Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sat Feb 24 10:41:57 2007

>>> I heard the general terms of keep your hands to the inside of the ball and do the fence drill to improve. Well after reading knowledgeable forums I hear all kinds of differing opinions. Some say the fence drill will cause other swing faults and Keeping you hands to the inside of the ball is not easily understood.(especially on the out side pitches).


So again this is not a trick question that I have the answer to but what drill is the best to keep the rear elbow in the slot if that is what stop the hands to cast?

Or which drill is the best so as not to cast the hands?

I don't have a clue. Or is there an ez answer? <<<

Hi Jerry

The term “Casting” has very different meanings depending on whether the coach teaches “linear” or “rotational” principles.

To a rotational coach, “casting” would mean the batter is using the muscles of the lead-arm to pull the bottom-hand away from the back-shoulder during the initiation of the swing. It is sometimes referred to as the “separation” of the lead-arm. Rotational coaches want the batter to keep the bottom-hand back at the shoulder and allow the rotation of the shoulders to swing the hands into a circular path. – Jerry, this is what “keeps the rear elbow in the slot.”

The key to generating a circular-hand-path (CHP) is for the lead-elbow to remain at a fixed angle from initiation of rotation to contact. Some referred to this as “Maintaining the Box” (or Triangle, if the arm is more “barred”)

The “linear” coach wants the batter to take his hands in a more direct, or linear, path to the ball. To him, if the batter’s hands take a circular path, he is “Casting.” To prevent this, he wants the batter to start with a more “boxed” lead-elbow and then extend the hands to contact by un-flexing the elbow – similar to throwing a Frisbee with the lead-arm. Some refer to this as “Keeping the Hands Inside the Ball.” And, as you pointed out Jerry, they use drills, like the Fence Drill, to reinforce these mechanics.

That is the basis of the discussion Jimmy and I are presently having. It appears to me from his last post (Griffey analysis), that he finds taking the hands in a circular-path (casting) is acceptable to the point of contact. However, he believes that the batter should then extend this hands (un-flex the lead-elbow) through contact to promote a more linear path of the bat to insure better and more consistent contact. To him, maintaining a CHP through contact is “to rotational” – We will soon continue from there.

Jack Mankin