What Is The Wrist Angle Position At Point Of Contact?

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Jan 14, 2009
1,591
0
Atlanta, Georgia
Wellpht, please explain the slotting of the rear elbow by ADuction to a simpleminded country boy. Do you mean she should be rotating her forearms to the right and then slot ?

Flap your elbows like you are imitating a chicken. Kind of like the chicken dance. That is how I see most girls slotting their rear elbow as they launch their swing. Boys do it also. Slotting/tucking the rear elbow this way is one of the main differences that Mankin has identified between amateurs and professionals.

Now have someone toss you a ball from the side and pretend you are a second basemen turning a double play. Immediately after catching the toss, you will likely slid step and you will step with your front foot. Your feet will end up slighty greater than shoulder width apart as your lower body assumes an athletic posture. During the slide step your hands will separate as you prepare to throw. Freeze yourself just before you trigger your throw. Hold that position for a couple of seconds. Now trigger your throw paying careful attention to how your back arm works.

Do you see a difference between how your arm works while turning a double play and the chicken wing flap motion?

Some of us believe that slotting the rear elbow similar to how the throwing arm works when throwing a ball overhand is more efficient than slotting it using a flapping type motion. Do you see how the overhand throw type motion naturally keeps the hands stuck to the back shoulder? No dropping of the hands or push of the hands towards the pitcher.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
<<
Now look at the second illustration ([below]), with the bat angled due to the hands being above the ball. Not only are you getting more surface on which to hit the ball, there’s no real way to hit the bottom half of the ball.

angled-bat-graphic-300x181.jpg

>>

I'm not understanding this. Why is it not possible to still hit the bottom of the ball relative to the barrel of the bat? Seems logical to me that the barrel could be at a similar angle, yet lower.
 
Last edited:
Jul 11, 2009
151
16
<<
Now look at the second illustration ([below]), with the bat angled due to the hands being above the ball. Not only are you getting more surface on which to hit the ball, there’s no real way to hit the bottom half of the ball.

angled-bat-graphic-300x181.jpg

>>

I'm not understanding this. Why is it not possible to still hit the bottom of the ball relative to the barrel of the bat? Seems logical to me that the barrel could be at a similar angle, yet lower.

FFS
I wondered about that also. But I think it is in the wording. I think instead of saying not being able to hit bottom HALF of ball he should have said bottom of ball. Cause if you had bat lower in illustration the contact point would not be directly at bottom of ball. It would be somewhat off to side, which would more than likely cause ball to go out of play, thus the batter lives for another pitch instead of hitting a dinky infield pop up. Just my thoughts.
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
Good explanation DO. No question, a swing 'level to the ground' is problematic and won't work. However a diagonal barrel can, and does, also lead to pop-ups & fly-balls. Timing is key. As Williams suggested ... being quicker with the hands was his cure for pop-ups with a diagonal barrel.
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
Good explanation DO. No question, a swing 'level to the ground' is problematic and won't work. However a diagonal barrel can, and does, also lead to pop-ups & fly-balls. Timing is key. As Williams suggested ... being quicker with the hands was his cure for pop-ups with a diagonal barrel.

Daddy O, that is exactly what I meant. You're not getting underneath the ball with this bat angle. If your bat is low you are more likely to hit the ball off to the side.

FFS, most of the pop-ups I see result from a very shallow bat angle. Timing could be a cause of the bat angle -- if you're late you will tend to take the bat at the ball any old which way, and dropping the hands/flattening out the bat is often the result of a quick stab at the ball. But if you maintain a good bat angle, you are far less likely to pop up to the infield even if you're late in my experience. It probably doesn't help as much with stopping mediocre fly balls.
 
Oct 12, 2009
1,465
0
a swing 'level to the ground' is problematic and won't work.

Just asking...

"How do you adjust to hit pitches at the top and bottom of the strike zone?"

...should be enough to point out how pointless any conversation involving the level swing is (no matter how relevant topics like spin might seem).
 
Jun 17, 2009
15,105
0
Portland, OR
CO ... good point ... adjustment to high/low pitches with a "level to the ground" approach won't happen.

Ken ... also a good point ... too shallow a bat angle will not only lead to adjustability issues, but poor contact for a healthy percentage of pitches.
 
Jan 14, 2009
1,591
0
Atlanta, Georgia
My experience with pop-ups is similar to Ken's. I see a lot of (most) girls in the 14U age range drop their hands to get on plane. As they drag the bat forward from this disconnected position during the swing, they often times dump the barrel. Pop-ups, pop-ups, pop-ups.

Sometimes they will manage to square it up and hit a nice line drive, but those are few and far between.
 

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