Stomach or Ribs?
When Donnie first mentioned rib orientation in hitters I realized it is something I had never dove into and looked at. However, the more he talked the more I realized I was seeing the issue but had never put two and two together.
We as male humans want to look big and be powerful. Our chests stick out and our chins are held high. It’s human nature, and for smaller athletes, the desire to look bigger is even greater.
So, when an athlete wants to be strong and put force into an object their chest/ribs rise to look bigger. However, this is where I was seeing the stomach/core extend. I thought it was a core issue where in reality it was human nature/ribs rising through the rotation. I saw the issue but wasn’t looking in the right place for the solution.
The Solution
After leaving the meeting and diving into a video of hitters I work with currently and some of the best hitters in the world, the evidence was there.
The best hitters are able to keep their ribs down during the exhale involved with the swing. Their ability to keep their ribs down allows them to engage their core and decelerate rotation more efficiently.
While lack of core strength or little man syndrome may play a factor, teaching the hitter to inhale and exhale with their ribs down, will help them decelerate rotation better and in turn, accelerate the bat.
The image below is Buster Posey demonstrating how he is able to keep his ribs down through rotation allowing him to decelerate better.
Interesting article Eric, and something I had never thought of either. Reading it immediately made me think of the photo of Joey Gallo (https://www.cncmsbl.com/hitting/launch-angle-for-dummies/) where he looks just like the kid in the first photo.
I’d like to hear your take on how core strength, or lack of, impacts this particular piece of the equation. For example a player with poor core strength, average or above average. It’s one of those things that I’m sure Joe Dimaggio ever really thought about, but I’m sure Mookie Betts spends half of his workout on his core.
Phil,
I’m glad you enjoyed the article! It is definitely something that I never thought of before, but now realize how often I see it. Core strength is obviously a massive component of any rotational movement. Any lack of core strength can cause compensations in other factors in the swing. Like you said it’s not likely that any hitter realized whether they have adequate core strength or not, but instead create compensations unknowingly. The stronger the core, the less compensations and the more efficient the hitter can move.