When I go to watch a youth baseball game and even most high school baseball games I have to take a bag with me. A bag? Yes, because it usually only takes a hitter or two before I hear some well intending parent yell to his kid, "get that back elbow up!" That's when I start barfing. What a horrible thing to say to your kid. I would rather hear a parent yell , "take one for the team". Taking one for the team means, "hey, little Johnnie, you can't hit, so your only hope is getting drilled by the pitch."
I don't know if it started with Henry Aaron, but I think it did. From the late 50's into the mid 70's Hammer'in Hank Aaron was one of the two or three best right handed hitters in the game of baseball.
When I would watch him as a kid on TV I can still remember the Hammer standing at the plate in his stance ready to launch the first decent pitch he saw. Aaron stood at the plate with his back elbow up, almost on the same plain as the ground. In full motion the naked eye sees Aaron with the high back elbow and then in a split second when he would decide to hit the ball, he would explode and swing. What slow motion shows is Aaron bringing his elbow down and in as he begins his powerful swing.
Aaron isn't the only great hitter who starts in this position. Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan would pump his back elbow up and down like he was a wounded grouse trying to pull a predator away from its nest. The most recent super star to start with the high elbow was Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey was an amazing player and athlete. For over a decade he one of the best the game of baseball has ever seen. There is a huge difference in Griffey's swing and Aaron's. 1st Griffey doesn't bring his elbow down as much as Aaron did. This gave Griffey what I would call a loop in his swing. Unlike Aaron who had what many people refer to as a level swing, where the bat stays in the hitting zone longer. 2nd, this loop in Griffey's swing caught up with him as he aged and his off the chart athletic skills came down to earth.
Even though I loved to watch Griffey hit, I would never try to develop those mechanics in a hitter.
So what should you teach your youngster?
The first thing you should do is go buy Ted Williams book, "The Science of Hitting". I absolutely love this book.
Since today we are discussing the "get that back elbow up" problem, I am going to explain where the hands and arms should be in respect to the body.
First, the hands should be slightly back and the top hand should be just below the plain of the hitters shoulders. If the hands are high kids tend to have a loopy swing. Many kids are trying to imitate Albert Pujoles who starts with his hand up, but he brings them down and he ends up with a long flat swing that stays in the strike zone a long time. Similar to Joe Dimagio and Alex Rodriquez's swings. But, thats not what parents and kids see.
Secondly, the elbows should be about half way between parallel to the ground and against the body. Or, at about a 45 degree angle from parallel to the ground. The arms and hands should be loose and ready to turn and strike the pitch.
I am going to have to start adding illustrations for technique posts. My advice to you as a parent is to go check out video clips of Mickey Mantle or Ted Williams from youtube. This is how I tried to teach my kid to hit. Pay close attention to where their hands and arms are.
