Posted by: John D (John@Dresslar.com) on Wed Oct 19 15:32:44 2005

Dave A:

Thanks a lot. Since I didn't want to spend $160.00 on the whole package of Epstein's products, I couldn't be sure exactly what he was teaching from his web site, as his forums are nowhere as complete as BatSpeed's. From your description, I tend to agree that Epstein is indeed pretty close to what Jack teaches with regard to that lead arm; it's good to know that neither of them are too dogmatic or absolute about what that arm should be doing, so long as it isn't giving way.

In any event, I think Jack answered my question well in a recent post that I just dug up, where he says:

** "You state, “I think Griffey is more on an exception than a
** rule because he seems to bar his lead arm on most swings.
** Bonds is a better example of hand path because it is rare for
** him to chase a ball out of the zone” – Although some hitters
** (like Bonds) do maintain a greater degree of bend in the lead
** elbow, I found most of the better hitters have a straighter
** lead-arm that closer resembles Griffey Jr. and therefore
** do not find his straighter lead-arm to be an exception.

** Regardless of the amount of bend in the elbow a hitter has
** at initiation, the important point to note is that the best
** hitters generate greater bat speed from the pendulum effect
** of a circular hand-path by maintaining that angle during
** rotation. Obviously, if the batter is jammed or reaching for
** and an outside pitch, the bend in the elbow must adjust."

> Hi Jack,
> As you may remember I posted on here a while back about not being able to slot my back elbow. Since then I have purchased Epstein's training video's (I have also had yours for close to 2 years now) and it's something he really focuses on in the drills which personally helped me. However, I firmly believe the swing that you two are trying to teach are very similar if not exactly the same. It seems after reading a lot on here that you both just have slight differences in nomenclature and different ways to acheive the same result. Either way, the hitter should do research and go with whatever they believe will work for them. There is a distinct difference in the drills like I said before so your drills might work for some while his will work for others.
> If I recall correctly, I read a post on his forum regarding THT and he never denounces it or says it doesnt exist, he just says he doesn't teach towards it and if it is a batting mechanic that the great hitters perform then it should happen naturally after the drills are mastered.
> Regarding the lead arm, I feel that he steers away from completely straightening it because its easier for him to teach to slot the elbow that way and its easier for his students to learn it that way. However when performing the drills he does not teach to flex the lead arm more than where you started in the launch position. Overall, both your methods to teaching are effective.
> Just my 2 cents on the subject.