Mobility Screen

Emma has a neutral posture and is categorized as a loose mover. On her pelvic tilt screen she was limited arching her back with little vibration screen. In her pelvic disassociation screen she was limited but showed improvement with assistance (we stabilized her shoulders). This indicates there are torso instability issues. This will be a focus in her swing prep routine.  Emma passed the torso disassociation screen.

Emma passed the overhead squat screen. Her thoracic mobility test placed her in the “loose” category- actively turning 85 degrees to her right and 85 degrees to her left. This screen indicates it will take more time for her to get up to full speed.  Emma created 50 degrees of thoracic side bend to both sides. This screen shows she is capable of having adequate side bend at contact. In the scapular retraction test she pulled rearward about 7 inches. This test shows she will need a bigger loading mechanism in order to take the slack out of her body. During the scapular palpation test, we were not able get fingertips underneath her scapula which is where we need her to be. This test indicates she has adequate strength to maintain a scap load throughout the swing.

Emma was also considered “loose” in the lower quarter rotation test. She generated 65 degrees of left internal hip rotation and 65 degrees externally. She produced 45 degrees of right internal hip rotation and 65 externally. Emma was able to balance on her right leg for 15 seconds and 9 on her left.  She passed the glute bridge screen and her core was stable.

Emma had adequate range of motion externally in both shoulders. She passed the internal rotation screen. She passed the, lat-length/ shoulder flexion test by extending her arms to the wall. During the reach, roll, and lift test, Emma was unable to hold both arms above the ground for 8 seconds. Her right arm began to shake half way through the test which indicates scapular instability. Scapular strength should be a focus in her weight room regime.

Force Plate Swings

Emma creates a whole foot pressure load in the rear shoe.  She does a good job holding vertical force in the rear leg as she loads and advances forward.  She gets to an overall 99% body weight load in this vector.  In her lead leg she creates 205% of her body weight vertically.  This is a good overall amount but comes with an average rate of force development.  Her horizontal force in the lead leg is 96% of body weight which is a good overall amount and comes with a slightly better than average rate of force production.  Her torque force in the lead leg is 113 Newtons.  That is a good overall number and coupled with the other two overall numbers means she is strong in the ground.  With better rate of force production she will get up to full speed faster and allow for a later committal to the pitch.  Her x-axis timing is low at about 20%.  This means that she is landing into her lead side and then rotating as opposed to rotating into landing. This makes adjustability tougher. 

KVEST Sequencing & Rotational Speeds

The 3d readings are on kinematic sequencing and rotational speeds.

Emma presents as an in sequence swing pattern (pelvis, torso, upper arm, wrist). She has an overly inward rotated torso as she advances and goes into her first move.  It has -45.78 degrees of inward rotation into heel strike and it holds at -44.43 degrees into first move.  She has 101.94 degrees of total pelvic turn which can be decreased with better deceleration of the pelvis.  Her torso total rotation is 119.91 degrees.  This is also a large amount of rotation.  As we look at her graph we can look at the red and green lines and they both show as a longer time frame from acceleration to deceleration.  Her ability to decelerate better will allow for better energy transfer and quicker time to full speed.  Her pelvic speed is 622 deg/sec, which is low for her hip size.  Her torso speed is 840 deg/sec. but again shows that slow deceleration.  Her upper arm gain is minimal as it reaches 904 deg/sec. This will be increased by having better rotary stability and deceleration.  Her wrist speed is 1773 deg/sec. 

Bat Sensor Data

Emma creates 58, 62, and 63 mph.  This is below average for a college hitter.  Her exit speeds are 71, 70, and 73 mph.  This is average for a college hitter.  Her time to impact was 130-150 milliseconds.  This is good to average in range.  Her rotational acceleration is 16, 17, and 19.  This means there is tightness in the turn.  Her attack angles were 10, 19, and 13, which are in a normative range.  Her vertical bat angles were -20, -20, and -39.  The low VBA is indicative to the swing flattening out through the zone and across the body. We want to see the VBA stay in the -30 to -40 degree range in the bottom of the zone (where the pitches were in this testing scenario.  She creates a steeper decent and then has to create excessive side bend to make up for the steep decent.  This will make it necessary for her to strike balls out front to allow for her to get back into the up arc of her swing. 

Movement Prep Routine

1. Hands & knees pelvic tilt – focus on eliminating vibration (2 hands & 1 hand variation).

– 10 reps on 2 hands

– 5 reps on 1 hand (each side)

2. Dead bug progression – create better pelvic control & lower abdominal strength/control.

– 8 reps each leg

3. Torso stability w/pelvic turn – use the doorway to keep upper body stabile while rotating the lower body.

– 10 reps

4. Partner assisted disassociation – have a partner hold your shoulders and rotate the hips without pulling partner with shoulders.

– 10 reps

5. Pelvic turns w/thoracic stability – PVC on shoulders for reference (don’t let PVC turn while rotating hips.

– 10 reps

6. 90 degree lower half counter hops (upper body stabile or counter) – stand on one leg with arms straight out to the side – keep arms stabile while you jump and inwardly turn your jump foot 90 degrees inward and then jump again to get back to initial starting position.

– 5 single jumps

– 5 double jumps

7. Isometric Anti rotational work w/resistance band

– 15 second hold square 2 sets

– 15 second offset hold 2 sets

8. Concentric/Eccentric anti-rotation band pull/holds – start sideways to anchor point and create tension on the band.  Extend arms straight out from chest.  Hold 1 second, then rotate away from anchor point, finish by returning slowly (10 seconds) back to starting position.

– 5 reps each direction

9. Med ball side catches – start in your load position. Have your partner throw the med ball off your hip.  Catch and stabilize without letting hips or shoulders rotate.

– 8 reps each way

10. Sideways med ball catch & throw – 8 pound med ball

– 8 reps each way

11. Box jump downs – start on an elevated surface.  Jump off the surface and stabilize your landing. Hold for a 2 count.

– 8 reps with a soft landing

– 8 reps with a rigid landing

Swing Prep Routine

1. PVC full swing – no ball

2. PVC 180’s (split grip) – no ball

3. PVC 90’s (split grip) – no ball

4. Bat full swing – no ball

5. Bat 180’s (split grip) – with flip

6. Bat 90’s (split grip) – with flip

7. Limited pelvic turn swings – with flip

8. Limited torso turn swings – with flip

9. Back leg hop swings (hop on back leg & take right into swing) – with flip