This week’s question is: Should I rotate the hips and pivot the feet when I’m performing a mill? Like most things with training, it just depends on what your goals are and what you’re trying to achieve from that exercise and from your workout. There is no right or wrong, but the important thing is to know why you’re doing something then you can determine which way of doing the exercise is going to be best for you.
When you see people perform the mill, sometimes you’ll see people rotate the hips and squish the bug on that back foot as they cast that club out towards the side. Other people, though, will transfer the weight in the opposite direction. Again, there’s no right or wrong, just depends on what your goals are.
The first way of rotating and pivoting the feet is good if you need that rotational strength. If you’re a combat athlete, good for striking, or if you’re playing a racket sport or any type of golf or bat sport where you need that rotational core strength to be synced in with the lower body, really generating that force from the ground into the core, that could be beneficial to you. If you want to swing the club really heavy, transferring the weight in the opposite direction from side to side might be the best option for you.
What I find is if I’m rotating the hips and pivoting the back foot as I cast that weight to the side, I find that I get pulled off balance because I can’t charge my weight in the opposite direction as I’m pivoting the feet, because I’m standing quite tall. Usually, the only time I would rotate the hips and pivot the feet is if I’m coming back from behind the body. If I’m swinging a really heavy weight, I like to shift the weight in the opposite direction with my feet facing forward and my hips square. That way, if I’ve got a really heavy weight out to my left, I can charge my weight to the right, and I own that center line, and I don’t get pulled off balance.
If I’ve got a really heavy weight out to the side, it’s difficult to pivot that back foot and charge the weight in the opposite direction. Generally, you’re standing quite tall, you’re squishing a bug, you’re screwing the ball of the feet down into the ground as you’re rotating the hips, but you are quite tall. And if you’re swinging a really heavy club, I find it more challenging to control and own that midline.
There is a little bit of a trade-off. If you’re swinging lighter clubs, yes, pivot the feet, rotate the hips, you’re going to be fine. But if you’re getting into those really heavy weights, getting up into those 45, 50, 55 pounds, which is sort of 20 to 30 kilos, it’s going to be really challenging. If you want to enhance athletic performance and generate that force from the ground upwards, you might want to put some pivots in with your feet. If you want to go really heavy, I prefer to shift my weight in that opposite direction. I just feel more grounded. My feet are flat on the ground, I can really root into the floor, and I just feel more connected to the ground, and I feel I’ve got more control over that center line.
I’ll just show you the difference. The first one is where we’re going to pivot the feet. As I cast the Dangerously Fit Steel Indian Clubbell out to the side, I pivot that back foot as that club’s coming around, and I’m really squishing a bug into the floor, screwing the ball of the feet into the ground, that gets me connected. Then, we’re going to pivot that back foot and then bring it back square again, and pivot.
When I cast that club out to the side, rather than pivoting that back foot and moving that hip around, I’m just going to shift my weight into the opposite direction. If the club’s to my left, I shift my weight to the right. This is the 20-kilo club, which is, I think, about 45-46 pounds. Starting off in that order position, if I want to perform the mill, I’m really going to have to shift my weight onto that right so I don’t get pulled off balance when I cast that club out to the side. You can see the amount of movement my body makes to control the Dangerously Fit Indian Clubs as it’s swinging across the front of the body. That’s going to be really difficult for me to do while I’m pivoting. I’m just going to get pulled off balance.
There is a trade-off. There is no right or wrong. That’s it for today’s video. If you have any questions, be sure to comment below. Thanks again for watching, be sure to check out our Dangerously Fit Steel Mace Gada. I hope you enjoyed, and I’ll see you in the next one.
