Start hip rotation by your left knee or arm?

[gwsmallwood]

A quick word of caution based on my own experience. I've only been playing since late August. I stumbled across that sling shot video pretty early on and it seemed to make a little sense. I knew I wasn't getting my lower body into my throws properly, so I figured it was worth a shot. I tried drilling on it and focusing on it during field work for about a week. Went out to the course and tried to do it during my first drive off the tee box and strained my groin.

It always felt awkward, like it was way too difficult to try to spin on my weight-bearing leg while simultaneously trying to use that leg to push into my throw. But I wasn't sure if that was just because it was new. It was 25 years ago, but I played baseball for 10 years and it didn't feel like the right way to get my hips involved based on my baseball history.

I think that groin pull confirmed it. Your quads and hamstrings are far more powerful muscles, and that move was taking them out of the equation and relying almost entirely on the much weaker groin muscles.

I started experimenting with the door frame drill last week. While my timing is still way off and I have a lot to work on, my video showed that my hips were absolutely getting properly engaged without even thinking about it because of the focus on planting and and leaning into the weight transfer. I also feel the soreness more in my core than my legs, telling me it's a more effective technique for getting the right muscles involved.

I'm still new at this, but that was my experience with spin/slingshot vs lateral/brace.

 

[Brychanus]

I'm still new at this, but that was my experience with spin/slingshot vs lateral/brace.

Sorry about the pull, hope it heals up quickly. Months before Sling Shot posted that vid, I hurt both of my knees doing something similar to the "squish the bug" motion repetitively and then spent 3 months in PT. It's frustrating to see it getting so much attention and I worry that more people will get hurt!

Since reworking my leg & weight transfer, I've had almost no knee issues and am slowly learning to get the bigger muscle groups on the job. Stick w/ it, it's worth it!

 

[gwsmallwood]

Sorry about the pull, hope it heals up quickly. Months before Sling Shot posted that vid, I hurt both of my knees doing something similar to the "squish the bug" motion repetitively and then spent 3 months in PT. It's frustrating to see it getting so much attention and I worry that more people will get hurt!

Since reworking my leg & weight transfer, I've had almost no knee issues and am slowly learning to get the bigger muscle groups on the job. Stick w/ it, it's worth it!

Thanks. It was just a strain. Made that particular round difficult, but felt better after about a week.

 

[SadTurtle]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I've recently begun completely deconstructing my backhand form and came across the Slingshot video as well, including SW's replies. After watching the Dr. Yeager video (great resource by the way), I instantly thought of Ken Griffey Jr. and watched some slow motion videos and other MLB pros as well (even McBeth says a backhand throw is basically a baseball swing). The back leg rotating is merely an effect, not the cause. Get into a [baseball] hitter's stance and pick your front foot up a little bit like you're going to swing. You can feel all of the muscles around the back hip/pelvis engage, and a tremendous amount of power can come from there. I played competitive baseball for about 10 years when I was younger and attended all kinds of camps and clinics. Some "lower level" coaches taught the "squish the big" concept. It never really felt right, and I felt like I lost power, even some quickness.