And now for something completely different
In a number of posts and comments, I have introduced terms related to body movements that figure in baseball as well as in other sports, especially golf, where I have a bit more expertise. By comparison to golf, baseball has adopted technologies like Trackman, GC Quad, and Force Plates late in the day, and while this has given baseball instructors the benefit of not making some of the mistakes that early adopters among golf coaches have made, most will invariably find themselves struggling to identify the right balance between what experience teaches and what the numbers 'say.'
In this post (Part I), I focus on the so-called kinematic sequence, and do so through a series of videos I have made for this purpose. There are four videos in this post. The first explains what the kinematic sequence is. The second explains how to analyze pitching motions in terms of the kinematic sequence. The third focuses on the kinematic sequence in hitting. The fourth does not strictly focus on the kinematic sequence, but more on the physics of swinging a bat to help us understand how the biomechanics work with the physics to create efficient and powerful swinging motions.
Part II focuses on explaining some of the comments I have made about Jonah Tong's pitching technique and areas of concern I have brought up regarding Francisco Alvarez's swing mechanics. I and others have taken note of Vientos's struggles regarding both pitch recognition and his relatively steep angle of attack. Though I have nothing useful to say about how to enhance one's capacity to recognize pitches, I can demonstrate ways of shallowing a steep swing, including the way that Aaron Judge has done so.
Each section below identifies the goal of the video that is linked to it and a number of key ideas I am hoping to get across through the videos. I apologize for lack of production value in these videos. I shot them inside the room in which I normally give golf lessons, and work on my own game.
The kinematic sequence
Key ideas from video. Think of the body as a system. Think of pressure from the ground as an input into the system. Think of the end of the action, throwing a ball, swinging a bat, hitting a tennis ball with a racket as the system's output. The body/system's job is to recruit the pressure/energy from the ground and transfer it efficiently through various movements of the body, increase the energy and then release that energy which has been recruited, transferred and multiplied, to have the most efficient and greatest impact on the output. The most familiar model for analyzing how the body/system does this is called the kinematic sequence. The kinematic sequence is not an uncontroversial model for explaining how the body recruits, transfers and releases energy, but it is at the very least a powerful heuristic device.
The kinematic sequence in pitching
Key ideas from video: Pressure moves forward laterally as arm goes backwards and body-- trail side glutes and shoulder -- load. Lead leg becomes brace around which lead hop/pelvis rotates, then stops, throwing shoulders and arm structure forward, then ultimately arm moves adding additional acceleration and then wrist goes from flexion to extension to release ball.
The kinematic sequence in hitting
Key ideas in video: Same sequence as pitching, working from the ground up, starting with recruiting energy through the ground into the system. Most important difference is that in pitching only one arm is involved centrally in the sequence, thus giving it significantly more range of motion than in hitting where both arms are involved because both hands are required to hold the bat. Therefore the relationship of the arms to one another -- their structure -- is integral to developing an efficient motion.
Physics and the importance of keeping the bat (and its center of gravity or balance point) above and inside the hands
Key ideas in video: Keeping the balance point or center of gravity of the bat inside and above the hands allows the kinematic sequence to throw the bat head into the hitting zone efficiently where force can then placed on the handle that can multiply speed through the zone. There are a number of concepts at work in this motion that I do not discuss in this video, especially having to do with the direction of the force that is applied at the handle of the bat once the momentum of the bat moves its balance point outside the hands. If viewers are interested, I will offer further explanations on another occasion.
Summary
My goal has been to provide an introduction in laymen's terms to some of the concepts that have become more familiar in the contemporary baseball analysis lexicon as coaches have increased their reliance on modern technology as part of their player development strategies. Hopefully the videos help. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments and I will try my best to answer them.
4 comments:
Excellent way to show the sequence in terms we can understand. It is remarkable that the best athletes can perform this sequence with precision, power, and speed.
Jules: fantastic video, makes so much sense. It also make clear, how the movement from the different pitches all try to disrupt the swing mechanics during an at bat.
Thank you for demonstrating (& using video) to illustrate this point.
A special message on St. Patrick's Day...
Good shite my lad
Hopefully, some players that need the educational points in this series will read and learn.
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