Premature Wrist Rolling...........

Why after 150 years are people still slicing a gof ball. They don't know how to stop

But we have coaches teaching the early wrist roll. Why ?

I actually was working with a guy on trying to get his wrist to "roll" tonight.

There are a few instances when teaching a player to do that is not as bad as you think. The actual philosophy of having a kid roll his wrists would not be a good one to use, but it is a good "feeling" to make some kids try to feel.

For Instance:
I was working with an '08 tonight who has a really good swing, but has a tendency to drag the barrel and get the knob of the bat too far in front of his lead elbow before he snaps the barrel. In this case, I told him to make it feel like he is rolling his wrists through contact (Picture having your (RHH) right palm facing the pitcher rather than the sky). This immediately gets the bat head to square up on the ball sooner.

I then explain to him that we do not "roll" the wrist when hitting, but if he gets in a situation where he is dragging the barrel due to the above reason, to make it feel as if he is rolling. It cleans it up every time.

Kind of like what a golf pro would tell a golfer to do if he was continually slicing the ball. It just makes the hitter square up the barrel on time.

Again...not something I would teach, but something that you need to have in your tool box when a kid has a problem dragging the barrel and everything else is in the right place.

Coach A,

Not trying to tread on your domain, but you may also take a look at a weak top-hand as part of your hitters problem.

Often times when a player flattens out early or drags the bat head it is becasue he has a weak top-hand or he is trying to hit with wood and shouldn't be....Anyway, just a suggestion.

Take Care...O42

I totally agree with you "O", but his top hand is as clean as can be. He just has a tendency to be a bit "lazy" with the top hand from time to time. You put a bat in his top hand and do top hand drill and he is clean and pure. He doesn't drag the bat like your typical hitter. It is more in his hands getting too far out in front of him due to not snapping early enough. The barrel us up and always in a good position, he just doesn't square it up early enough.

I do agree with you though that most hitters have a weak top hand when the barrel drags. And top hand drill is a great drill to fix that!
Good point!!

Love it A...Love it....

To the guys teaching this, Where are you ?
Please back up your beliefs.

good Lord, if anyone out there is teaching wrist rolling, everything has just gone to H in a handbasket... wrist rolling will naturally happen in the post contact/follow through phase of the swing - look at any MLB players "power V" position and you'll see it... you do not have to think about it - and it sure as heck doesn't happen at contact - that is when you should be palm up/palm down.... God save us all....

quote:

look at any MLB players "power V" position and you'll see it...

About time somebody besides me even mentions Power V.

Exactly bro>Agree Agree Agree !

Again...teaching rolling the wrists is not a good method. I totally agree with you guys on the power "V" and the palm up, palm down. Don't read into my post that I teach rolling. I spend most of my day getting kids to stop rolling. I just thought I would throw out one instance in which the "feel" of rolling is not a bad thing with SOME players. But again, I also agree with Diablo that if someone is "teaching" rolling, look out...we are in trouble!

I quit teaching top hand bottom hand and I quit having my hitters do one-handed drills. My past with these drills was frankly a mistake. I now teach the hands as a unit.

The hands initiate the swing downward from the armpits at around a 45 degree angle and both hands rip the barrel through the hitting area. I teach the hands together as one unit. Usually when one hand is "weak" it is the top hand, but it really isn't. The top hand is attached to the backside and the backside is failing to put both hands in the position to rip the barrel through.

I will promise you that major league hitters do not initiate the knob with the bottom hand, then the top hand takes over...

Instructors, tell your students to use both hands to initiate the swing and both hands to rip the barrel through. Ask them how that feels. The bottom-hand top-hand theory has developed some real disconnect and slow swings.

quote:

I teach the hands together as one unit. Usually when one hand is "weak" it is the top hand, but it really isn't. The top hand is attached to the backside and the backside is failing to put both hands in the position to rip the barrel through.

Papa, your right about this and I must rescind my earlier statement about top hand being along for the ride because the baseball swing and golf swing do differ on this component of swing.

Guess I've been playing to much golf lately and internalized the thought

Shep