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Originally posted by Carl Childress
[B]
Quote:
Originally posted by Patrick Szalapski
Say Garth, let's get clear on the terminology. The stances are "Box", "Scissors", or "Knee", and the positions are "Slot" and "Over-the-top," right? I work the slot in the box.
Hmm, I learned previously that my eyes should be at the top of the strike zone. Is this too low? It serves me well, but I'm open to consider a change.
P-Sz Amateurs write about two "box" stances: (a) hell-to-toe; and (b) squared. Technically, the NL box is the squared (wrestler's) stance.
Someone said that the Gerry Davis stance is heel-to-toe. I must tell you that stance is clearly on its way out. Most MLUs now use the squared stance. It is simply the old American League stance, shifted left/right about three feet into the appropriate slot.
The reason is crystal: Umpires who routinely call three- to four-hour games need a good, solid, balanced stance. The emergence of the "wrestler's box" is also sounding a death kneel to the scissors.
Finally, until the last 10 years or so, BOX was "over-the-top" (AL) and SLOT was "between catcher and batter" (NL). (The point: BOX was a position, not a stance.) But the PRO graduates appropriated "box" when they began to square up in wrestler's style. Now, the distinctions are all blurred.
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Carl,
I'm not so sure the heel-toe, heel-toe is on it's way out. I went to the JEAPU Florida Classic this year and the heel-toe is the ONLY stance Evans teaches at the PRO school. In fact, I beleive they have to work this stance for at least 2 years in PRO ball.
I had been working what you correctly described as the squared box (in the slot) before I went to the classic, but I'm going to work Jim's method this season. I also agree that terminology has gone awry in describing these stances
Lawrence