Posted by: Pro_Hitter (andygreen29@hotmail.com) on Wed Nov 5 19:56:34 2003

Just wanted to speak to the issue of Gonzo's back elbow starting to slot before his front heal drop occurs. He is one of very few elite hitters that I have noticed this happening in on a consistent basis. Everyone does it from time to time, but he is fairly consistent with it. The reason I believe is that he is really the only elite hitter I can think of who has a flat bat at launch. He maintains a good "L" in his wrist but the bat is not upright. It is fairly flat. I think this causes him to lose a little in his transfer thru launch (what do I know though, the guy is an absolute stud). Nick son's bat isn't exactly flat, but he doesn't maintain a real strong wrist cock and scap load thru load/launch. I think this forces him and Gonzo to begin slotting the elbow a little earlier than everyone else. However, Gonzo makes up for this by having some serious shoulder drive thru contact (and even after contact) and never letting his wrists roll until after extension has occured and the swing is almost complete. Anyway, just food for thought.

andy

RQL,
> >
> > Here is the clip link: http://webpages.charter.net/nickkio/B/
> >>Nick I felt your son had anear perfect swing on this pitch.2 points you may want to look at is his scap load though I see it ,it is small I think in time he could load a little more and generate even more shoulder rotation[batspeed].The other area is his rear elbow seems to be coming down before heel drop.Most M.L. hitters I see have these tied together,however if you have shots of luis gonzalez the ones I do show elbow drop prior to heel drop.I am not sure if this is his norm or if he was anticipating middle in on a fast pitcher and started the slot early.Very nice overall and I think 300 at 13 is great batspeed keep up the good work and be proud.rql