Posted by: Bob gibbs (rvgjeg@verizon.net) on Mon Mar 3 21:35:13 2008

Hi coaches

How would you have your hands palm up palm down at contact unless
your hands are flat?This one of mike Epstein's absolutes.He also
advocates staying inside the ball as an absolute.I have studied
Joe Mauer's swing.I find after he strides his back elbow slots
the bat at that point is lined up with his back hand and forearm
as he starts his upper body rotation his hands flatten.His contact
is on an inside pitch.His hands are above the ball at contact,his
arms then extend to form the power v.I believe we are probably on
the same page.Some times it is hard to explain our views without a
bat to visualy demonstrate what we mean.By pulling that back elbow in
is the startof the top hand torque.When you watch little girls start their swing in softball you will see them stride,the next thing you
see will be that back elbow slot.And some of them have never had a
hitting lesson.The straight hand path hitters back elbow will stay
close to the body but will not drop to their side before rotation.
I know guys who teach both with success.Most of my experence was at the high school level as a coach.I had to find a way to get each
player to be productive,through hours of repetition.We had alot of
400 hitters in my 35 years of coaching.I give credit to the players
and their hard work.If we are all such great coaches,why aren't all
of these players hitting 500?If you have played at a higher level you
know the answer to that.
respectfully
Bob