Back Elbow drop independent of hands or go together?

Posted that at BBF too but I'm curious what you think too.

I know tewks is a big fan of an independent back elbow, meaning that the back elbow drops, while the hands stay up or even go up more. for that to happen you need some external rotation in the back arm.

However in pros I noticed that to different degrees. pujols is the poster child of the hands going even up as the elbow slots. trout however drops his elbow maybe two inches without the hands moving and then the elbow goes down with the hands. he has much less ER in the back arm. is there an advantage to either pattern? dropping the hands with the back elbow can lead to a pushy swing and less getting "behind" but trout obviously does very well. what do you think?

Funny, I was asking myself this obscure question this weekend as I was reading about ''the fused unit.'' I have no insight on the subject, however. Just interest.

Elbow pivot point or hand pivot point hmmm......
Still pics hmmmm...

dominik,

Two world-class athletes. Trout has the more fluid, sequential movement to contact. Pujols has that little reset with the hands around toe touch, or a bit of a hitch in your example. This may be that split second in-swing adjustment to a pitch realized as higher in the strike zone. Mike's swing is more compact, keeping his upper body mechanics tight to the core. Very sequential. Albert's swing is a bit longer with upper body mechanics that seperate from the core. A bit less sequential. A bit more shoulder muscle through the swing. Both achieve immense core compression and release resulting in a tremendous release of energy & bat speed at contact.

Apples to apples may be difficult as your slides have different pitch location. Mike's appears down & in & Albert's maybe up & middle to out. So, their hand path to contact will not be the same. Perhaps similar pitch & location, you may see very little difference in the rear elbow in relation to the hands. This may answer both your first & second questions.

Given slides of a similar pitch location, the arm positioning may not differ as much as it may appear.

Elbow pivot or hand pivot point.
'Apples to apples' more like 'apples to potatoes'......

rdbass said:

Elbow pivot or hand pivot point.
'Apples to apples' more like 'apples to potatoes'......

Click to expand...

are you implying that trout uses a lower level pattern than pujols?

dominik said:

are you implying that trout uses a lower level pattern than pujols?

Click to expand...

Where did I say that......
'Lower level pattern' is thinking that a HL hitter lowers his/her elbow first THEN swings. 2 move swing pattern is a 'lower level pattern'

Back Elbow drop independent of hands

Click to expand...

Is apples to potatoes to me.


Pujols just has a tighter 'hand pivot point' and 'turns the barrel' with is hands. The swing slots the elbow. The elbow doesn't slot first THEN swing.

Are you sure there is a turning the barrel from the start?

Shawn said:

Are you sure there is a turning the barrel from the start?

Click to expand...

Start....of what and when, we are referencing(video or gif).

I know some of us love stills more than others but to rdbass' point, instead of focusing on the position of the hands high or low I think the real answer probably lies in focusing on the the 3rd frame and looking at the numbers on their uniform, the angle of the bat as well as the position of the elbow and then tell us what you see.