Posted by: JJA (jjanagnost@worldnet.att.net) on Mon Nov 10 11:48:19 2003

What exactly does this term mean?

As others have mentioned, this term has different meanings for different coaches. If we think of the ball as a clock looking from above the player, then for a right hand hitter he stays inside the ball if he hits it between 9:00 and 6:00 on the ball (on a middle or outside pitch). The purpose of this teaching term is to avoid barring the lead arm and throwing the hands out in a linear manner so that the contact point on the ball is outside the ball, i.e., between 3:00 and 6:00. This is the dreaded pull of the outside pitch.