I have a softball question for the knowledgeable softball fans out there...i noticed it before and I noticed it in this video with our girls, they hardly ever follow through with their swings. It seems they make contact and stop. Is this part of Michael's philosophy or is this a softball thing?
I noticed the same thing too - I forgot the coaches show on Monday 'cuz I wanted to call with that question - Stevie P- holla at us !!!
It's a softball things....they're "slappers"
Coach Mike could explain it a lot better than I could, but it has to do with his philosophy and what he teaches. He teaches the girls to swing with their lower body and hips. It's all about getting the barrel or bat head through the zone squared up with the ball.
If you do that and you use your lower body to get the bat head squared up on the ball, the work is already done when you hit the ball. The follow-through is just something that looks pretty after that point; the ball has already left the bat and is not going to travel any further.
You'll notice a lot of times when the girls are warming up in the on-deck circle that they'll not take full cuts and usually just kind of swing their hips. You can also tell when a girl uses her upper body to muscle the ball and usually you'll know it by Lotief's reaction, even if she hits a bomb.
Have ya'll noticed that some of our kids have their hands separated on the bat--about and inch or 2???? It must go along with the non-follow through!!! I recently had a great conversation with a Karate dude about contact over a period and power---his point was kind of with the girls that longer contact did not lead to more power---where are the PE guys on this???---that was meant for the kinesiology guys!!!!!
http://www.mikeepsteinhitting.com/
Here is a link to the hitting philosophy that the UL softball team uses. The main difference is that a more rotational swing is used vs. a liner swing. So yes the trunk and legs are turning vs. sliding. Best example from a major leaguer is Barry Bonds though steriods may have helped.
I will take a stab at it.
Physics equation for power is: Power = Force/time. So the shorter amount of time a force is applied the more power you have.
As for as the split grip, my best guess is that while you will lose some leverage by shorten the lever arm (bat) you definitely gain control and it takes a shorter amount of time to get the bat into/through the hitting area. Now you will lose some wrist action with the split grip as you have much less wrist play and you will lose some power because you are nolonger able to supinate the left arm and pronate the right arm (right hand batter) through the hitting area. With the mike epstien philosophy of hitting the split grip will not effect the power as much because most of the power and swing speed is created by rotating the legs and trunk vs. swinging the arms.
My credintials are I once did a hitting thesis paper for an upper level biomechanical class (Dr. George) scored an A , master degree in Physical Therapy, and I love this kind of stuff (sports ergonomics).
If someone is more intuned with this hitting philosophy please feel free to share your knowledge. I would like to hear it.
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