In Part 1 of this article series, I talked about what the lower body does in the throw, and why simple cues such as “use your legs” are not enough to make significant changes in the athletes’ lower half. We must first understand what is ACTUALLY occurring with the lower half, and then find a way to relate that back to the athlete in a way in which they understand. Here in Part 2, we will take a look at what the lower half does in the swing, and how we can better teach it to our hitters.
First, let’s take a look at the lower half on a couple different hitters:
We see many of the same aspects, to a smaller degree, that we saw with the throwers in Part 1 of this series. These aspects are:
- Knee Flexion
- Hip Flexion
- Hip Abduction/External Rotation
These three things are all happening as the hitter moves into landing, which we see below:
One thing we see more of in hitters versus pitchers is variability. A hitters lower half is going to change based upon where he/she needs to deliver the swing. For instance, it will be different on a low pitch versus a high pitch. It will be different on an inside pitch versus an outside pitch. For an inside pitch, the lower half needs to clear more, so there will be greater internal rotation of the back hip, whereas on outside pitches, the lower half does not need to clear as much, so there will be less internal rotation from the back hip (and external rotation from the front hip).
Here’s a quick look at what happens with the lower half after the front leg has landed. Again, a couple things happening:
- Quad braces in the lead leg, allowing energy to be transferred up the chain
- The backside of the lower half goes opposite of what the front side does (equalize forces)
The three hitters from above after landing:
We see many of the same qualities used in throwing, but on a smaller scale and with a little more variability. As such, you can use many of the same cues we used with throwers in Part 1 with your hitters here in Part 2. The question now becomes, how do we bring about the necessary variability demands so the hitter can adjust as they need to, knowing all the different types of pitches they are going to see?
Adding Variability
At its’ core, adjusting to different pitches is made up of two parts (and this is going to greatly simplify it, but let’s roll with it for now):
- External stimuli: vision to recognize the pitch – where it will be, how fast it’s moving, what type of spin it has. All of this is subconscious due to the speed in which it has to happen.
- Internal adjustment: how the hitters’ body is going to adjust to the stimuli provided in order to successfully hit the pitch.
The easiest way to train this is simple: hit randomized pitches. However maybe you or your athlete has tried that and it doesn’t seem to be having an effect. Your body is struggling to figure out what it needs to do to, say, wait a little bit longer for a curveball. Here are a couple suggestions to help shake things up.
- Swing with different stances. Start closed, open, straight up, etc. Go no leg kick, huge leg kick, toe tap, etc. Working with different types of starting stances is going to force your body to figure out how to move better when it’s put in weird or uncomfortable situations. As a result, you have a much better chance of hitting when you get the pitch you weren’t expecting. Think about it like this. You get in a game and you’re early on a curveball.Your foot is down, on time for a fastball, but the ball hasn’t arrived yet. However, you’ve practiced a no-stride swing. Your body knows that and can now use that motor pathway, or whatever you want to call it, to give you a better shot at a successful result.
- Use balance pads. I might get blasted for this one but using balance pads can be a great way to disrupt your lower half and, in turn, improve your upper half. The way Frans Bosch describes it in his book “Strength Training and Coordination: An Integrative Approach”, is that there are attractors and fluctuators in any movement. For the swing, we want the barrel path to be the attractor, making the lower body a fluctuator. As such, we look to challenge the robustness of the barrel path, by challenging the lower half. When we remove the balance pad and go back to a normal swing, the whole movement will seem much easier.
- Elevate either leg. Another way to disrupt the lower half is by standing on a thin board/plate, 2-3 inches tall, with either leg. Once again, this is going to create a situation that your body does not recognize, and force it to make an adjustment.
What each of these methods does is provide an external stimulus that the body has to adjust to if it wants to come up with a successful result, therefore better prepping the hitter for what they will see in the game.
Application
In general, I use the methods above when trying to help make a change stick with an athlete. If we go back to the first part where we were talking about cues and actual body movement (knee flexion, hip flexion, etc), disrupting the lower half while trying to make these changes is going to help it stick better. If you can create good hip flexion while standing on a balance pad, that is going to make it that much easier when you go back to your normal swing.
Conclusion
The lower half in hitting is very similar to the lower half in throwing. We can use many of the same cues and movements to relate to hitters what needs happen, that we use to relate to throwers. The biggest difference is hitting requires a much greater deal of variability. By challenging the robustness of the lower half with drills such as those mentioned above, we can help to create a hitter that both has the necessary body movements for a good swing, and can slightly modify those movements, based upon the situation they are presented with.
Questions or comments? Interested in remote training? Shoot me an email at brady@dacbaseball.com.