Basic Motions
In stance, feet share the weight 50/50.
Stride lightly and short.
As foot lands, seamlessly begin feeding body forward, lightly pushing with the back foot.
Back foot moves weight shift, front foot controls.
Slow, steady, lightly push til body/front leg angle approaches vertical.
Ideally, pitch arrives with body at full shift; body nearly over front foot, front side nearly vertical.
Shift happens with every pitch.
Stance Through Weightshift Weight distribution:
in stance 50% on each foot.
By follow-through, about 10/90%.
It can happen only if stance & stride are very short.
Lift front foot to stride, without rock-back to load for stride.
Stride gently starts weight shift; just lift, land, and glide.
Back foot & knee feed forward shift gently as front foot lands.
At follow-through front knee bent (side view) but rigid; front side vertical, back foot pointing down.
In this swing hands lead hips, no hip pivot, no turn, no spin on back foot.
Details of Weightshift Footwork, This Swing Stance, stride, torso and feet start square with Plate and remain so through the weight shift.
Seamlessly, stride, shift, and sneak hands at pitch. As stride lands, hands and body glide to front leg: catlike moves on a soft front knee. Back foot starts torso forward as stride lands, steadily feeds it forward.
Decision [pitch halfway] body over inside of front foot, back ankle straightening.At swing-Launch (pitch 2/3+) back toe points down, front leg vertical. Torso, feet square.
At Contact: back heel high, ft leg/torso vertical, torso maybe past front foot.
Short footwork and early easy stride enable
cushioned landing of stride-toe.
Lift-off and landing of front foot starts the weight shift. A plus: stable eyes, clear visual pickup at release with steady visual contact throughout.
Steadily shift torso onto front leg at Launch, and over it at Contact. One smooth seamless move, like a cat. Every pitch!
Wristcrank Wristcrank = effortless hopped-up rollover; on-tareget!.Extended weightshift = earlier rollover.
Early rollover = peak batspeed through Contact.
Hopped-up early rollover = Quick, strong, reliable.
Dry-run Wrist; Simple Version Bat held with hands below chin.
Bat angle 45 degrees backward, 45deg behind.
Cock wrists, grip lightly/firmly.
In quick sequence straighten arms away, clamp hands, and wring the handle.
Without hips, shoulders, arms, swinging, or turning; effortless bat speed.
Dry-run Wrist: Casual Swing That first test was from below the chin, straight out.
It's more like a swing this time:
From the back shoulder, at imaginary pitcher.
Bat at same 45deg angles.
Simultaneously shove hands at "ball", clamp hands shut and wring through the "ball". Simultaneously reach for the “ball”, clamp hands shut and wring through it. When you learn to blend this with the other motions, you'll know you're quick. This is the “mother lode”.
Palm-up/Palm-down
Universal rule: "Start with the top hand palm up/bottom hand palm down and go through to contact that way. Palms switch-over after contact."
Our way: switch-over is earlier. Into contact.Grip the Bat Lightly Grip it where fingers join the palms.
Grip loosely: save it until Contact.
Opening the Bat
In a stance a bat points back, is "closed". In a swing, it "opens" across the pitch-path, stays open.
"Open-(ing)": any stage between the others. If hands stay near body, staying closed is easy. As arms and hands move away, wrists tend to straighten, opening the bat. (old-time cue was; "keep your hands in"). In the best swings, opening is delayed longest (by keeping hands in). Weakest beginners open the bat early. Learn to delay it, then explode open late with wrist.