Batting Speed Increased 10 MPH with Somax PHT*
Are Your Hips Strong Enough for Batting?
Since most bat speed comes from the rotation of the hips (and not from the arms) you
want to make sure that your hip rotation muscles are strong.
Fortunately, it easy to do.
Lie on your stomach on the floor, bend your knees 90 degrees, and keeping your knees
together, move your feet apart as far as possible. Now have someone hold your feet
apart as you try to bring them together, as you see in this illustration:
If your hip rotation muscles are strong enough for batting, you will be able to throw them
back across the room as you bring your feet together.
If you have to struggle to bring your feet together, your hips are too weak for batting,
and you will have to try to make up for this lack of strength by overusing your arm and
wrist muscles, which leads to injury, poor bat speed and control problems.
The easiest, fastest way to increase the strength and speed of your hip rotation muscles
is to train with the Somax Power Hip Trainer—the only exercise machine designed to
increase the strength and speed of hip rotation for baseball players 17 and older.
Are Your Hips Flexible Enough for Batting?
Once you have had someone test your hip rotation strength, the next thing you want
to do is to measure your hip flexibility. Even if your hips are strong, it will be difficult to
rotate them fast if they are really stiff.
The first step is to lie on your stomach as before, bend your knees 90 degrees, and
keeping your knees together, move your feet apart as far as possible. Now have
someone get down on the floor with a digital camera and take a photo of your legs, as
you see here
Next print the photo and draw vertical lines through your knees, and lines through the
center of each lower leg. Measure the angles between the lines, as you see above. If
you don't have a minimum of 60 degrees on each leg, your hips are too stiff for batting.
For instance, if your photo looks like this, your hips are way too stiff for batting.
Next, lie on your side and lift your leg straight up as high as you can. Make sure you keep your ankle higher than your toe (don't turn your foot up toward the ceiling). Have someone get down on the floor and take a photo of each leg, print the photos, and measure your abduction angle as you see below. You should have a minimum of 100 degrees for batting, as you see here
If you have less than 135 degrees of abduction on each leg, then your hips are too stiff
for batting and you will increase the stress on your arms and wrists.
If your hips are too stiff for batting, take a look at our Microfiber Reduction program—a special form of connective tissue massage that increases flexibility far beyond what
stretching alone can do.
In the meantime, order our Power Hip Trainer to increase the strength and speed of your hip rotation. You'll notice that you gain more speed without more effort, and, at the same time, improve your control. The Somax Power Hip Trainer is the best training aid for players 17 and older.
Test Yourself BEFORE You Buy
Before you purchase a Power Hip Trainer, it is important to measure your hip flexibility and test your hip strength.
#1 Measure Your Hip Flexibility
Lie on your stomach on the floor. Keeping your knees together, bend your knees 90° so that the soles of your feet point straight up toward the ceiling.
Keeping your knees together, move your feet away from each other. If you have enough flexibility in your hips for baseball, you should be able to move your feet apart a total of 120°. That is 60° on each side.
You need a minimum of 45° on each side to benefit from using the hip trainer. If you don't have 45 degrees, your hips are too stiff to turn fast no matter how much you increase your hip strength. If you have less than 45 degrees on each hip, take a look at our Microfiber Reduction program, which can increase flexibility 100% beyond stretching.
A simple and accurate way to measure is to have someone get down on the floor and take a photo your legs in this position. Then get a print of the photo. As shown above, draw vertical lines through your knees, a line through the center of each lower leg, and measure the angle between the two lines with a protractor (available in any office supply store). Be sure to take the time to measure. Don't try to guess!
If you have an iPad you can get an app called "Tap2Measure" from iTunes that will measure for you at http://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/tap2measure/id551012798
If you are not sure how to measure, send us your photo and we will measure for you.
#2 Test Your Hip Strength
With your feet apart and knees together, have someone hold your feet apart as you try to bring them together (be sure to consult with your physician before doing this test, especially if you may have any knee problems).
The hip muscles that you use to bring your feet together are the gluteals: the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus.
These are the largest muscles in your body (that's why the biggest of them is called 'maximus').
If you're like most baseball players, you will not be able to bring your feet together at all. If you can bring them together, it's only with a lot of effort.
What should you be able to do?
If your hip muscles are strong, you'll be able to bring your feet together so powerfully that you can throw your friend back across the room. That's the power potential of your hip muscles!
Test Results
If you have at least 45° of internal rotation on each hip and your hips test weak—then the Power Hip Trainer is for you and will transform your baseball game as you increase your speed and control.
* Individual results may, of course, vary, but in every case we stand by our 30-day money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied.