Posted by: Jimmy () on Sat Feb 24 12:14:58 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).
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> 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?
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> Or which drill is the best so as not to cast the hands?
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> I don't have a clue. Or is there an ez answer? <<<
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> 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.
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> Jack Mankin



Hi Jerry,

One of the biggest causes of casting the hands out too far from the body is the "Flying front shoulder". The front shoulder will end up pulling off or "flying" for many different reasons.

If your son is rotating inward too far during his load, the front shoulder will have a tendancy to pull out too violently causing the hands to be thrown too far away from the body. This can also happen if your son doesn't load at all. And to add to that the front
shoulder will also "fly" if the hitter is trying to make it fly. Occasionally even the best hitters will unwillingly fly with their front side because of trying to do too much with a pitch or "overswinging". Overswinging is usually the cause for young kids.

No matter what the reason is, the "flying front shoulder" is is a bad habbit that causes many poor results within the swing. (mainly the bad habbit that you are trying to fix).

I would suggest having him do some "one hand" swings with a very small, light bat. (have him use a bat that is around 20-24 inches long and very light as well)

When he swings the bat with his top hand only, he should try to drive the bat to and through the hitting zone while trying his best to keep his front shoulder from rotating outward. The aggressive thought and action of driving and extending his top hand through will make it easier to keep the shoulder from flying. As a result, the "elbow in the slot" position that you have mentioned will happen naturally (As Teacherman has stated in his previous posts).

Have him do this with his bottom hand as well with an emphasis on making contact with the top inside half of the ball.

Of course the front shoulder rotates in the baseball swing, but the hitters that control when and how hard the shoulder rotates are the most successful. (They basically try to resist front shoulder rotation in order to get the result that you are seeking advise about).

These drills will help to develop the sensation of keeping his hands from casting too far outward at the start of the swing. Resultig in the proper hand and elbow slot position for
his swing.

Hope this helps,

Jimmy