Terrible advice for a hitter - "get your arms extended"

You watch a baseball game on TV and you hear an announcer say " he likes to get his arms extended." What that basically means is "he doesn't like to get jammed." Of course, no one likes to get jammed. We all prefer to hit the ball on the barrel. But, do players actually try and extend their arms when they hit. If they do, they won't be hitting long.

"Get your arms extended" can be insidious advice to hitters. It can rob bat speed and actually be the root cause of many other symptoms that a hitter is trying to prevent.

Try stepping in the direction of the pitcher and extend your arms early.

Try driving the ball the other way and extend your arms early.

Try keeping your head on the ball and extend your arms early.

Try hitting hard ground balls and back spin line drives and extend your arms early.

Not going to happen! Yet, we'll watch an "expert" explain to us that players like to get their arms extended when they hit. Uh, not exactly.

Players prefer the barrel on the ball and it certainly is easier to do this if they don't have to pull their hands in. But, that is exactly how players hit the inside pitch -by doing the exact opposite of getting your arms extended.

Think about one thing. Why do players hit the ball pull side farther than they hit it to the opposite field? Mostly because of two primary reasons.

1) The radius at which the knob of the bat moves in relation to ones center of gravity becomes smaller causing more bat speed.(Extending the arms causes a larger radius) Some people refer to this as a fishhook effect or flailing or weather vaning. Whatever the name, it's not extending the arms.
2) The bat head travels a further distance allowing more force to be applied to the bat longer. This creates greater forces at contact.

Listen for it. You won't have to listen long. UGH!