Paul's hypothesis is, based on my almost 20 yrs. of working with hitters and pitchers [especially hitters] is thoroughly correct. That's almost 20 yrs. of working with and close observation of hitters/pitchers.
https://twitter.com/setprosports/status/1469228562515382272
Over the years, people who have heard about me will call me, and almost inevitably after talking for long periods of time [yes, in earlier yrs. I was known as a guy who could cause cell phone battery failure!], I would say along the lines of this:
Well try to understand that regardless of you buying my stuff or signing up on my website, what you REALLY need to understand is that THE main thing you need to understand is this--this near primordial flaw/problem:
Understand that it is almost certain that THE main flaw that you are really dealing with is that it is a HUMAN NATURAL TENDENCY to try to variously manipulate the arms to swing a bat.
Why? Well, let's start with the fact that by the time your son/daughter is 5 or 6 they have most certainly become an expert at....REACHING.
And then you couple that with the natural tendency to---when learning a novel skill [like swinging a bat] ---one will attempt to try to find an old/ingrained motor strategies that they intuitively suspect might "fit" the new experience.
Thus, the ingrained/habituated experience of REACHING is applied to swinging. Wherein the bat becomes an extension of the arms/hands to create a "working space" [ dynamical systems motor learning concept] wherein the bat moves from a relatively vertical position.
To a much more horizontal position [more parallel to the ground and more "in line" with the ball]. This can be ----and typically IS done----by simply manipulating the ARMS. And you see this in almost ALL young hitters.
How can one verify or deny this? Well, I suggest going and looking at tee ball hitters. And note what almost ALL of them are doing when they rehearse the swing. What you see ---almost 100% of the time is this:
They are "scribing" out a path to contact almost entirely with the arms, i.e., the lead arm will DROP and the back elbow will "lead" [external rotation---bat drag articulation].
Why? Well, dropping the lead arm downwardly gets the arm more in line [on plane] with the ball on a tee [typically placed about waist high]. And the back arm shoulder manipulation [external rotation] very EASILLY moves the barrel into a relatively horizontal alignment to the ball
NOTE to all instructors as regards this latter manipulation of the back arm: At root, "bat drag" is most certainly NOT a MECHANICAL ISSUE. It occurs at a MUCH more "primordial" level, i.e., it is a "natural" MOTOR LEARNING STRATEGY!
And as such it HAS to be addressed at THAT level ,i.e., finding EFFECTIVE ways to DIRECTLY address ---usually most effectively via PHYSICAL---not verbal--constraint based methods. So as to FORCE non-arm motor strategies, so to speak.
Verbal cues, in this context of "primordial arm strategies", so to speak, almost always will NOT be effective. As I have tried to explain---via experience --not book learning shit---this arm strategy is highly normative and ingrained.
Such that verbal cues---such as "wait longer", "let the ball get deeper", "quit lunging" etc. etc., are worthless/totally ineffective. Trying to convince someone ---with words--what has been experientially ingrained is MUCH MORE irrational/idiotic the hitter's strategy!
The following analogy is not 1 to 1 but close enough: Imagine trying to convince a young high school freshman male to STOP having physical reactions to very provocative/sexy looking senior females! Uh ...yea...good luck with that verbal shit pal....his reactions are in his DNA!!
Bottom line: Paul Nyman's instincts are, based on my experience/research, VERY sound. I will only add here---obviously in a self-serving manner that in one of the sections of my "Elite Hitter Habits" I spend some time talking about much of the above in some detail.
And for all those cynical types who might exclaim that this entire thread was for the singularly expressed purpose of getting to this last self-promotional link I'll quote someone who got to know me quite well.
Scott Sarginson, I guy who was almost impossible to dislike, who died way too soon, and will be forever remembered and admired as a truly great person of high morals and an impeccable character.
When someone at Baseball Fever said, "that Steve is all about the money", Scott said: "Are you kidding me? Steve fails marketing 101!! [Scott was in computer sales for yrs] He's a guy who will try to talk you OUT of buying his stuff!" Yea. He was ---and still is---pretty correct
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