Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
This thread represents a progressive follow up to the 'Turning the Barrel' thread and is the offspring of another tech. hitting thread where I was trying to describe to JBooth and Wellphyt the Ahhh Haaa!!! moment at swing start (i.e., or between the load and unload part of the swing) that I experienced and which led to a smoother transition that resulted in a more powerfull swing with seemingly less effort.
My initial attempt to expalin what I thought I was doing, which prompted JB's response copied below, was something along the lines of... I'm talking about turning the barrel with the hands at the very onset of the swing. Hips forward, hands back, then hands rotate clockwise and move the tip of the barrel 12-18" backward toward the catcher (although its still pointing somewhat forward toward the field) causing the elbow to slot. Hips go, shoulders go, hands get to corner and then its time to decide to go/stop. With that little early movement of the barrel, the application of upper body power via the core, shoulders, and arms creates a smoother transition and more powerfull swing... One of the things I notice is that the hand that plays the dominant role in checking the swing NOW is the bottom hand, whereas before it felt like it was more the top hand that was trying to shut the swing down.
I think I follow JB's response below as it pertains to the Bonds clip (a game clip would be better, but this one, w/out helmet so its BP or HR derby, works for now).
With no disrespect intended to anybody, and apologizing in advance for my obtuseness, the advice and information presented by ANY and ALL the contributing posters to this site the last 2+ years have failed to capture the movement or feeling sufficiently for me to have understood, felt the desired mechanics, or experienced the results before. Without question, the feel and results I'm experiencing are definitely different. While now somewhere in my late 40s (well maybe 50 actually), I truly believe I now hit the ball harder than I ever did in my teen and early 20s when I was playing BB fairly seriously. Although I don't swing composites, I'm sure part of it is the bat technology, but, IMO, the big part of it is a little swing tweak. And actually it came to light during a clinic when my DD was talking to her catching instructor, who works closely with Tewks, about.......throwing! There's a key movement during the transition, in both throwing and hitting, when something happens that makes a big difference.
What's responsible for the difference? Maybe its because my focus has changed from the standard approach, thinking about moving the arms and slotting the back elbow, to moving the hands from point A to B, which achieves the same result? Or is it too simple to attribute the improvement to the fact that the swing consciously is more of a continuous motion? Obviously I'm struggling to understand and translate the feel to words sufficiently to be able to convey it to others!
Can anybody make better sense of this? Any similar experiences or feels? Any thoughts re the technical aspect, the description of the transition feel, or the conveying or teaching of a frustratingly difficult-to-capture concept? My final thought - it helps if I understand it, but even if I can't, as long as I feel it and repeat it, my swing is still the better for it! For those interested, I suggest keeping an eye on Tewk's AB Athletic Development and CCJR's NECC websites.
My initial attempt to expalin what I thought I was doing, which prompted JB's response copied below, was something along the lines of... I'm talking about turning the barrel with the hands at the very onset of the swing. Hips forward, hands back, then hands rotate clockwise and move the tip of the barrel 12-18" backward toward the catcher (although its still pointing somewhat forward toward the field) causing the elbow to slot. Hips go, shoulders go, hands get to corner and then its time to decide to go/stop. With that little early movement of the barrel, the application of upper body power via the core, shoulders, and arms creates a smoother transition and more powerfull swing... One of the things I notice is that the hand that plays the dominant role in checking the swing NOW is the bottom hand, whereas before it felt like it was more the top hand that was trying to shut the swing down.
I think I follow JB's response below as it pertains to the Bonds clip (a game clip would be better, but this one, w/out helmet so its BP or HR derby, works for now).
I understand the movement you're describing, and it isn't done with the wrists. It's the upper arms. MLB hitters are trying not to dump the barrel during the process you describe. They do that by holding the wrist angle and using the shoulder tilt and change of elbow position (done with the arms).
Bonds is NOT using his wrists here. Can you see the elbows move in synch with the barrel, yet his hand angles never change?
The wrists are locked and the shoulder and elbow position change, moves the barrel. After the elbow gets down, the wrists add force to throw the barrel at the ball.
With no disrespect intended to anybody, and apologizing in advance for my obtuseness, the advice and information presented by ANY and ALL the contributing posters to this site the last 2+ years have failed to capture the movement or feeling sufficiently for me to have understood, felt the desired mechanics, or experienced the results before. Without question, the feel and results I'm experiencing are definitely different. While now somewhere in my late 40s (well maybe 50 actually), I truly believe I now hit the ball harder than I ever did in my teen and early 20s when I was playing BB fairly seriously. Although I don't swing composites, I'm sure part of it is the bat technology, but, IMO, the big part of it is a little swing tweak. And actually it came to light during a clinic when my DD was talking to her catching instructor, who works closely with Tewks, about.......throwing! There's a key movement during the transition, in both throwing and hitting, when something happens that makes a big difference.
What's responsible for the difference? Maybe its because my focus has changed from the standard approach, thinking about moving the arms and slotting the back elbow, to moving the hands from point A to B, which achieves the same result? Or is it too simple to attribute the improvement to the fact that the swing consciously is more of a continuous motion? Obviously I'm struggling to understand and translate the feel to words sufficiently to be able to convey it to others!
Can anybody make better sense of this? Any similar experiences or feels? Any thoughts re the technical aspect, the description of the transition feel, or the conveying or teaching of a frustratingly difficult-to-capture concept? My final thought - it helps if I understand it, but even if I can't, as long as I feel it and repeat it, my swing is still the better for it! For those interested, I suggest keeping an eye on Tewk's AB Athletic Development and CCJR's NECC websites.
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