Posted by: Dave A (oxagin@hotmail.com) on Sat Nov 29 19:41:05 2003

Jack and everyone: as always, I want to extend my appreciation for this great site. I won't bother repeating my previous testimonies to the great sucess that my son and his teammates have had over the last few weeks. Sufice it to say we are indeed quite grateful.
> I do, however, have a question.From my original reading of the materials at this site I got the impression that raising the back elbow and not lowering it until the front foot landed is a good idea. In fact, at least for my son it seemed to assist him in getting the hands started in a circular hand path. Some of the kids on the team said the same thing as well.
> The problem is, while the coach is amazed at this new way of hitting (rotational mechanics)and is pleased with the results, he is adament about insisting that the kids not raise their back elbow. I guess that was how he was taught.
> Since, to a certain extent the kids can not simply disobey the coaches's interference, my question is this: exactly how critical to you believe the high elbow is? Is it really a critical factor in assisting the circular hand path? The high elbow is one of those few things in a swing that a coach can actually see in the swing that happens so quickly, and when he sees it he pounces on it like a vulture.
> Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I saw a clip of Chipper Jones on the youthbaseball website, and in it he has his back elbow high when he iniates the swing. So I really think it is what is most comfortable. If your son along with his teammates can feel more comfortable lowering the back elbow, you should talk to the coach about this.