NOTE: Your body should now be 80% on back foot and only 20% on front foot with knees slightly flexed.

Contact position – Are you up on toes of your back foot, is your front foot slightly open at a 45% angle with FRONT KNEE BRACED AND LOCKED? Are your hands in a palm up and palm down position? Head still and between both legs like a stickman drawing? Are your eyes staring right at point of contact?

Finish – Are you hitting off a firm front side with your front knee locked? Are you still balanced with head between both legs so as not to be lunging forward? Is bat completely wrapped around your back? Is your head still?

Coach JP's Note This is a generic list of checkpoints and should help most players. It is not designed to change any advanced players who now have a set schedule and their own way of doing things. This should supply you with solid information that will keep you in a good, strong hitting position throughout entire swing.

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So right away, Flip Saunders inherits by far superior team, with better core of players. The job for Dumars is to keep team intact. Despite his lack of success in playoffs, Saunders has a reputation as being cool under fire after having T’Wolves GM Kevin McHale breathing down his neck last few seasons. He is also a players coach, which will help in this situation, where he has a squad that gets along on and off court and knows how to take care of business. He will also use young bench players like Darko Milivick and Jason Maxiell. Dumars because increasingly upset with Brown for stunting development of younger guys. Dumars does have an ego, and drafting Milivick over Carmelo Anthony has made him look silly.

Detroit’s players showed during playoffs that they can ignore distractions and win tough series’; they are still favorite to come out of East despite Miami, Cleveland, and New Jersey adding pieces to their puzzles. This team will win 55 games in regular season and be hungry to return to finals.

With Knicks roster issues, this year will be a wash, and they’ll look to unload some big money contracts so they can mold team into their new coach’s image (defense and working for good shots). No doubt New York is a 2006-2007 playoff team, but a NBA Lotto participant this coming season. Unfortunately for Isaiah Thomas, Coach Brown gets antsy after a season or two, so this could turn into another rebuilding project for man who succeeds Brown. Isaiah may not be around either to make that hiring.

By John Onan (Ego74)