Posted by: Dave (nytino20@aol.com) on Tue Sep 4 21:30:34 2007

> >>> I am really having trouble getting my front leg firm in my swing. I notice that I really drift forward during my swing, causing my head to really move and my front leg to never lock out. What can I do to stop this gliding forward and firm up on my front leg? Thanks <<<
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> Hi Tom
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> Without seeing your swing, I would suspect the reason for not getting your lead-leg firm at contact is due to your relying to heavily on your back-side to swing the bat. Back-side dominate hitters leave the lead-shoulder static and rotate their back-shoulder around the posted front shoulder. This action can take the body forward and the lead-leg may never straighten (or firm up).
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> To solve your problem, you will need to get your lead-side more involved in the swing which requires the lead-shoulder to rotate rearward at the rate the back-shoulder is rotating forward. This is what generates a stationary axis of rotation. In order to rotate the lead-hip and shoulder rearward around the axis is aided by the extension of the lead-leg to drive the lead-hip back toward the catcher.
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> Practice striding to a well-flexed lead-leg at foot plant. Then, tell yourself that as you initiate your swing, you are going to use the extension of the leg to drive your lead-shoulder back toward the catcher at contact. – You should find that your body does not tend to drift forward while you are concentrating on driving the lead-shoulder rearward.
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> Jack Mankin

Wow!! I am also having serious problems with my lead leg straightening. My leg is straightening but very late almost when my swing is over. I just stood up though and really just focused on a lot of flex in my lead knee and the catcher needing to see my lead shoulder (i know that sounds crazy but it works for me) and I really noticed my lead leg straighten automatically!! That's what I want. I want to see that my lead leg straightens automatically without me thinking anything about it. I want it to be a reaction of my body naturally. Ultimatley the only thing you should be concentrating on when everything is said and done is the ball and that's it. I think it's almost like learning how to ride a bike again. It's going to take a lot of time and effort because we didn't learn right the first time around. It's going to take a lot of time to correct the bad habits. I guess it's fair to say I shouldn't even put a bat in my hands for a while. I should just concentrate on the core movements for a while and make believe a bat is in my hands. Retrain myself. This isn't easy but it sure is interesting!!