Posted by: Mark (mjury@amgen.com) on Wed Dec 2 08:56:23 2009

> I want to make sure I understand the idea of back arm bend/L idea correctly -- this research has found that the back elbow stays in an L at contact if the pitch is straightaway, but that on an inside pitch, there might be more arm extension? It seems like you could generate more force by extending based on the principle of having a longer "arm," but watching the slo-mo videos definitely shows hitters keeping their elbows in. Interesting!

I think you may have misread something. The back elbow will remain closer to the side on inside and middle pitches, but will likey extend away from the body on outside pitches. There will eventually be extension, and the back elbow will move away from the side as the bat rotates past contact, and the batter follows through with his/her swing... but as Jack has stated in several previous posts, the ball is gone by then.

Respectfully,

Mark