Thread by @SteveEnglishbey

I want to make a few comments about "those who studied House [circa 2000]". I was most certainly around when Paul started critiquing some of House's info starting around 2001.

https://twitter.com/setprosports/status/1452611302459912202

I bought Tom's bk. [1st ed.] on pitching mechanics. So, I am VERY aware of Tom's concepts such as "find the balance point" and "pause at the top." What struck me in these pgs. was an example of ---allegedly --- being ..."out of balance."

An ex., in other words of some type of inefficient postural/loading dynamics. The ex. he cited was Ron Guidry. Now, for the uninitiated Guidry was maybe 5'11" and 160 lbs. And he topped out at....98MHP!!

I certainly remember my first reaction to this assertion: "Well, if this is an ex. of inefficiency then I want to be as inefficient as this son of a bitch!!"

I spent a little time to try to get a side view of Guidry. But I could not find a clip. But here is a you tube of Guidry's 18k performance:

And at about 1:39/1:40 you CAN see a side view [I always say to use the settings to slow this to .25.

House used a similar stop action photo to assert that Guidry was "leaning back" too much ---thus "out of balance" ---thus inefficient.

If one plays around with this clip and stops it at various points from leg lift to hand break, AND if one has a good understanding of Jim Dixon's "Exceptional Player" bk. one can readily see/understand that these movements are certainly NOT inefficient!!

Most certainly Guidry is NOT "leaning back" ---rather the center mass is "falling" [controlled fall] "against" a VERY stable back leg. This results in a slight tilt of the trunk as he lifts the leg and starts to move forward with the hips.

THIS kind of loading of the hips/trunk against the very stable back leg IS ...DAMN GOOD loading/movement. And serves to facilitate the sequencing and loading of the back scapula [retraction] AS the hips start to unload [rotate] into foot plant.

Simply put---and I am NOT trying to be "mean" to Tom House---he simply could not see this. How was I able to see what I thought at the time was obvious---but he did not?

Well, simply put, I had [up to that point] spent a tremendous amount of time exercising and working with athletes [non-baseball at that point].

AND THAT experience combined with the info from Setpro that I was destined to run across as I started to search for info and think about teaching hitters/pitchers [around 2000].

I really think that it was this combination that allowed me to see what House could not see at that time.

I should add here that some yrs. later, Tom House issued publicly a mea culpa of sorts in that he admitted that many of the things he HAD taught he NOW realized were wrong.

THE correct corollary would have been to simultaneously issue at least a partial refund to all those who had spent time and money on said incorrect info.

But of course like politicians whose idiotic policies essentially NEVER result in these individuals having to fully account for their ignominious actions, he did no such thing.

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