Posted by: HWC (Caveman7@Prodigy.net) on Tue Sep 19 15:36:53 2000

Jack, in my opinion there is a circulair path to all swings to some extent. Some may look egg shaped to some degree however. I like to separate the hands when trying to show or explain what it is the hands do and that the hands start the swing a fraction of a second before the hips or shoulders get involved. We took a wooden bat and sawed off the handle about 11" from the knob. Next we measured 5.5" and cut it again and glued velcro pieces in place so it would help hold the pieces together. The bottom hand is the lead hand,the top hand is the backhand. We place a tee over the center of homeplate and raise the tee to waist high. The lead foot is at the corner of the plate at the 45 degree angle. We have the pitcher do the inward turn,60-40 weight shift,extend the hands rearward but not to the point where the lead elbow would raise up or away from the body. With the hands at the top of the shoulder and not past the backfoot, we are at the launch position/trigger call it what you want. I then have them move only the lead hand pulling the velcro apart and see where the path of the hand goes relative to the inside of the ball. You will see in most cases the hand or knob of the bat go directly to the ball, not inside of it or the front shoulder opens quickly moving away from the ball. Next we get back to the same position again keeping the lead hand on the chest and out of the way. Again, we ask them to move the back hand, now it gets funnier, they sometimes push the bat away from the body, start the front shoulder opening, or drop the hand then pull the shoulder open and some forget to even rotate the hips. I then have them keep both hands together and try it again. In most cases the hands cast away from the body. We then go over encouraging them to start their hands first, rotate the hips and shoulders, keeping their eyes on the ball. If done correctly the hands are inside the ball,lead hand with the palm down and arm almost straight and the back hand with the palm up and the arm bent in the L-shape. The belly button is pointing at the pitcher and the shoulders are parallel to the front edge of the plate, head is down eyes focused on the middle of the ball and the lead foot is even not beyond the front edge of home plate at about 45 degrees. Next I take a wooden bat with an eyebolt in the knob and an elastic cord attached and and have them get ready to swing. I kneel out in front of them(and remind them not to hit the ball again)and with them in the launch position put tension on the cord. I ask them to allow the hands to move first following a direct path inside the ball in a direct path of the cord and then rotate their hips and present the bat to the ball. When they grasp the inside(being the hands) out(being the bat head)swing concept or model, the casting away and dropping the hands is easier to understand. When I watch the pros for me it is very apparent they pull the shoulder out/ release too soon and the head pulls off the ball. If you can't see it, you can't hit it. We have other drills for tracking the ball and explaining how to see the ball with both eyes equally.
Thanks for the comments HWC.