Art De Vany: Sharp Angles

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Sharp Angles

September 14, 2005 08:48 AM

Ever notice how ARod or Pujols look at bat? Or Manny Ramirez? They form sharp angles; their geometry is obvious and tight. The contrast with a lesser hitter is quite obvious; my little grandson looks something like a noodle when he is hitting. He is getting it with the hitting lessons he is being taught at the Sports Academy here in southern Utah. But, he is all soft bends, not sharp angles.

The same point holds for Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods, and to a slightly lesser extent to Ernie Els. Vijay, for all his purity in ball striking does not have the sharp angles of, say, a Hogan.

ARod and A. Pujols have a tight spine, with ample lordosis, and balanced leg and arm angles. Even the great Duke Snider looks kind of soft by comparison.

These great ball strikers have a tightness in the joints and trunk that create leverage on the arms and shoulders. They rotate in a small radius, like a skater who spins faster when she folds her arms to her body. They hold their tight radius, and therefore the geometry of the swing, because they have very stiff trunks. So, the spine stays in a tight radius unlike a bent spine that rotates and wobbles over a much wider area. Look also at the leg angle from the extension of the front leg at impact and the contraction of the back leg, with a sharp angle between the upper and lower leg, all pivoting off a strongly extended foot far up on the toe and driving the pelvis around to finish the swing.

They have tight joints too; they have to in order to hold the sharp angles that they exhibit and that contribute to the geometry of their swings.

As people age, they lose their angularity; they look soft, rounded, and their spine is curved. They don't fully extend their limbs, so they look bent rather than like connected levers. Our movements are almost entirely moving levers under, around and against a rigid core. The spine is just a stack of washers with guy wires holding it up. They have to be rigid too. Or the stack collapses.

So, I think too much is made of being loose and of stretching. Many people loosen their joints rather than their muscles when they stretch. Loose joints and spines are easily injured. And they do not hold or move through good angles. The muscles have to be compliant, but not the joints.

I don't do much stretching. I prefer to exercise the agonist and antagonist muscles in sequence so that I get a relaxation response from the reciprocal inhibition. This occurs when the muscle antagonistic or opposite the one being worked is inhibited by the action of the agonist. This is a feature of our neural systems and I try to exploit it in a natural way when I work opposing muscle groups, one after another.

This morning, for example,

I did incline db presses, 5 reps, and then did 5 reps of db rows. I did a cycle of three, increasing the weight each time, but doing just 5 reps each set. The rows inhibit the chest and vice versa, so you can work out hard this way and keep your muscles loose and less likely to become stiff. I find this to be particularly true of early morning workouts.

I think it is important to have stiff joints, that is to have the ability to hold a joint angle strongly through a movement, say, a trunk rotation. This prevents injury and maintains good geometry for a pure movement like a ball strike or punch. Or tennis serve. You have to be able to rapidly accelerate a lever about a joint too, and be able to stop it just before full extension. At this point, the joint is rigid. This maximizes power output and prevents the hard joint shock of a full extension. A soft joint does not deliver power.

Both Tiger and Ernie have to strengthen their vastus, hams, and gastrocs to prevent the knee injuries they both have had from snapping their lead leg into full extension. They need stiffer knee joints to hold a shallow angle at almost full leg extension. Stiffer, not looser.

So, be careful how you stretch; the muscle will lengthen, but too much and you lose joint integrity. It is more important to keep the muscle elastic and strong than loose. It turns out that a lot of people work out in ways that loosen their joints and increase the compliance of their trunks and these are pathways to injury and a sagging body over time. Maintain sharp joint angles. Be stiff. Hold your geometry. Make sure you hold the correct geometry for best function. I will have more to say in the book.

· Sports

Comments

Posted by: Flower Online at September 12, 2006 3:39 AM

That is a great point !
I do have problems with my backbone as I trained martial arts for a long time and I often heard that I have to be more flexible. So I came to a point where I could strike/punch/kick with full power and 'nothing' could stop my body from rotating even more as my muscles and joints as well became so loose that my backbone joints stopped me not muscles. So I do have a problem with my backbone now, I sometimes feel exactly as you described above, as puppet without strings.
I wonder how I become more rigid again ? Stupid questions for some, important for me. I tried to become loose all my life and now as I get older I need to be more rigid... What an irony.
Deadlifts helped me a lot, however it could be better.
I found hard to stretch only 'a little' and naturally when I hear that I need to be more loose to sprint better, to squat better etc. With all that training for power do I actually need to stretch at all ?
Also I thought that joints get its 'food' (flexibility, liquids etc.) from moves, so stretching/pre-workout is not necessary ('functional' movements are enough ) ? I'm obviously little confused :o) What about yoga ? Do you like the idea or not ?
Yes, I could not imagine neanderthal stretching before/after hunt, but hey I do sit a loong time each and every day.
Thanks for any answer and of course for all your work you do for us Dr. Art.
Petr R.

Posted by: pruzicka at September 16, 2005 12:01 PM

Great points on stretching and the importance of a rigid and strong core. Pavel Tsatsouline has written lots on this subject. He states simply that one should stretch to the point that is required for ones sport, excess stretching is not advantageous and may actually be dangerous. He also stresses that a tight core while lifting will actually increase the weight one can lift, in other words good form will prevent injuries and make you stronger. Great post, thanks Dr. Art.
CJ

Posted by: cj at September 15, 2005 7:03 AM

Sharp Angles

September 14, 2005 08:48 AM

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