Tweet
Let's explore the belief that the swing starts at the ground.
Do you really think you can load your foot...or leg....or leg and foot....against the ground....hold/create/increase that load....and launch from there....and be quick enough to hit a quality fastball....yet adjustable enough to wait on the offspeed? Really? You believe that? ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED GOOD PITCHING CAN FALL FOR THAT.
But wait....the scientists say.....the kinesiologist says....the movers say....THE QUACK says.....STOP THE NONSENSE!!..
Show me a swing of the scientist or the kinesiologist or the quack or of a mover.
HOW.....can they know what is going on if they can not duplicate the pattern?
The load, that drives the swing, is housed in the SCIP axis...the torsion spring....which extends from the rear hip socket to the scap/spine junction.
The stretch of the body against the leg IS THE LOAD. And when that load is extended up the back to the scap region, by fusing the torso into a unit....and forming the SCIP axis....the point of unload...is now as close to the barrel as possible. All you have to do is turn the hands and the barrel explodes through the zone. The energy is created/increased/stored....in the SCIP axis....is WAY closer to the point of launch than the foot at the ground. BY DEFAULT....that swing must be quicker.
OF COURSE GROUND FORCES ARE USED. But the HOW of 'how they are used' is totally misunderstood. When you coil the hip and pull back with your back to form the SCIP axis....it works against the leg. OF COURSE THE LEG IS GROUNDED. Duh. BUT.....the forces....the energy....that is created....by coiling against the grounded leg....ARE NOT STORED IN THE FOOT OR LEG.....while they wait for a go decision. THAT is far, far away from the point of use. AND....A HITTER WHO DOES THAT....WILL AUTOMATICALLY PUSH WITH THEIR ARMS....BECAUSE IT TAKES TOO LONG FOR THE GROUND FORCES TO RISE. The pitch is on them before the foot delivered ground forces get to the launch point. They recruit the arms immediately. The arms get in front of the system....and the hip will then PUSH the swing instead of PULL the swing.
In a high level swing the ground forces work up the leg to the SCIP axis....the torsion spring....LONG before launch. They've already traveled and are as close as possible to the launch. They are not only stored there, but they are increased as the hip/back/scap constantly and continually pull back against the leg. And then they fire INSTANTLY when the barrel is turned. Not only does that load/unload pattern produce the quickest swing possible.....THAT LOAD/UNLOAD IS AS CLOSE TO THE POINT OF USE AS POSSIBLE.
It is totally illogical....and absurd nonsense....to think a hitter can be quick enough to deal with his challenge while all the energy is in the foot....and has to travel all the way to the barrel in an instant.
HIGH LEVEL MECHANICS ARE ALL ABOUT QUICKNESS.....SUDDENNESS. The time between decision and contact must approach the time it takes a light bulb to turn on after you flip the switch. Timing is about quickness and suddenness. Without timing you will struggle. Without an instantaneous launch you will NEVER have timing. And timing a pitcher with a good arsenal is next to impossible without being sudden with the launch.
Now watch. No matter the logic. No matter the truth. The nonsense will continue. In the face of truth and logic....they will continue to say the swing starts at the ground.
And, once again, IT'S YOUR FAULT, reader/lurker/well-meaning dad....not theirs. Because you continue to take advice from people without ever asking for a clip of their work.