Hand Path

[RayR]

I realize I am using a baseball player as a model, but I don't think it matters. Mauer in the above clips is hitting an inside pitch.

If you watch his hands/knob they are moving in a diagonal direction on a straight line (or slightly above) to the eventual contact point for the barrel and the ball. They are not leaving the rear shoulder initially - it is not a front arm straightening move (meaning the hands fire away from the body).

The barrel will follow the hand/knob path. If the barrel stays above the hands it is so much easier to direct the barrel quickly.

I am putting these videos up because once a player realizes the importance of this hand path - they will see a huge improvement in terms of making solid contact.

Too many players drop the hands and/or the barrel and the rest of the swing is a manipulation trying to swing at the ball. Once they drop their hands - the hand path is across the batters box and the barrel will sweep around.

One prop I use is a long pvc pole. You can grip the pole in the midde so there is about 3 feet below the hands. Set a ball on a tee and practice slowly turning so that the pole knocks the ball off the tee and then continue around so that the upper part of the pole (above the hands) clips the top of the tee as well. You can use a broom as well for this.

If you use Howard's Big Zone practice drill - you will see that the top end of the pole will enter the hitting zone early and stay their because the hand path was established correctly.

 

[RayR]

The problem with front and side views is that you have to deduce the real hand path. Both give 2D views.

But, watch how quickly (front views) the hands/knob get outside the front elbow. So, a good hand path is not linear as some people instruct (front elbow pull as first move). If the hands stay inside the elbow too long it probably means a hand path that is more down and forward (below the plane) then diagonally. It also probably means the hands need to disconnect early from the rear shoulder.

In the side views the hands look like they go down - but they are really going (initially) straight at the ultimate contact point keeping their proximity to the rear shoulder. A wise man just told me that females cannot create as tight of a hand path as males due to their physical attributes (slender shoulders to arm length, etc). But, the goal is still to keep connection of the hands and the rear shoulder initially. Once this first move is established -the hitter can then make adjustments as necessary. Inside or late on the pitch - drag the hands in more and the front elbow will flex. Outside or early on the pitch the hands will extend out more and the front elbow may straighten.

A top view shows it best - unfortunately I could only dig up a baseball player - Michael Young of the Rangers

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

MTS, one of the concepts promoted in Jim Dixon's book (The Exceptional Athlete) was that an objective can be reached in multiple ways, but that it was the difference in one's approach to realizing an objective that differentiated between them becoming a good [average] athlete and an exceptional athlete.

The videos and photos in your above posts do not support having the rear elbow widely displaced from the body as we see in the demonstration of Howard's drill. Embedding a mechanic in which the elbow is widely displaced from the body will degrade one's swing and make plate coverage more difficult.

 

[RayR]

5, I guess I am not as hung up on it as you seem to be. I think the back elbow is a more of non teach. And I defer to Howards experience in working with females. I am more worried about building in muscle memory regarding hand path (not dropping/casting) and barrel action (not dumping).

Do you have any thoughts on the drill I described using the pole?

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

MTS, IMO teaching a hand path with an elbow motion that can't be repeated in a live game swing will not build muscle memory. The hitter will quickly learn that they can't use what they have been practicing and will revert to something else.

Clearly Howard is instructing the elbows in this video .... so he likely considers it a 'teach'.

If you are familiar with the drill, then perhaps you can answer the question about what is being instructed with the elbows and why.

If the rear elbow is a non-teach, then why instruct the elbows to do something that they won't do in a game like situation?

 

[RayR]

I can't speak for Howard and I am not that familiar with the drill except for watching the clip on youtube. I said that I consider the elbow a non teach. I can't believe that any really good hitter out there was ever thinking about their back elbow. If you gain separation (meaning keeping the hands back and up) and know how to create a good hand path for the barrel I really don't think the rear elbow is going to screw things up for you. The elbow becomes a problem when there is no separation and players drop the hands or dump the barrel.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

No problem MTS ... I was hoping that you might know why the rear elbow was being instructed in this way during the demo.

 

[SBFAMILY]

It is front elbow, not back . Bustos uses this same training when she teaches big zone. Back elbow can be too close or too far away and we use the whip hit or a rope to demo that. Hitter -Howard still reads this site often. Some back ground on the device. Coach Larabee noww at University of Arkansas ( was at WSU), wanted a simple device to give kids a visual of the front elbow path. Like any tool it has a purpose to fix a flaw, no one tool fixes everything. I have this along with probably 12 others that we have used over the years. It is the hititng instructor that needs to see the swing then break it down so a young girl can work on one thing at a time to put the puzzle together. It take many dry swings a day if a kid is serious , as Bustos likes to say she hits off a T every day.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

It is front elbow, not back . Bustos uses this same training when she teaches big zone. Back elbow can be too close or too far away and we use the whip hit or a rope to demo that. Hitter -Howard still reads this site often. Some back ground on the device. Coach Larabee noww at University of Arkansas ( was at WSU), wanted a simple device to give kids a visual of the front elbow path. Like any tool it has a purpose to fix a flaw, no one tool fixes everything. I have this along with probably 12 others that we have used over the years. It is the hititng instructor that needs to see the swing then break it down so a young girl can work on one thing at a time to put the puzzle together. It take many dry swings a day if a kid is serious , as Bustos likes to say she hits off a T every day.

SBF ... notice that in the video that Howard instructs "elbows", and not "elbow". You can hear the same instruction in other videos where Howard is instructing. The implication is that the instruction is being provided for both elbows, and not just the front elbow.

It is good that Howard reads these message boards. I believe that he was an instructor that honestly cares to spread helpful information. If his drills are posted here, then you would think that he would want them to be well understood ... ... ... the belief being that drills that are well understood provide positive feedback at a quicker rate.

When you perform this drill with your hitters, do you replicate what is seen with the rear elbow in Casey's demo? Do you have an objective of getting a bat lag position, with the hands out front of the chest, and having the rear forearm vertically stacked? If so, can you explain what advantage there is to that?

 

[SBFAMILY]

I'm not speaking for Howard, even though we are friends , just myself. I use this device when I do the BIG ZONE DEMO. I measure with two clips on caution tape how long the bat stays in the big zone. Next using the hand path device, I have them swing in slow motion or what we call the Mattrix drill. This gives them a visual of how the front elbow moves in the swing and I lets them see how much longer the bat stays in the BIG ZONE. It allows them to see it, measure it ,and then feel what we are trying to teach them. I think some are confusing this with Straightlegs connection device.