old habits hard to break

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:

quote:

Fence drill is a very easy way to get hands inside the ball.

People still do this?

I don't think the old fence drill I learned years ago with knob of bat against bellybutton and other end against fence while facing fence is a useful drill to learn a good swing. The fence drill shown by Mike Epstein with the hitter facing down the fence (starting position only) can be useful if done properly to learn when the top hand should fire. He would probably be able to do the first fence drill with not much problem since he is pulling the bat through the zone with his bottom hand already.

One other slight change that may work if what I've already suggested doesn't and that is weaken his grip (if you understand the golf grip). It's not the true fix, but it is a temporary fix that will work until you get the mechanical flaw fixed.

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:
People still do this?

Why do you ask?

'Cause most people understand that the drill is counter-productive to an efficient swing.....

I am sure everyone has their version of the fence drill and some are probably outdated and useless and others are beneficial, just like any drill/workout...

I don't think we can throw a blanket over the term "fence drill" though and say it is bad and can hamper all swings...

I specifically remember being at Univ of Nebraska in spring 2005 and watching a kid named Alex Gordon do some of his drills... one being the fence drill... he said he liked to do about 50 reps before he started in to his hitting live, etc... and another 50 at the end... he said it allowed him to believe that his hands weren't getting "too far away from him his body" on any given swing...

his swing (during his fence drill) looked identical to his cuts off tee and from soft toss and from live BP on field.... nothing much mechanically different....

i think he did pretty good for himself...