Elbow Spiral is Driveline's resurrection of my old nemesis the Inverted W and its cousins the Inverted L and the Inverted V.

Elbow Spiral

I assume it's sold or accepted with the promise that Driveline's extreme conditioning methods will make it safe.

All evidence to the contrary.

The issue is NOT that the Elbow Sprial, and the Inverted W, don't work.

They do.

They CAN help pitchers boost their velocity.

The problem is there's No Free Lunch.

The Elbow Spiral, like the Inverted W, significantly increase a pitcher's injury risk.

As Kyle Boddy himself knows all too well, given that the Elbow Spiral is the flaw that got his own arm.

And the flaw I helped him fix, way back in 2007.

Elbow Spiral in Pitching

Lately, I've been hearing more and more people advocating an idea and arm action that flashes me back to the bad old days of Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, and, worst of all, the short-careered Anthony Reyes.

Anthony Reyes

The Elbow Spiral (Staircase) is just a renaming of Paul Nyman's concept of Elbow Lifting, and his problematic method of Scap Loading.

I discuss the reasons why the Inverted W -- and similarly the Elbow Spiral -- are bad at length in...

• The Truth About the Inverted W

Despicable

What's so despicable about Driveline's advocacy of the Elbow Spiral (Staircase) is that it's the flaw I helped Kyle Boddy fix back in 2007.

And Kyle is now selling it.

To I assume unsuspecting clients.