Posted by: () on Mon Jun 24 13:48:58 2002

i am a softball coach and i have just installed a new swing to my high school team. i have told my team to raise their back elebow, to keep their hands above/at their shoulder. i organilly was a baseball coach some years ago (4) and it was common knowledge that the back elebow is down-no questions asked. i want a level to slightly bellow level-because of the flight of the ball in softball and the physics of it. Am i going about it in the right way or should my softball team's back elebows should be down???
> > > Back elbow is always down.
> >
> > Not if you watch many of the best hitters in the world. On what do you base your assertion?
> >
> > Mark H.
>
> For rotational mechanics it is desirable for the back elbow to be on the way down or "in the slot" at launch,however it is difficult to apply "top hand torque" well at launck with a static low back elbow.Dave Hudgens preaches the elbow down on his site and many baseball coaches teach this,but it is the exceptio rather than the rule in actual video review of successful major leaguers.The most studied swing with elbow down is probably Big Mac.I think he does(?di) this via great strength and highly developed mechanics which are difficult to make work for most.I think you need more overall rhythmic pre-swing activity to get a good launch which includes the back elbow coming up and back down before launch.
>
> The high back elbow is often a problem with linear swings,especially in fastpitch,because it encourages collapsing the backside/looping and uppercutting the swing if you use it in an arm swing with hip sway.If you want to keep the bathead up with linear mechanics,I would keep the hands high and the elbows down and start the swing in one-piece with body/shoulder turn bringing the knob around to point to the contact spot before letting the "L" out of the elbows.The shoulders stay level and the legs/lower body/weight shift adjust for location.
>
> I wouldn't teach this unless you have given up on them being rotational
-------------------------------------
there is one more reason why i want them to start with their back elebow up. 10/15 girls on both jv. and var. have had a really bad coach teaching them a terrible swing were their hands start at their hip. maybe i'm just over exagerating their hand placement.
tom- i have a quick question for you. i understand and know what you are talking about in terms of the "L" but with the elebow either up or down doesn't it happen anyways?