Training Insights: “Swing Attractors” by Coach Mike Lotief… Pelvis Loading, Part 2—The Planes of Movement

Extra Inning Softball continues our series of articles with record-setting college softball coach Mike Lotief who, after 17 years of coaching Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball, reveals the training program that propelled his team to the NCAA tournament, the Women’s College World Series, and NCAA Super Regionals.

Keep checking in every Tuesday and Thursday to learn how, as Coach Lotief puts it, “to improve your swing and up your game!” 

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What is pelvis loading? And why is it important in hitting a baseball/softball?

This is Part 2 in a 5-Part Series on Pelvis Loading in Baseball/Softball Hitting.

When differentiating movement patterns of the pelvis, it matters to identify the sequence and interaction of the different planes of movement.

The pelvis is about relative motion so it can move in all three planes (sagittal, frontal, transverse).  Most great hitters load the pelvis and use a combination of all three planes.

When teaching pelvic load, it is not necessary to restrict our terminology to just pelvic “tilt”-anterior and posterior. It is too restrictive and does not explain the complexity of the relative movement of the pelvis.

In the case of the pelvis, the overemphasis on an anterior or posterior movement as a binary choice without regard to the relative motion or planes of movement is not helpful to hitters.

For instance, the analogy of a bucket dumping water either forward on your toes (anterior pelvic tilt) or backwards on your heels (posterior pelvic tilt) and forcing hitters to choose one or the other is confusing.

When watching video, it is apparent that some hitters, like Miguel Cabrera, prefer to hit in a flexed forward posture, while others like Josh Hamilton prefer a more upright posture, and most, like Babe Ruth, fall somewhere in between.

Here’s video of Kelsey Vincent’s home run versus Oklahoma in the 2016 Super Regionals off of Paige Parker and in the 2016 Conference Tournament against Randi Rupp of Texas State:

 

The bottom line is that it is probably NOT either anterior nor posterior tilt after all: it’s the deep muscles of the transverse abdominus, internal obliques, piriformis, pelvic floor, etc. that ANTICIPATE AND STABILIZE by being able to be activated BEFORE gross movements.

These muscles are closer to the center of mass and can create high compressive forces. These muscles also have a biomechanics advantage in providing trunk stabilization and thus are recruited by the hitter when moving in the sagittal plane.

Additionally, the L1-L4 lumbar vertebrae are more in line with the sagittal plane, while the L5-S1 are more aligned in the frontal plane.

The initial move of pelvis loading is or feels like more of an isometric contraction where there is a tensing/stabilizing of these muscles without movement; in other words, this tensing happens FIRST and it happens early, most of the time as soon as the pitcher separates his/her hands to begin the pitching delivery.

Here is MLB player Corey Dickerson talking about the kinetic chain and how he became “obsessive” about studying other hitters and learning how his body moves. He says, “I analyze the smallest details of how my body is moving… (to figure out) where did it breakdown through the kinetic chain.”

 

The move of the pelvis into the sagittal plane has been tried to be explained in many ways; for example, the feeling of doing a deadlift, or holding a stability ball overhead (see last week’s article), all in an attempt to explain how the hips/pelvis facilitates a forward flexion of the spine.

In the beginnings of performing a deadlift, there is an activation of the glutes and hamstrings of the posterior chain versus just bending at the waist using the spinal erectors to lengthen while leaning forward with the trunk.

Here’s video from last week of Carlton doing the RDL and holding the stability ball overhead:

 A lateral pelvic “tilt” is when the pelvis shifts side to side in the frontal plane, so that one hip is higher than the other.

Movement of the pelvis in the frontal plane also can occur by contralateral flexion and extension of the knees, hips, and/or shoulders (commonly referred to as side bending of the spine).

Is lateral pelvic tilt part of a high level hitter’s pelvic loading? You hear pitching coaches advise against a “hip hike” and instructing the athlete to keep their hips level in the frontal plane.

Does this apply to hitting? Is Mike Trout “laterally” tilting his pelvis during the pelvic load phase?

Is he creating this by contralateral flexion/extension of his knees? Is he side bending his spine in the frontal plane?

The best explanations of the purpose of lateral pelvic tilt in hitting are the ones that describe how the “MIDDLE IS MOVED FORWARD.”

It’s NOT by stepping with the legs, or pushing with the back leg, or falling down and forward, nor trying to balance on the rear leg.

It’s lifting (the pelvis) and moving the middle (the pelvis) forward with stability throughout the spine and trunk stabilization and with no excessive movement with the legs.

Here’s more video of Carlton, this time explaining the pelvis movement during forward shirt:

 It’s like watching the magic show where the lady is in the box and the magician cuts the box in the middle and moves the middle forward while the head and the feet do not move.

