Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Sep 5 13:14:03 2005

>>> Jack, I know you advise hitters to keep "their hands at the back shoulder" at initiation. Most hitters do this, but there is one glaring exception: Ken Griffey Jr.

http://putphoto.com/d/165940-1/Griffey01.gif

Maybe this is just style, Jack? Griffey has been doing this since his days in Seattle. Does it really matter where the hands start, whether at the shoulder or beyond? What are the pros and cons of each? <<<

Hi Yesisbest

When I say a batter should keep "their hands at the back shoulder", I am not saying the hands should actually be touching the shoulder. The hands should remain back as close to the shoulder during initiation as the lead-arm will allow. Obviously, a batter who has the arm nearly straight (like Griffey) will not have the hands as close as a batter whose arm bends back toward the shoulder (like Bonds or Sosa).

Since I am older and fairly bulky in the chest, my elbow needs to bend to get my hands within 3 or 4 inches (about a thumb length) from the shoulder as I start to rotate. However, most of my young students can touch their extended thumb to the shoulder with a nearly “barred” lead-arm (like Griffey’s).

Yesisbest, I agree, in the photo you provided of Griffey in his stance, his hands are a good distance beyond his shoulder. You could say that the nearly straight lead-arm Griffey exhibits is his “style.” It is certainly not an “absolute.” Many equally good hitters have varying amounts of flex in the arm.

But let us take a look at a Griffey clip ( http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/griffey_ken.mpeg ) and see how far his hands are from the shoulder as he begins to rotate. What I would like to point out in this clip is that even with a nearly barred arm, rotation still brings the hands within 5 to 7 inches of his shoulder during initiation.

Granted, that is a greater distance than the 3 or 4 inches I have my students attain with the “Thumb to the shoulder drill.” The important aspect of touching the thumb to the shoulder during initiation is that it keeps the hands back and allows rotation to fling the lead-arm and hands into a path that maximizes generating bat speed from the pendulum effect.

Most hitters have the tendency to drive the back-side (including the hands) forward .I have found keeping the thumb to the shoulder to be an excellent drill to help back-side-dominate hitters attain more efficient use of the lead-side during the swing.

Jack Mankin