Posted by: Scott B (a.k.a. swb) (batspeed@integritycorp.com) on Thu May 9 17:28:27 2002

I've been thinking about the concept of "casting", because it looks like my daughter is reaching for the ball, extending her arms too far. Obviously, the player needs to be properly positioned in the box, and an outside pitch can make anyone appear to be "reaching" on two strikes.

In linear hitting (LM) mechanics, since the hands move more directly towards the ball, it's pretty easy to spot the problem, and we use the "fence drill" and the "two-tee drill" (inside/outside tee) to reduce the problem. I understand Jack's perspective on the fence drill, i.e. it forces the hands into a linear path, rather than the preferred, torque producing arc. Moreover, with rotational mechanics (RM), I would naturally expect the arms to "cast" more than with LM, since the hands start back further, and are moving in an arc. Then again, players using RM are still supposed to keep their hands "inside the ball".

So, how far is too much, what causes this, and how do we fix it? My guess right now is that her lead arm is too slack, and she's using her lead-arm triceps muscle to accelerate the bat into the impact zone (i.e. as with the LM that she's used for six years, snapping the arm out into the zone). This would force her hands to “cast” outward.

How much a role does the lead-arm triceps play in swing the bat with RM? Seems that if the lead arm is supposed to be extended (i.e. no slack) through most of the swing, and torso rotation pulls it through the zone, that the tricep stretches instead of compresses, and should play little role in accelerating the bat.

Opinions? Feed back?

Thanks to all.. Scott B.