| Common Misconceptions |
The High Back Elbow
Somewhere along the line it was believed that holding your back elbow high
is beneficial to the outcome of your swing. I believe this to be a myth. This
is just my opinion. However, I will justify why I feel so strongly about avoiding
this.
Newton’s third law of motion states, “Every action has an equal and opposite
reaction.” This law applies somewhat to baseball as well. When one
shoulder rotates inward the other will travel outward. In case of the “back
elbow” theory, there is an action-reaction that occurs. I’m sure you will all
agree that when we swing the bat, our elbow must come down. We cannot
take anything close to the proper path to the ball while keeping the elbow in
the air. Take a second and find a baseball bat. Okay, got it? Get into a
stance and hold the bat with your back elbow in the air. Now, drop your
back elbow down to your side with reasonable force. What happens to the
barrel? The barrel drops along with the elbow. Where does the front elbow
go? It most likely came up? When the front elbow rises, what happens to
the front shoulder? It rises along with it. Back to Newton’s law, if the front
shoulder rises, what happens to the back shoulder? Do you tell your hitters
not to drop their back shoulder? Well, if you do, you’re fighting an endless
battle if you teach them to hit with their elbow in the air as well.
As a coach, a safe rule of thumb is never to teach a kid to do something if
you can’t justify why. I am by no means saying there are no hitting theories
that would benefit from a high back elbow. I am just saying that it does not
mix well with the hitting concepts that I am discussing.
Somewhere along the line it was believed that holding your back elbow high
is beneficial to the outcome of your swing. I believe this to be a myth. This
is just my opinion. However, I will justify why I feel so strongly about avoiding
this.
Newton’s third law of motion states, “Every action has an equal and opposite
reaction.” This law applies somewhat to baseball as well. When one
shoulder rotates inward the other will travel outward. In case of the “back
elbow” theory, there is an action-reaction that occurs. I’m sure you will all
agree that when we swing the bat, our elbow must come down. We cannot
take anything close to the proper path to the ball while keeping the elbow in
the air. Take a second and find a baseball bat. Okay, got it? Get into a
stance and hold the bat with your back elbow in the air. Now, drop your
back elbow down to your side with reasonable force. What happens to the
barrel? The barrel drops along with the elbow. Where does the front elbow
go? It most likely came up? When the front elbow rises, what happens to
the front shoulder? It rises along with it. Back to Newton’s law, if the front
shoulder rises, what happens to the back shoulder? Do you tell your hitters
not to drop their back shoulder? Well, if you do, you’re fighting an endless
battle if you teach them to hit with their elbow in the air as well.
As a coach, a safe rule of thumb is never to teach a kid to do something if
you can’t justify why. I am by no means saying there are no hitting theories
that would benefit from a high back elbow. I am just saying that it does not
mix well with the hitting concepts that I am discussing.
Striding to the ball
Another misconception is that the hitter should stride toward the baseball.
There are a number of negative factors that come into play when this
occurs. First of all, his eyes move at least a whole foot from where they
started, depending on the length of the stride. How is he supposed to lock
his eyes in if this is occurring?
Secondly, he is taking himself from a strong position and putting himself into
a weak position. Remember, energy is being stored in the rear of the body.
Once this shift occurs, it is gone!!
The next factor goes hand in hand with the last one. If there is a stride
involved, that means there is a push-off coming from the back foot. If this is
happening, there’s not going to be any explosive hip action. There may be a
slight turn of the back hip, but it’s not enough. The reason it is a weak turn is
because the energy has already been transferred to the front side as
mentioned above.
Another misconception is that the hitter should stride toward the baseball.
There are a number of negative factors that come into play when this
occurs. First of all, his eyes move at least a whole foot from where they
started, depending on the length of the stride. How is he supposed to lock
his eyes in if this is occurring?
Secondly, he is taking himself from a strong position and putting himself into
a weak position. Remember, energy is being stored in the rear of the body.
Once this shift occurs, it is gone!!
The next factor goes hand in hand with the last one. If there is a stride
involved, that means there is a push-off coming from the back foot. If this is
happening, there’s not going to be any explosive hip action. There may be a
slight turn of the back hip, but it’s not enough. The reason it is a weak turn is
because the energy has already been transferred to the front side as
mentioned above.
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