that when you pick up the lead foot....you have to go to keep up with the automatic uncoil that happens. If you can pick up your lead foot and not uncoil....you aren't wound right. And the coil itself is not the complete answer. There is a balance issue involved. You must be 'on the bar stool'....you must have a feeling of being 'on' the ball of the femur.

I see a lead leg lift....with lead knee turned back....creating pressure against the rear leg....that turns the rear hip rearward some....but is the movement specifically in the rear hip socket?.....and then it unloads over a larger forward moving distance. And this is a key point. To learn it you are probably going to have to 'hit in a phone booth'.

I don't believe I see coil IN THE REAR HIP SOCKET. I something between these two swings.....

Below.....on the left pretty decent.....on the right not too good.



So....work on the coil.

Second.....the POKE.....must be happening AS the rear hip is uncoiling. It must be overlaping the uncoil of the hip. It can start with the coil.....and usually does.....but it must continue beyond the beginning of the rear hip uncoil. Overlap. In fact, much of the early poke look is actually just rear hip coil taking the upper body as a unit rearward. But the key point...is where the poke continues back AS the rear hip turns forward. This is what sets the Attack Oppo direction. The poke keeps you lined up oppo as the rear hip begins to turn open. Now....you should really feel some stretching going on.....now you are loaded for bear.....now you can unload with a diagonal swing plane 'out from the body'....instead of 'around' the body.