elbow up (what does it really mean??)

[MannyRamirez2006]

I have been reading throughout the forum and I came across something about the elbow up high helps with bat hinge?? What is bat hinge is it when the bat is angled towards the pitcher ala Manny Ramirez?? Any explanations are greatly appreciated.

[Jake Patterson]

I have been reading throughout the forum and I came across something about the elbow up high helps with bat hinge?? What is bat hinge is it when the bat is angled towards the pitcher ala Manny Ramirez?? Any explanations are greatly appreciated.


Not certain. I do not teach it. I believe it is an old baseball cue that has taken on a life of its own. Once we began using high speed film analysis to analyze the swing rom a kenisiological and bio-Mechanical standpoint the cue was found not to be especially helpful.

[Big Unit]

First, if you rise the elbow, your knuckles are no longer aligned. It will produce a ''torque'' when you swing the bat.

Second, I think this cue is very old and was used to lower the front shoulder. By time, people had forgotten the main purpose of this cue.

A couple of years ago I ask this question to some players in the league just to see if they knew where this cue came from and why. Nobody was able to answer me.

[MannyRamirez2006]

I was reading through another post some dude here posted a clip of his swing and people were talking about it....they said his back elbow needs to rise as he strides and they showed a pic of Ryan Howard. Anybody know what I'm talking about??

[bbfreak8]

Yeah they said that he needed to raise his back elbow to prevent bat drag. Look back at his video and see how his back elbow was in front of his hands through his swing...which caused the bat to drag behind his body. It should be the hands that lead the elbow, not the other way around.

[bbfreak8]

First, if you rise the elbow, your knuckles are no longer aligned. It will produce a ''torque'' when you swing the bat.

How is that true? I can raise my elbow as high as I want in my stance without affecting my grip. It may affect the placement of my hands and the slope of my shoulders, but not my grip or knuckle alignment.

And what is this "torque" you're talkin about?

[Chris O'Leary]

Not certain. I do not teach it. I believe it is an old baseball cue that has taken on a life of its own. Once we began using high speed film analysis to analyze the swing rom a kenisiological and bio-Mechanical standpoint the cue was found not to be especially helpful.

I think teaching elbow up can have some value, but it's no panacea.

Basically, what I teach is that if the hands are up the elbow should be up(-ish) and vice versa. I say "ish" because I don't think the elbow or hands should go above the level of the shoulders.

When kids get into trouble is with...

1. Low hands and high elbow.
2. High hands and low elbow.