What is Balance?

Thanks to; The Greedy Pinstripes

I love that picture, it really shows why ballplayers always say..."The legs are the first to go" and why one can see pitchers running all the time.

Look at the pressure put on his plant leg, the same is true of his push-off leg......! Pitchers and other players have a weak spot...their legs (hip) any problem of any sort can make the best, become the ordinary or worse!

That is why one can see the better and best players working out every day and spend more time with conditioning trainers in the off season.

Milkey and Cano couldn't keep up with A-Rod when he had them join him in his work-outs. That is the type of work one HAS to put in to stay at the top.

Many think a pitcher quits because he has lost something off his pitches...true, up to a point...many things will make one lose something off his pitches. What ever one has lost, the break on the pitch (Mo) the speed (CC), one can trace it back to what I call "The Balance"!

The Balance is very simple to understand;

With a pitcher: His arm is in front of his body or, his body is out of sync with his arm, anyway one wishes to put it...his balance (sync) is off!

See how his release, body, weight, is in harmony with his back leg off the ground...this is the typical "Drop and Drive" of a power pitcher.

Ed Note: This is something as a closer, with a fast ball around the 82 mph, never ever tried to do. I didn't ever throw an FB, just "Junk"! lol

Let's look at hitters: Balance is the key word here as much as with a pitcher.

Let's take three different hitters shall we?

Jeter...the Hit King of the Yankees...Hits off his front foot a lot of the time because he is an inside out hitter (most of the time) and has trouble with rightys when they cross him up with a low on the black pitch after throwing inside at the hands. His weight (Balance) is gone as he reaches for the ball.

Now try Tex: A typical pull hitter; he sits on his back leg with an upper cut in his swing, put a breaking pitch on the inside and low, not good results from him. he will top it to the side he is hitting from or...swing and miss it completely.

Now we come to A-Rod: the best all-around hitter on the team...

He is a typical power hitter that tries to hit the ball "on center" if he gets the timing right, it will go out (HR). If he is off a bit, he can hit the gaps with power or, (if his balance is off a bit) it is nothing at all!

He spreads his weight out and is balanced at the plate, he will swing with his weight on-center...need not sit on his back leg at all! He has upper body and lower body working in harmony with his turn and front foot planted (on time).

If any one of those things gets off center at all, he is wasting time at the plate!

One can understand why he has had trouble the last few years, with a bad hip his timeing is off. With out being able to sync his turn with weight shift he is swinging with his upper body alone...shall we say, Not a Good thing?