Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sun Jun 12 23:13:07 2011

>>> I see what you are saying. He does hit often and usually to centerfield but not with the power of someone his size. Any suggestions on drills to rectify the issue, especailly to keep his top hand elbow from getting underneat his other arm? <<<

Hi Chris

To keep a batter's bat accelerating in sync with the rotation of his body, both arms must stay connected to that rotation. However, many (if not most) young hitters' mechanics rely too much on their back-side and top-hand to swing the bat and they make little or inefficient use of their lead-side and arm. When most of the load of overcoming the bat's inertia to acceleration falls on the back-arm, it causes the back-elbow to swing past his hands and under his lead-elbow. Once this happens, there is little linkage (disconnect) to the rotating body leaving only the arms to power the bat.

Take a look at the video below. I think the young hitter you see exhibits the problem you describe. The video is also shown on our Products Page with our new training aid, the "Connector."

Staying Connected

Jack Mankin