Hips Lead The Hands

Hips lead the hands, match the plane of swing with the plane of the pitch, and staying inside the ball was first talked about in Ted William's book The Science of Hitting. This is the universal technique used by 95% of baseballs Hall of Famers. This blog entry will discuss hips lead the hands.

HIPS LEAD THE HANDS

If we are going to discuss hips lead the hands we need to first go over the concept of torque. Torque is defined as two forces working simultaneously in opposite directions on an object. One force going forward (lower body) as another force is going rearward (upper body). Pitchers and hitters both get in a torque position. We see this with hitters as their lower body is opening up (rotating forward) as the front foot plants, while their upper body is going back (rotating rearward). This is a biomechanically correct movement in the kinetic chain. The root of all speed and power. When a hitter gets into this position, he has the momentum of the biggest and strongest muscles in his body (the legs) pulling the smaller and weaker ones (hands/ arms) through.

This separation between the upper and lower half is a counter rotational move which Mike Epstein referred to as "winding the rubber band". Think when the front foot lands the hands get yanked forward. It's a dynamic movement where the hands and arms go back with the upper body together. Hands go somewhere near the rear shoulder and are tension free.

The hitter is counter-rotating on top, while his lower half is beginning to open in his stride. This happens a fraction later than the top-side counter-rotation. The stride foot should be at a minimum 45 degree angle, open enough to allow the hips to come through. The hitter lands on his toes (toe touch) because when he drops his heel, the swing is then triggered. The swing doesn't take place until the heel drops. When the foot plants, the player is then in the proper torque position (top half going back, lower half coming forward). This whole movement take place in milliseconds. At this point the heel dropping - the legs burst forward, initiating the path with the hands still going backward. The big muscles (legs) yank the small muscles (hands and arms) forward, maximizing bat quickness and power. It's the difference between having effortless power versus powerless effort.

Dropping the front heel initiates the hips, putting the hitter in the torque position. The front heel will drop when the pitch is approximately 15' from the plate. A hitter can still drop their heel and hold off his swing at the last moment if the pitch works its way out off the strike zone. Good mechanics allow hitters this luxury of not lunging forward to the front side. Once the weight gets forward its over.

When watching video of a hitter you can see if they are in a proper torque position by getting the video to the point where their front heel drops. At this point, their sternum should be pointed back as their hips are slightly open. Some hitters will separate more than others. If the hitters hips and chest are square to home plate at this point you can immediately see they have no separation thus no torque, stretch or resistance.