One leg drill, stupid question.

[RoDeO]

So, I've see this one leg drill and decided to give it a try to see what it's all about. Stupid question here but- how is one supposed to draw energy to throw from their hips if the rear leg can't initiate the motion? When I do the one leg drill it seems like all I am doing is balancing on my front leg and using my arm motion (all arm) to pull my hips through. The transfer weight point from the rear to the front brace leg is the hip initiate point which starts the acceleration kinetic chain. I think this is best felt with a baseball swing. Ever try to balance on your front leg and swing a bat for power? Forget it. Even though in the baseball swing your weight gets transferred and braced against the front foot it's the rear foot and leg that powerfully starts the hip and torso rotation.

 

[azplaya25]

So, I've see this one leg drill and decided to give it a try to see what it's all about. Stupid question here but- how is one supposed to draw energy to throw from their hips if the rear leg can't initiate the motion? When I do the one leg drill it seems like all I am doing is balancing on my front leg and using my arm motion (all arm) to pull my hips through. The transfer weight point from the rear to the front brace leg is the hip initiate point which starts the acceleration kinetic chain. I think this is best felt with a baseball swing. Ever try to balance on your front leg and swing a bat for power? Forget it. Even though in the baseball swing your weight gets transferred and braced against the front foot it's the rear foot and leg that powerfully starts the hip and torso rotation.

Pretend like you are starting a lawnmower while balanced on your front foot. Can you feel how you can still generate power with your hip?


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[sidewinder22]

Taking it too literal. The feel is that your weight pressure mostly remains on the front leg. There will be some weight pressure in the backswing on the rear foot to post up/leverage against and redirect/transition you back forward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpp7ZFLHK90#t=1m35s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DMwiBkvrkg#t=3m33s

 

[RoDeO]

So, it's not really a true stand on one leg and throw? I have seen other videos online of people standing literally on one foot and throwing. If it's to teach the feeling of the brace or weight on the front leg then I get it. The only way I can do it and have it feel powerful is to start with my weight on both legs and then initiate hip rotation first with the back leg and then shift the weight forward onto the front leg. If I don't do this then it feels like my arm is pulling my hips through rather than having my hips and torso powerfully pulling my arm through.

 

[ballgolfconvert]

So, it's not really a true stand on one leg and throw? I have seen other videos online of people standing literally on one foot and throwing. If it's to teach the feeling of the brace or weight on the front leg then I get it. The only way I can do it and have it feel powerful is to start with my weight on both legs and then initiate hip rotation first with the back leg and then shift the weight forward onto the front leg. If I don't do this then it feels like my arm is pulling my hips through rather than having my hips and torso powerfully pulling my arm through.

It should be called the finish on one leg drill.

 

[sidewinder22]

When I see people throwing only on one leg I tell them the same thing I said above. Too literal and not actually listening or paying attention to the details.

It's like throwing from a "standstill" you don't actually stand still statically, you need to shift and move between your two feet dynamically.

 

[sidewinder22]

It should be called the finish on one leg drill.

Or maybe start and finish on one leg and bounce off the rear leg.

Most people try to start all weight back which is death.

 

[RoDeO]

When I see people throwing only on one leg I tell them the same thing I said above. Too literal and not actually listening or paying attention to the details.

It's like throwing from a "standstill" you don't actually stand still statically, you need to shift and move between your two feet dynamically.

Ah, I see. That makes more sense.

 

[RocHucker]

Most people try to start all weight back which is death.

Is this only true of the one leg drill specifically, or true of the actual full throw as well? Obviously during the x-step you are on the rear leg at points, but should the weight *feel* centered over the front leg or hip throughout the throw motion?

During the backswing I have been really feeling like my weight is over the rear foot and coiled into the rear leg... is that wrong?

 

[azplaya25]

Is this only true of the one leg drill specifically, or true of the actual full throw as well? Obviously during the x-step you are on the rear leg at points, but should the weight *feel* centered over the front leg or hip throughout the throw motion?

During the backswing I have been really feeling like my weight is over the rear foot and coiled into the rear leg... is that wrong?

Watch the power of posture video from the technique stick, best video out there about this


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[sidewinder22]

Is this only true of the one leg drill specifically, or true of the actual full throw as well? Obviously during the x-step you are on the rear leg at points, but should the weight *feel* centered over the front leg or hip throughout the throw motion?

During the backswing I have been really feeling like my weight is over the rear foot and coiled into the rear leg... is that wrong?

A "standstill" or "one leg drill" has a real backswing/CoG move away from the target to initiate, and also redirection targetward in backswing.

In x-step CoG is continually moving forward dynamically centered in backswing while turning/tilting/lagging back.

In both ^^ most people try to load extra weight back/lean/tip back off balance so then the upper body and lower body get out of kilter/topsy turvy in the shift, and can't really accelerate the center in dynamic balance between the feet. The shift becomes wonky/sloshy instead of smooth and fluid.

