Mad Max 02

(Note from Max: After reading this posting, I realized I need to do a discussion on the what momentum is and the difference between momentum and energy. It will make reading the post more meaningful. This posting applies equally to both pitching and hitting. Over the years I have learned as much about how pitchers develop power by studying hitters and about pitching power from studying hitters. The kinetic chain applies to both.)

The hip controversy is "never ending". In the best of Max on the Internet, I have taken people to task (and I have been taken to task) on the issue of hip rotation. My comments have generated controversy (under statement?). I will now attempt to give a more rigorous explanation of my views.

"The term "hip rotation" is in my opinion, a bad choice of terminology when compared to the actual actions of the pelvis hip joint complex before, at and after foot plant (portion of the kinetic pitching chain). The primary means of bodies transmitting momentum and power is through a series of linkages (chain) of joints and muscles. In the pitching forum, Alexj used the word "torsion" to describe lower/upper body transfer. I like this word! To me it is more descriptive of what is actually happening to the muscle-skeletal system. An example of torsion is two people holding the opposite ends pipe or rod. If the pipe is made out of rigid material and one person twists the pipe, the other immediately feels the torque with no rotation of the pipe. If the pipe is made out of a "springier" material, you still get some torque at the instant one end is turned. How much depends on the "stiffness" of the material. In the first case where its a very stiff material, both ends turn exactly with each other. In the second case, there is a "twist" along he pipe (no one part/section of the pipe does all of the turning, the turning is done by slight displacements along he entire length of he pipe). Now if this material had the capability of when stretched, pulling back on its own (like muscle), the twist would start at one end and in time work its way to he other (twist would be completely taken out and position both ends would be the same). You can also think of it as a row of "dominos" that have been set on end falling over (the first domino transfers its momentum to he next domino which transfer to the next which......).

I view "hip rotation" as two part issue. There’s the "dynamic’ portion (torsion) and there’s the "static" portion (actual turning (rotation) of the hip (pelvis) around an imaginary rod perpendicular to the ground a passing through the center of the pelvis which occurs after the hips have linked with the upper body)). Dynamic means the motion that transfers momentum. The dynamic portion occurs before shoulder rotation begins.

Kinetic chain is the key to explaining how the body develops power to throw and hit. Many of you have heard and know that power starts with the feet. But how does power actually work its way from the feet to the hands. The science to explain this is called the "kinetic chain". Dynamic transfer of momentum (think of momentum in terms of how much force it takes to start and stop and object) from one body part to the next is what the kinetic chain is all about. Just think of it as our dominos example, momentum goes from feet to legs to hips to torso to shoulder to arms to hands to ball or bat. "Dynamic" rotation of the hips (shoulders not yet rotating) is responsible for setting up the transfer of momentum to the upper body (shoulders).

The goal is to connect the linkage between the hips and upper body at he instant of maximum hip rotational VELOCITY (this is the basic goal of maximizing the effectiveness of the kinetic chain.

The exact timing and how much hips rotate is critical to getting the most from your lower body to your upper body. That's why they call it the kinetic chain. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If your timing is off, or the amount of movement is decreased (the more you can move something in he same amount of time, the more momentum you develop) the less you transfer to the pitch or swing.

Maximum velocity is not the same as maximum displacement (movement)!!!!). Connecting at the instant of maximum velocity transfers the most momentum. When the linkage is made between hips and upper parts of the body, the upper torso starts to rotate. This displacement between hips and shoulders (twist/torsion) develops muscle stretch which creates muscle length, plyometric response and the storage of elastic energy.

It's the twist and not the pull that generates most of the hip momentum. There is no major muscle group that can "pull" the hip around at foot plant. What looks like pulling occurs as the hip flexors pull the upper torso forwards twards the batter. The natural reaction of the torso pulling forwards is to pull the back knee forwards. In one of my web postings I said;

As far as power path of hips. My feelings are that once you establish foot plant, there is little you can do to help the hips turn. Before everyone goes into orbit, try this simple experiment. Take a stride so that you weight is 50/50 and hips are closed. Now have someone stand behind you theirs hands on both of your hips trying to prevent you from turning your hips. It takes very little force to stop your hips from turning no matter how hard you try to pull them around. So much for the hips generating lots of force by pulling after plant.

The back knee driving around and downwards and the front knee turning outwards are the primary actions for generating twist.

Muscles exhibit maximum force at 1/2 their fully extended length, i.e., you need to lengthen the muscles to maximize pulling force to not only transfer momentum but to also actively increase the velocity by pulling against the momentum/inertia of the hips. Once complete linkage (linkage happens through muscle and connective tissue) happens, rotational hip momentum is transferred to the upper torso. At this point the hips no longer transfer rotational/torsional momentum (you have coupled the hips to the upper torso and shoulders begin to turn).

