The Eye in Swing

I have been reading a interesting book called Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers.  The basis of the book is that muscles work together in organized groupings connected by myofascia and not as individual units with specific origins and insertions.  This philosophy allows one to gain an understanding of how full body movements are interlinked and how pain in one specific area (ie. the elbow) can be caused by a silent problem distally or proximally along the specific myofascial line (ie. shoulder or wrist).  At the same time, I have been performing the R-phase Z health exercises and have begun to notice that the myofascial lines and philosophy of Thomas Myers are very complimentary to Z health.  When using Z health for rehab purposes, one is instructed to focus on the joint causing pain as well as the joints above and below.  Does this sound familiar?

Dr. Eric Cobb (founder of Z-health) published an interesting article on the DragonDoor site a while back describing how eye position alone can help improve your swing via neural reflexes.  His basic premise is that the extraocular muscles have a high number of nerve endings and that specific eye positions can trigger full body muscular responses.  In short, the eyes up position (with a neutral neck) stimulates back extension and the eyes down position stimulates back flexion.

This very same "reflex" is discussed in Myers book.  In particular he is describing the myofascial line called the Superficial Back Line (SBL) which is responsible for extension of the back.  Each myofascial line is composed of a series of muscles that are connected by myofascia and therefore cause the muscles to work together in order to complete their function.  The SBL is composed of the plantar fascia, gastrocnemius, hamstrings, sacrotuberous ligament, sacrolumbar fascia, erector spinae, scalp fascia, and ends at the ridge of the frontal brow (just above the eyes).  Myers demonstrates how contractions of the extraocular muscles with specific eye movements are transmitted to the suboccipital muscles at the base of the skull.  "put your hands up on either side of your head with your thumbs just under your skull in back.  Work your thumbs gently in  past the superficial muscles so that you can feel the really deep ones under the occipital ridge.  Close your eyes and look up and down (without moving your head) and you will feel little muscles moving at the base of your neck."

Now whether you believe this connection between eye movements and back flexion/extension is a neural reflex as proposed by Dr. Cobb or due to a myofascial connection as described by Thomas Myers is not important.  The take home message is that an upward gaze can help strengthen your swing.  

Try this eye position experiment with the kettlebell swing as described by Dr. Cobb in his above mentioned article:

1. Begin in a normal swing position

2. While maintaining a neutral neck position, move your eyes only up to focus midway on the wall in front of you and initiate the swing.

3. As the bell comes up and you hip snap, allow the eyes to maintain their focus on the midpoint of the wall in a neutral head position.

4. As the bell starts down, maintain your neutral neck position, while keeping the eyes fixed on the same spot.  As the bell drops further, this will naturally move you into an eyes "up" position at the bottom of the swing.  This helps facilitate the extensor braking action and initiate the hip snap.

I feel that the upward eye position has made a significant improvement in my swing.  Give it a try.