Your weight is automatically "back" on rear leg in x-step because your CoG is starting behind the rear foot and has to move forward over it. So trying to lean back further behind the rear foot is counter-productive and any tilt/lean back before getting in front of the rear foot is wasted energy and slowing things down. You can really only tilt/turn back after passing over the rear foot and actually still load back into/inside the rear foot/leg.

Same thing when people turn back or "reachback" too early in x-step before rear leg. It's not getting loaded or winding back into/inside the rear foot if you turn back before it.

It would be akin to Kyle here starting the backswing before planting his rear foot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zeKepHH6t4

 

[timothy42b]

I still find this confusing.

I've done this drill many hundreds, probably thousands of times, and yes I realize now I'm way too literal. I've also thrown a lot of rounds from one leg, proving how literal I am.

Shawn Clements is clear that you don't apply force with the back leg. SW22's one leg video does not look like he drives with the back leg. The gas pedal drill is how to drive with both leg and ankle of the back leg. The baseball videos are all about how to drive with the back leg. The long drive golf videos talk about a combination of three forces: horizontal, vertical, and rotation. Paige's video says your back leg should be the only thing that works hard while throwing.

When I try, I can swing by weighting the front leg or by driving off the back leg, but not both.

Can you see why it seems confusing?

 

[azplaya25]

I still find this confusing.

I've done this drill many hundreds, probably thousands of times, and yes I realize now I'm way too literal. I've also thrown a lot of rounds from one leg, proving how literal I am.

Shawn Clements is clear that you don't apply force with the back leg. SW22's one leg video does not look like he drives with the back leg. The gas pedal drill is how to drive with both leg and ankle of the back leg. The baseball videos are all about how to drive with the back leg. The long drive golf videos talk about a combination of three forces: horizontal, vertical, and rotation. Paige's video says your back leg should be the only thing that works hard while throwing.

When I try, I can swing by weighting the front leg or by driving off the back leg, but not both.

Can you see why it seems confusing?

If you are balanced on your front leg, then during your backswing you use your back leg as kind of a kick stand to redirect your center of gravity forward, I think that is what we are after. Bouncing of the back leg and redirecting your momentum is a lot different than driving off the back leg with all your force.


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[sidewinder22]

When I try, I can swing by weighting the front leg or by driving off the back leg, but not both.

Can you see why it seems confusing?

I'm not sure what you mean?

Rear leg drive must be completed in backswing. If you are trying to rear leg drive during forward swing then you are fighting momentum.

 

[RocHucker]

I'm not sure what you mean?

Rear leg drive must be completed in backswing. If you are trying to rear leg drive during forward swing then you are fighting momentum.

This confuses me as well, so I'm going to try to repeat it back to you to make sure I understand:

Rear leg drive happens strictly during the "fall/prepare" phase that he talks about in the video. The actual swing forward happens when the front foot makes solid contact with the ground. Once the front foot is planted, the forward swing of the arm is powered by the front leg driving the front hip backwards...
So for learning purposes, the rear leg drive could be replaced with just teetering forward on the rear leg, similar to a batter. Once we've mastered catching the fall with the front leg and using the front leg to drive the front hip backwards (thereby torquing the hips around), a rear leg drive can be added to increase the energy that we're creating during the "fall" phase?
correct?

 

[sidewinder22]

So for learning purposes, the rear leg drive could be replaced with just teetering forward on the rear leg, similar to a batter. Once we've mastered catching the fall with the front leg and using the front leg to drive the front hip backwards (thereby torquing the hips around), a rear leg drive can be added to increase the energy that we're creating during the "fall" phase?
correct?

Correct, you give the engine more gas/energy to work with by stepping on the accelerator pedal with the rear foot, rather than relying on gravity alone.

 

[RFrance]

This made a lot of sense to me and cleared things up in Mike Malaska's video starting at 16:52
https://youtu.be/UrSbWfNMapE?t=1012. "Push away from the momentum..."

 

[RocHucker]

If we were to try learning how to brace by teetering off the back leg before adding rear leg drive, how much throw distance do you think would be a good indicator that we've properly learned the teeter and brace and are ready to add in rear leg drive? Roughly speaking, of course, as I'm sure it varies person to person

 

[RoDeO]

One thing that shouldn't be lost in the conversation and is vital to this drill is that hip rotation or torso rotation starts just prior to front foot/brace leg contact. By the time the weight has shifted fully to the fron foot at brace moment, and the shift has gone mostly from the back foot to the front foot, the disc is still in the reach back position but the hip has already rotated to where it's now straight out from the body. There's a lot of talk about not rotating until one has planted onto the brace leg. This is true for the shoulders. But the hips have already rotated halfway through its motion by this point.

 

[HyzerUniBomber]

this was a video I shared with a guy I've been working with for a while. It's not an edited video, and some of the ideas were very specific to him, but I think the middle bit specifically about where the hips move from top of backswing to the downswing may be helpful.