Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Jan 20 17:08:49 2004

>>> I have used the fence drill at times with kids but I find that I need to put bat head against fence then make a fist and put thumb against chest and little finger against knob,this is the position of my chest when I have my lean in and then set my feet from there.I can then take a rotational swing without hitting the fence <<<

Hi rql

The original purpose of the fence drill was to keep the batter from casting the hands out into a wide arc. Most batters were also instructed to “keep their shoulder in there” as they fired the hands, and knob, across their body at the ball. Without shoulder rotation, keeping the lead-arm fairly straight would cause the lead-arm to cast away from the body. Having the batter stand close to a fence forced the batter to flex the lead-elbow to keep the hands in tight as he extended the arms.

In other words, to miss the fence, the batter should first drive the elbow at the pitcher then extend the hands at the ball. This worked fine in stopping casting but it also produced a straighter hand-path and limited bat speed. --- With good rotational mechanics a batter can keep the lead-arm fairly straight (or even barred) without it casting out away from the rotating body. In fact, if he keeps the arm across the chest and rotates, a very tight hand-path would occur.

For a batter to generate the most productive circular hand-path, the first movement of the hands (top of the circle) must be directed perpendicular to the path of the incoming ball – or at the fence – not parallel with it. However, a productive hand-path would cause the bat-head to arc around and strike the fence – unless the batter moves away as you described.

Unless the batter moves far enough away and is instructed to make the first movement of the hands at the fence, the fence drill is counterproductive to rotational principles.

Note: The first movement of the hand-path is accelerated by keeping the hands at the back-shoulder and allow them to be propelled into a circular path by the rotation of the shoulders.

Jack Mankin