Posted by: mikeyd () on Wed Feb 12 18:23:56 2003

>>> Telling your hitters to raise the back elbow compounds a common problem. Whenever the back elbow starts up, it must come down before the ball is hit. The swing then tends to get underneath the ball, which causes the player to pop up or miss the ball altogehter. To form the proper box, the hitter must have the back elbow down with the upper part of the top hand about level with the top of the back shoulder. The hands should be 6 - 10 inches from the body. The elbows should be even.
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> > TRUE or FALSE? <<<
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> > Hi Mikeyd
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> > I was just curious as to why you would think the hands should be 6 –10 inches away from the body. You surely do not believe the hands are supposed to be that far away from the body during the swing. And, you obviously do not understand top-hand-torque during initiation, so why would you set-up the launch position with the hands away?
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> > Jack Mankin
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> This is a great point, thanks Jack, this is an issue that I have been trying to make sense of for some time. The lead elbow in the plane of the swing makes perfect sense, and gives coaches something to look for also. I waited to purchase the video until the new one came out, (still draggin’ my butt), it’s high time I corrected that, I’m ordering today.
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First of all, that information, "the hands should be 6 - 10 inches from the body" comes from Dusty Baker's book page 31. I think Dusty is refering to in "the stance" 6 - 10 inches does not seem unreasonable to me. On your website Jack you use a simulation of Sammy Sosa's swing - I guarantee you, his hands are more than 10 inches away from his body in his stance. Are you advocating that the hands need to be closer than 6 inches away? At what point does that need to occur? If you are more than 6 inches away what is the disadvantage? At launch, does it matter if the pitch is in or out of where your hands are - 6 inches or less? I think when you start mandating things like that - you are cloning hitters and more than one style can and does work. Just cause you find a 12 year old, Jack, that getting their hands closer into their body increases their productivity does not mean it is good for every hitter in the world regardless of body type, strength, arm length, height, etc. Do any of these factors matter to you Jack. Is plate coverage an issue? Big Mac for instance was never closer than 6 inches away from his body at any point - and he stood way off the plate; so does Sosa.

Tom, everybody has read your stretch and hip cock and load sequence a million times - the question/ issue is about whether the elbow should be UP and at what point and why? Does it matter if the pitch is up or down - weathervane? Does the back elbow UP cause an uppercut - Dusty Baker and Dave Hudgens say yes. Does it depend? Everybody talks about a BOX - define the parameters of the box at all your sequence stages of the swing. It is easy to say the back elbow turns out and the front elbow in and forms a box - but that is little or no use to any hitter or country in the world. And surely, I know from watching videos and looking at pictures, Jack, that there is more than one "right" way to swing the bat - and your style is not a cure all and has some definite limitations too.

There are substantive issues to discuss and reasoning to support any theory and when that happens, we all get better. Thanks.