Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: THE HITTING GURU () on Thu Jul 31 18:52:52 2003

I saw where Epstein said barring lead arm is bad but Jack I thought you said it is good. What do you say?
> >
> > Hi Sid
> >
> > I have no problem with the lead-arm being straight in the launch position or during the swing. I prefer not to use the term “barred” because it infers a rigid and tense arm and on inside pitches it may be necessary for the lead-elbow to flex in order to generate a tighter hand-path. Therefore, I have no problem with the principle of “barring the arm” only with the connotations surrounding the term.
> >
> > I will give everyone the benefits I find with having a straighter (“barred” - if you prefer the term) lead-arm. But first, I think it would lead to a good discussion if we heard from those that feel having the lead-arm barred is wrong. So those that think a straight or barred arm is bad, please give the reasons you feel barring the lead-arm has a negative effect on the swing. Or, if you can quote Epstein’s objections to it, I would like to hear them also.
> >
> > Jack Mankin
>
> Jack. It seems that the elongation of the arm at toe touch must change the arc of the swing. The distance from the hands "barred" vs"not barred" in relationship to the stationary axis must cause some profound differences in the swing. My son seems slower to the ball if he barrs . It also seems to be harder for him to stay connected to the rotating midsection. I too want to hear the truth.

I Believe that barring out is ineffective for hitters that are close to the plate on pitches up in the strikezone. The reason is that there is not enough space to allow them to keep the ball fair while swinging accross the plate. For other hitters (Edgar Martinez) who are away from the plate this principle works well for added extension. In the case of a hitter like Frank Thomas (or others who suffer from occasional 'back foot lockout' where they fail to rotate off their back leg, the barred out technique allows them to clear the hitting area. Without doing so, it would be impossible for them to hit an up and in pitch.

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> I saw where Epstein said barring lead arm is bad but Jack I thought you said it is good. What do you say? 
> > > 
> > > Hi Sid
> > > 
> > > I have no problem with the lead-arm being straight in the launch position or during the swing. I prefer not to use the term “barred” because it infers a rigid and tense arm and on inside pitches it may be necessary for the lead-elbow to flex in order to generate a tighter hand-path. Therefore, I have no problem with the principle of “barring the arm” only with the connotations surrounding the term.
> > > 
> > > I will give everyone the benefits I find with having a straighter (“barred” - if you prefer the term) lead-arm. But first, I think it would lead to a good discussion if we heard from those that feel having the lead-arm barred is wrong. So those that think a straight or barred arm is bad, please give the reasons you feel barring the lead-arm has a negative effect on the swing. Or, if you can quote Epstein’s objections to it, I would like to hear them also.
> > > 
> > > Jack Mankin
> > 
> >  Jack. It seems that the elongation of the arm at toe touch must change the arc of the swing. The distance from the hands "barred" vs"not barred" in relationship to the stationary axis must cause some profound differences in the swing. My son seems slower to the ball if he barrs . It also seems to be harder for him to stay connected to the rotating midsection. I too want to hear the truth.  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I Believe that barring out is ineffective for hitters that are close to the plate on pitches up in the strikezone.  The reason is that there is not enough space to allow them to keep the ball fair while swinging accross the plate.  For other hitters (Edgar Martinez) who are away from the plate this principle works well for added extension.  In the case of a hitter like Frank Thomas (or others who suffer from occasional 'back foot lockout' where they fail to rotate off their back leg, the barred out technique allows them to clear the hitting area.  Without doing so, it would be impossible for them to hit an up and in pitch.

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