Now the hips and shoulders function as a connected unit and transfer little if any additional rotational momentum. But the hips/legs now form a anchor for the upper torso to pull against. At this point the torso is pulling around the imaginary rod and OVER the hip girdle. If you subscribe to the belief that the pitcher should be in he high cock position at foot plant, you will see the pitcher’s start upper body rotation (shoulder) at this point. If they don't, the arm is in the high cock position too long and they're dragging their arm (high cock is not a static position, going into and coming out of, I'll save this for a later day). WHICH MEANS THE HIPS HAVE TRANSFERRED THEIR MOMENTUM (as a result of the kinetic chain actions). Not all pitchers rotate at the same point in their delivery with respect to foot plant. But in general a significant potion of the lower body's rotational momentum has worked its way to he hips prior to/at foot plant.

Now for some "heavy artillery". If you read the main web page, you’ll. see that Paul has some interesting friends. The equipment Tom House used to analyze Nolan Ryan (do computer biomechanics) was developed by Paul's track coach (Gideon Ariel) at the University of Massachusetts and the software was developed by his best friend (R. C. Petitto III). Paul called and asked him to do some simulation on clips of Nolan Ryan.

Here’s a computer analysis of Ryan’s total rotational momentum and forward linear momentum. It shows that Ryan has achieved 85% of his total rotational momentum AT FOOT PLANT. And that momentum does not happen instantaneously.

nolan ryan foot plant 2a.gif (30025 bytes)

The Blue line is LINEAR momentum of the body and the brown is ROTATIONAL momentum of the body.

In the pitching forum, I cite a research study ("Characteristic ground-reaction forces in baseball pitching", by MacWilliams, Bruce A., Choi, Tony, Perezous, Mark K., Chao, Edmund Y.S. McFarland, Edward G. American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, Jan-Feb 1998) that makes the following conclusions:

"The tendency of all pitchers in the study to develop high levels of force in the direction of the pitch, combined with the finding that pitchers who developed the largest forces (normalized to body weight) threw fastest, seems to contradict the theory that pitching is a "controlled fall." The pitching motion depends on significant contributions from the lower limbs to create forward impetus. The exact contributions of each segment to the pitching motion will require further study using a complex multi-segmental dynamic model.

Based on this study, we hypothesize that the push-off forces in the direction of the pitch initiate the forward momentum of the entire body. The greater this magnitude, the more kinetic energy there is in the direction of the pitch. Similarly, the vertical push-off component (i.e.height of leg lift, Max) can be used to generate potential energy, which can be transformed into kinetic energy at later stages. The landing leg serves as an anchor in transforming the forward and vertical momentum into rotational components; posteriorly directed forces at the landing foot reflect an overall balance of the inertial forces of the body moving forward to create ball velocities."

It is impossible to physiologically explode. Muscles cannot instantly develop force. It takes a muscle almost two seconds to go from zero to maximum force. That's for an individual muscle fiber. Other factors introduce delays. Muscle fibers don't all recruit simultaneously. Connective tissue is elastic, it stretches and then rebounds. Giving yourself a longer time to "explode" will result in the transfer of more power as long as you maintain the integrity of he kinetic chain (synchronization). You can "mentally" explode (attempt to apply maximum force instantly), but physiologically it does not happen instantly.

Now if you want to believe the hips don’t do anything until foot plant and that you only pull off of the rubber to generate velocity and that makes you a better pitcher, I am very happy for you. Before some of you go "ballistic", please read my first Max Speaks Out (Cues versus Reality) and you will see why I make this statement. Many times you cannot work on/perform parts of high speed ballistic events (muscle memory) by using the exact description of the event. You need "cues". Cues allow you to form an internal motor plan that gets the job done even though it may not be technically (actual description) correct. So for learning mechanics, cues may be more effective than the actual facts. Cues are important for teaching mechanics. The old saying, "if it ain't broke don't fix it" applies. If you are happy with your program and getting good results, why worry?

Training follows the 80-20 rule. Almost any reasonably sound program will get a player 80% of the way to his goal. This is especially true if a player has no program or bad prior instruction. Many training success stories are he result of the "placebo" effect. The placebo effect occurs when you believe in what you are doing. It doesn't matter if the program or equipment is no better than what you had been doing or using previously. Because you believe it's better, you are more dedicated you are to making it work. You are more enthused, diligent and expend more effort. And when you improve, you give too much credit to the product or program and not enough to your own efforts. That's why unless a program is totally wrong, "any program is better than no program". Many training programs and products rely on the placebo effect and would fail in a "real test". A real test uses a control group and a test group. The control group trains like it always did. The test group uses the new methods or equipment. The results of the control group are then compared against he test group. Good programs get you 80% of he way without requiring you to expend massive amounts of efforts. Again the 80-20 rule. You want 80% there with 20% of your total training efforts because it usually takes 80% of the total efforts to achieve the last 20% of your athletic capabilities. That's also what separates the stars from the "wannabes".

If you are designing training programs and equipment to measure and improve bio-mechanical pitching performance then you must understand the whole process and work with facts. If you want to get that last 20% of performance in the most efficient way possible, then you must understand the whole process and work with facts. The higher your level of performance, the more specific the training. Developing effective programs for this level of performance is impossible without detailed understanding of the mechanics and physiology involved. If you are trying to use the cue as an exact statement of fact and then try to use this cue to analyze your results, you may end up "caught between a rock and a hard place".

Max

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