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The RMT Club is an amazing training tool for the swinging sports. Today I'm going to be teaching you an Underhanded Figure 8. I'm going to be using the 4 lb. Club. You can use the 2 lb. Club if necessary.
So, first thing I want to say is this is not a specific swing trainer. This is Rotational Movement Training to give you better balance and power throughout your body so that when you do handle your tennis racquet, your baseball bat, your hockey stick, whatever it is you're swinging, you do that better. And we train both sides [Non-Dominant Side Training]. A lot of these sports are so one-sided that we want to work both sides of the body to give you that rotational balance and power that you're going to be able to play your sport better.
Now there's a lot of variety and specificity in these exercises in terms of what we're doing with the wrists, shoulders, the feet, etc. This is very specific to two factors:
The first one is, I'm going to be shifting my weight. When the Club is on 'this' side of my body, my head shifts over 'this' foot [Head Over Foot Technique], and then the same, when the head plugs on 'this' side, the head is over 'this' foot. I want to balance and balance and balance with the head over foot on each side. The other thing is, these Figure 8's, we're going to be cutting the Figure 8 with the pinky. So the pinky is always going to be leading the Figure 8. So we're going to have this pinky, pinky. There's a transition you're going to feel. It's going to be really smooth. Keep the pinky driving ahead forward.
Why we're doing this: It's because it creates a big range of motion through what we call supination and pronation. That's what you're going to need to swing well. And this is really going to create a lot of balance and accuracy and coordination of the hands and the shoulders and the core, down to the feet.
Now if necessary, just do your Figure 8's without the Club so you can pattern that, and then easy, put your hand across your chest like 'this' so you can rotate, and then just really lead it with the pinky. What you're going to notice is with the head over the foot, there's going to be a coiling effect when you come 'here'. The left side is coiling because you've got that supination. As you bring it up, that left side goes long, and the right side coils. You want to get to the point where you don't hear the shifting weight inside of the Club. And then take it to as fast as you want to take it. But make sure it's smooth. And we like to really create a Downward Pulse. It's that downward energy. Then we ride that energy as long and strong as we can throughout the Figure 8.
You're going to want to do both sides for sure. Set it up. If it feels funny on the Non-Dominant Side, it doesn't feel smooth, go back to the dominant side, figure out why it feels good, and then come back to Non-Dominant Side and cut those Figure 8's. Make sure you bend your knees and get range of motion through the shoulders, through that Figure 8.
When you're done with the exercise, see how it feels. You're going to feel much more open. You're going to feel much longer and stronger. So, fantastic way to warm up for the sport, and it's also a fantastic exercise to put into your training program for your workouts. It's going to pay huge dividends for your performance and injury prevention.
That's our Underhand Figure 8 with the RMT Club, slicing the Figure 8's with the pinky, Head Over Foot.
