Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Dec 6 17:17:37 2007

>>> I have always believed in the "keep your front arm flexed" teach and am not convinced that this is should not be true. I just took some dry swings and do again reach the conclusion that swinging with an extended arm feels much longer and inefficient, especially when trying to hit an inside pitch. <<<

Hi Mike

Having a straighter lead-arm may not work with your mechanics. It does produce a wider hand-path, which places a greater load on rotation. However, many of the game’s best hitters swing with a more barred arm. I doubt they find it “inefficient.” – Keep in mind that for a given angular displacement rate of the lead-arm, the wider the hand-path, the greater the bat speed generated. That is why many of the longest home runs occur on outside pitches.

Jack Mankin