Brychanus
* Ace Member *
The brace should form as part of the body dropping as a unit off the rear side. The upper body should be counterrotating the shift as you get coiled up against the drive leg (Ride the Bull, Double Dragon, Open to Closed Drills, Buttwipe etc.). You can learn it by doing it!
All of the top players (and more) have a Ride the Bull move that involves downshifting (if I am using this term consistently with SW and others, including the "compression" that results).
I keep seeing developing players who have no vertical component to their shift with "straight and flat" form, and they keep trying to knife their braces into the ground like a pole vaulter's pole rather than shift and develop The Move smoothly and safely. They often say things like "I finally felt and understand the brace." What they're actually feeling is getting jammed up. I'm a little worried about them. Maybe they haven't ****ed up their knees and hips yet, but I'm watching. Thus, my review and summary here today:
What is "downshifting," and how can I learn to see it?
There are certain persons on the internet claiming that the head doesn't go down or stays on the same level during The Good Swing (pro-level form). This notion is clearly false after an even casual inspection of top players throwing far. When McBeth is used as an example, it is in error. Paul's (1) downshift has became a little smaller in some distance throws since he stretched his form out horizontally, but is still present and (2) as he powers up, he is still clearly using a significant downshift. Your head is part of your body, and your body is seriously disadvantaged and your form has real upper limits if you aren't surrendering to gravity. I will explain.
Even a casual estimate of the downshift force is significant, and necessarily more so if you are more massive. I made a new estimate for Drew Gibson to get a better measure of his vertical impact force as a function of his mass and "drop" height landing in the plant. He reported he weighs 230lbs as weighed on a scale, which surprised me. But then again the guy also has some serious junk in his trunk and puts his time in at the gym.
Now consider his elite form, athletic and quick horizontal acceleration, and powerful body, and you know where a lot of his power comes from.
Paul's significant downshift in days of yore and recently:
Simon's is still there:
Do the really long guys still have one? Why yes, yes they do:
Reflections on the downshift and how to "commit to the fall"
Otherwise, there is one significant part of this that took me a long time to do once, which also made it harder to understand. Many developing players are not "riding down the ramp" or "the halfpipe" or the "Brinsterochrone" curve in a "freefall" supported by the drive leg into the diagonal shift. In the X-hop, the freefall begins before the drive leg hits the ground.
Again: the freefall begins before the drive leg hits the ground.
The drive leg is ideally a balance point that helps you load up torque in the backswing relaxed while still maintaining and building forward momentum/acceleration. This is why SW often treats the X as a hop or gallop or trot. And many players aren't galloping, trotting, or hopping through the move so they never seem to find this part:
Kick the Can is IMO a top tier drill for training this (again, assuming other pre-reqs are in place).
As a case in point and since many people are having an even harder time seeing this as players get taller and longer and more horizontal on tour, even the ultra-horizontal Eagle's "trot" or X-hop used to be more obvious even if you can't see it in his modern form. This is still there but smoothed out and even more compressed. But IMHO it's part of his downshift and how he "falls" into the plant.
All of the top players (and more) have a Ride the Bull move that involves downshifting (if I am using this term consistently with SW and others, including the "compression" that results).
I keep seeing developing players who have no vertical component to their shift with "straight and flat" form, and they keep trying to knife their braces into the ground like a pole vaulter's pole rather than shift and develop The Move smoothly and safely. They often say things like "I finally felt and understand the brace." What they're actually feeling is getting jammed up. I'm a little worried about them. Maybe they haven't ****ed up their knees and hips yet, but I'm watching. Thus, my review and summary here today:
What is "downshifting," and how can I learn to see it?
There are certain persons on the internet claiming that the head doesn't go down or stays on the same level during The Good Swing (pro-level form). This notion is clearly false after an even casual inspection of top players throwing far. When McBeth is used as an example, it is in error. Paul's (1) downshift has became a little smaller in some distance throws since he stretched his form out horizontally, but is still present and (2) as he powers up, he is still clearly using a significant downshift. Your head is part of your body, and your body is seriously disadvantaged and your form has real upper limits if you aren't surrendering to gravity. I will explain.
Even a casual estimate of the downshift force is significant, and necessarily more so if you are more massive. I made a new estimate for Drew Gibson to get a better measure of his vertical impact force as a function of his mass and "drop" height landing in the plant. He reported he weighs 230lbs as weighed on a scale, which surprised me. But then again the guy also has some serious junk in his trunk and puts his time in at the gym.
Now consider his elite form, athletic and quick horizontal acceleration, and powerful body, and you know where a lot of his power comes from.
Paul's significant downshift in days of yore and recently:
Simon's is still there:
Do the really long guys still have one? Why yes, yes they do:
Reflections on the downshift and how to "commit to the fall"
Otherwise, there is one significant part of this that took me a long time to do once, which also made it harder to understand. Many developing players are not "riding down the ramp" or "the halfpipe" or the "Brinsterochrone" curve in a "freefall" supported by the drive leg into the diagonal shift. In the X-hop, the freefall begins before the drive leg hits the ground.
Again: the freefall begins before the drive leg hits the ground.
The drive leg is ideally a balance point that helps you load up torque in the backswing relaxed while still maintaining and building forward momentum/acceleration. This is why SW often treats the X as a hop or gallop or trot. And many players aren't galloping, trotting, or hopping through the move so they never seem to find this part:
Kick the Can is IMO a top tier drill for training this (again, assuming other pre-reqs are in place).
As a case in point and since many people are having an even harder time seeing this as players get taller and longer and more horizontal on tour, even the ultra-horizontal Eagle's "trot" or X-hop used to be more obvious even if you can't see it in his modern form. This is still there but smoothed out and even more compressed. But IMHO it's part of his downshift and how he "falls" into the plant.
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