Just wondering, how come you dislike crunches?I remembered you saying something like crunches train the abs for the opposite movement(push instead of for pulling)
Primary function of the recus abdominus is eccentric deceleration of the trunk into extension (thus preventing movement - not creating movement) - you should first look at the "core" as preventing movement, over trying to create movement.
There is so much bullsh**t out there that I can understand why people are confused about core training. Sometimes it makes me laugh to here some of the crap people are teaching.
Look at many of the popular rotation movement patterns that they use to train the "core" - most of the movement is generated from the lumbar spine - yet the lumber spine only has 13 degrees of rotation - rotation movement should be generated from the thoracic spine not the lumbar spine.