Check out Dain Bergeron’s analysis of moving the middle using Corey Seagar video:

What about the transverse plane?

With Icharo and Ohtani in the photo below, note the internal rotation of their front leg femur as evidenced by the position of the front foot; moreover,  the toe is below the heel, the sole of the foot (cleats) turned inward and the outside of the foot higher than the inside.

This is as a result of their hips internally rotating. Compare the front foot of both Icharo and Ohtani and you will see internal rotation of the front hip which is the transverse component of pelvic load.

If there is not more internal rotation and movement in the transverse plane, there is probably not adequate tension around the rear glutes. The hitter needs that additional tension around the pelvis, often referred to as co-contractions.

A source of this additional tension is the acetabular (socket) and the femoral (ball) internally rotating as soon as the stride leg is lifted; this assists the hitter to continue the process of pelvic loading and predisposes the body for the upcoming rotation.

This is an area where lots of flaws show up.

Instead of front leg internal rotation some hitters search for that additional tension by counter rotating their shoulders – you hear many coaches instructing the young hitter to pinch their rear scapula or show the numbers on their jersey to the pitcher; some posteriorly counter rotate their rear hip (left transverse rotation for a RH hitter) with many coaches instructing the young hitter to show your back pocket or rear butt cheek to the pitcher.

These moves provide the necessary tension but at a high cost… in golf, the downswing of an elite pro takes .25/second but in MLB or college softball the hitter has about half that time to execute his/her swing (in other words, getting the barrel to the incoming pitch that is traveling at speeds over 90 mph from 60 feet in baseball and over 60 mph from 40 feet in softball).

The ability to load the pelvis and co-contract the glutes to the optimal tension while putting force into the ground starts the subsequent kinetic forces that can respond in .12, .13 or .14 hundreds of a second needed to execute the swing with power and accuracy to compete against the best.

There is more than one way to teach the feel of pelvic loading, but all must include all three planes of motion in order to meet the time constraints of hitting a big league fastball or World Series screwball out of the park.

Here is Holly Tankersley hitting a home run during the 2008 WCWS against Florida

This is a good example of relative motion of the pelvis in all three planes of motion, precisely sequenced and self-organized by each individual hitter.

Over and over again, relative motion of the pelvis keeps showing up in all three planes of motion for lots of good hitters.  Are you using all three planes of movement (frontal, sagittal and transverse) in your pelvis load?

Pursue excellence! And somewhere, deep in the movement of pelvis loading, is a “Swing Attractor” that will help you WIN THE NEXT PITCH!

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About the Author

Mike Lotief coached 17 successful years as either the head softball coach or co-head softball coach with his wife Stefni Whitton Lotief at the University of Louisiana from 2002-2017 with an overall coaching record of 731-176 (80.6 winning percentage). Every season, the Ragin Cajuns softball team advanced to the NCAA tournament and also advanced to three (3) Women’s College World Series (2003, 2008, 2014) and from 2012-2016 advanced to five (5) straight NCAA Super Regionals. Coach Lotief produced over 40 All American selections and his 2017 team lead the nation in scoring and was ranked in the Top 10 in home runs, slugging percentage, on base percentage.

The coach is a cancer survivor (twice) and was the first person in the U.S. to receive the Pro Trach device. Mike and Stefni spearheaded and raised the funding to build the new softball stadium in 2009 and the new softball indoor hitting facility in 2015. They are proud parents to Chelsea, who played softball and graduated from the Univ. of Louisiana in 2018, and Andrew, who is a junior at Louisiana studying Mechanical Engineering.

Previous Articles in this Series

• The Mental Swing Attractors: Remove the Rope from Your Ankle & Get Rid of the Limiting Beliefs! (Oct. 28, 2021)
• Training Insights: “Swing Attractors” by Coach Mike Lotief… Pelvis Loading, Part 1—It’s All in the Hips (or Somewhere Deep Below) Oct. 26, 2021
• The Mental Swing Attractors: Champions are Developed by Devotion & Discipline! (Oct. 21, 2021)
• Training Expertise: “Swing Attractors”… the Secrets of Power Hitting by Coach Mike Lotief (Oct. 19, 2021)

More About Mike Lotief

• Why Michael Lotief is a Legendary Coach? by Jay Patel
• The Secret To Michael Lotief’s Success. By Jay Patel
• Michael Lotief Fights for Rajin’ Cajuns by Graham Hays ESPN
• Michael Lotief: Taking His Sport to New Heights by Neha Kapoor
• For the Love of the Game: A Look at Ragin’ Cajun Softball’s Power Couple
• How Louisiana-Lafayette’s Michael Lotief Develops Hitting Gems by Graham Hays ESPN