www.backbackback.com Breaking it Down B To all the coaches, parents and players that want to know what the best hitters in the game are really doing! Edgar the Great 2 | P a g e Breaking it Down B Taking a closer look The purpose of this booklet is to simply help clarify and pass- on quality information when it comes to the elements of great rotational hitting mechanics, where the term came from, and what it means. Rotational Hitting Rotational hitting has been alive and well since the inception of the game, we just never really paid much attention to it nor did we bother worrying about labeling or defining the term. But, interestingly enough, it just happens to be what the very best hitters in the game did, and what the best are still doing. Great hitters use great mechanics, rotational mechanics. In order to adequately talk about rotational hitting as a “hitting technique” we need to understand where the term came from, and how it materialized. One of the biggest and most confusing parts of this whole conflict surrounding rotational hitting is the term “rotational.” Rotational is a term that has been used forever in the baseball arena and is still being used on a regular basis today, but what does it really mean? Rotational hitting is a hitting technique that was coined by Mike Epstein around 1999, give or take a few years. Mike wrote a book called Mike Epstein on Hitting that is based on his nine year professional career, endless hours of research and an endearing relationship that he had with the best hitter to ever step on the field, Ted Williams. The true beauty of Epstein’s book is the simple fact that he has given the everyday coach, like you and me, the tools and insight to 3 | P a g e Breaking it Down B teach and understand what the very best hitters in the world are doing. And surprisingly enough, it is completely different then what I was ever taught. For the first time in my life someone said, “Would you like to know what Edgar, Bonds, Pujols, A-Rod and 95% of baseball’s Hall of Fame hitters do when they swing the bat?” Based on the principles from Ted William’s “Science of Hitting” Mike Epstein developed a teaching philosophy and technique that trained young players to duplicate those very movements. The elements and the movements of this technique were labeled “Rotational Hitting.” When I hear coaches say, “We have been using rotational mechanics for years,” I often wonder what they mean when they use the term rotational. Are they truly teaching rotational mechanics or are they simply using the term rotational? For the most part it is the latter, but that is changing every day. When you take the best hitter of all time, Ted Williams, nine year professional veteran from Berkeley, Mike Epstein, apply Newton’s second and third law of physics and add a teaching system and you will get “Rotational Hitting.” The mechanics… Defined by Williams and labeled by Epstein. Rotational mechanics are broken down into three simple parts; the movements of the hips (torque), getting the bat in the plane of the pitch and making contact with your hands inside the ball (Epstein, 2003). In essence, these are the primary 4 | P a g e Breaking it Down B movements that the greatest hitters in the game all share and execute when they hit. You may have noticed that nothing was mentioned about the load, stride or hand position of the batter. Well, that is because it is all relative to the individual hitter and considered style rather than technique. What the Epstein system fails to address however, is the most valuable aspect of teaching great hitting mechanics, weight transfer. Weight transfer is absolutely essential to the entire swing process and is the primary movement that sets the entire swing in motion. It is enormously important to fundamental hitting and without proper weight transfer hitters will never truly maximize their natural ability. Great hitters shift their weight! The four key components that all great hitters share: Weight Transfer Hips Lead the Hands Leveling Ideal Impact 5 | P a g e Breaking it Down B As coaches, we have a huge advantage these days. Our ability to analyze the swing process of great hitters has never been so assessable and slowing down a video clip is more telling than anything you will ever experience. When you see player after player using the same techniques over and over again, it simply reinforces the notion that great hitters are all using the same mechanics. Hitting mechanics matter and understanding what the great hitters are doing will simply make you a better coach. The challenge is that we are stuck in a rut when it comes to teaching quality hitting mechanics. For some reason, baseball and softball coaches feel that teaching a technique that is contrary to what the best players in the game are using is somehow beneficial to our players. Think about it, if you went to take golf lessons from a local golf professional he/she would be teaching you the exact same swing mechanics that they use and know to be true. They surely wouldn’t teach you something that contradicts what they are doing, would they? What about basketball, tennis, soccer or even football? Pick any other sport and look at what is being taught and you will see a clear and direct correlation between the mechanics that are being used at the highest level by the greatest players, and what is being taught to the young athletes that they are training; every sport that is except baseball. Somewhere along the way things have become distorted in the baseball world and mechanics that are being taught are significantly different than what the best players are really, truly using. Change is way over due! 6 | P a g e Breaking it Down B Weight Transfer Weight transfer is the forward motion that initiates the swing process. Great hitters have great weight transfer, no exception. The transfer of energy from the “back to the front” at the beginning of the swing process is so fundamentally important that it becomes paramount to the success of every player in the game. When you look at hitters in the contact position, you will clearly see the evidence of weight transfer. The back foot becomes light and you can see the weight has been transferred to a strong front-side axis. This is what weight transfer looks like. If you are teaching your players to “sit,” “squish the bug,” or “kick” the can you may want to ask yourself why? 7 | P a g e Breaking it Down B Weight is completely in the front axis, and the tip of the back toe is on the ground. It is also perfectly normal to see this back foot come completely off the ground. Players that are taught to squish-the-bug are being taught improper mechanics and it will jeopardize the player’s progress. Be a student of the game and make weight transfer your first priority. The Hips The hips are considered to be the single most definitive element when it comes to the power a batter generates in the swing, and is the primary source of bat speed and power. Epstein describes this movement that begins at heel drop as “torque” and the more “torque” you generate the greater power you will produce. It is the very same principle that pitchers, golfers and tennis players utilize when they are executing their swings. Ted Williams reiterates this notion when he wrote, as your hips come around, your hands just naturally will follow, just as in golf (Williams, 1970) 8 | P a g e Breaking it Down B Bonds and Jr. generate incredible bat speed and power and it all stems from this principle, the hips lead the hands. Newton’s second law states that force = mass x acceleration. The mass being the bat and the acceleration is the movement of the hips and the torque that is generated. Leveling What happens next seems to create another conflict between hitting coaches and instructors; matching the swing plane to the pitch plane. With rotational mechanics, the hips begin the process and pull the hands around the body. As this occurs the body tilts slightly back, the back shoulder drops and the front elbow works up and around a strong front side axis. All you need to do is look at pictures of hitters and you will clearly see, indeed, that is what great hitters are doing. The front elbow must come up and around your body and you must tilt or dip your back shoulder in order to get the barrel level to the flight of the ball. These concepts send the old- school coaches into frenzy and they fight it adamantly. 9 | P a g e Breaking it Down B The reality of this notion is really quite simple, and if you take a really good look at what great hitters are actually doing you will see it before your very own eyes. Question is? Do you believe what you are seeing, or will you continue to be convinced of something that isn’t really there. 10 | P a g e Breaking it Down B Ted Williams said the swing is not level and it’s not down, but level to the ball working slightly up. When you look at the big leaguers you will see just what he was talking about.