I've picked a couple parts of the baseball swing I hear taught repeatedly during individual and group baseball instruction that are incorrect.  I’m not sure where these fallacies came from, however, hopefully this article will help turn around this thinking to some extent. 

Two Hitting Mechanics Fallacies:

1. Keep your back elbow up is NECESSARY for a fundamentally sound baseball swing.

This advice I hear mostly in Little League or within some of the younger ages.  I’ll be straight up with you, there is no physical advantage or benefits for a hitter to keep his back elbow up to a stiff position above the back shoulder.  I'm not quite sure where the idea originated, but I do know it spreads like wildfire in a dry field. 

Keeping the back elbow up for younger hitters is often a source of a slow and sluggish swing.  Many times hitters who subscribe to this back elbow up nonsense have a rough time hitting the inside and outside pitches because their hands are unable to move into the right position.  Because of this, it makes no sense for a younger hitter to move his back elbow from a stiff position in the stance to a relaxed position in mid-swing.  Just take a look at any picture of a Major League Hitter in the contact position and notice where his back elbow is.  You’ll find that is it down, relaxed, and close to his body.   Now I should state that as a hitter gets older, his preference may be of a back elbow that is raised somewhat.  At this stage in his career (assuming he understands baseball swing mechanics) he can make the adjustments as necessary.

2. Rolling your wrists on contact with the pitch improves power.

I have to bite my tongue (quite hard actually) when I hear this advice being offered as baseball instruction.  While the back elbow up mumbo jumbo can be dismissed somewhat as a youth baseball drills strategy that does relatively minimal damage, the advice to roll the wrist on contact cannot be ignored if one is looking to produce a fundamentally correct baseball swing.

Some things "wrist rollers" can never do:

A.    Hit an outside fastball consistently to the opposite field (left field as a lefty and right field as a righty).

B.     Hit an inside fastball to the pull side (right field as a lefty and left field as a righty).

C.     Hit line drives with consistent backspin into the gaps (you know the kind that get over the heads of outfielders in a hurry for a double).

Here is why I can make those statements with confidence.  In order to roll the wrists upon contact with a pitch, the hitter’s arms must be straight at the elbows.  Youth hitters can get away with this problem to some extent simply because the velocity of pitching in Little League is slower giving the hitter more time to position his bat correctly.  Another 15 mph added on to a pitch and those inside pitches cannot be hit the bat will be slow to sweep into the hitting zone.  Outside pitches will also be difficult because the barrel of the bat will only cover the outer portion of the plate a fraction of the time necessary.  It will be in and out of the hitting zone too quickly to maximize results. 

So what do you teach then?

Instruct your athletes when hitting a baseball to position their top hand with the palm facing up towards the sky as they come in contact with the baseball.  As the hands stay close to the body through the swing, the hitter will extend his arms only after contact is made with the pitch.  This proper extension is extremely important for good bat speed and plate coverage.