Shoulder extension occurs when the humerus moves from behind you to neutral, then forward AFTER delivery...........DUH........What an epiphany to know that "completion of the arm circle from back to front" is the biggest contributor..........
Wrist flexion occurs in almost, but not every pitch delivered.........It is a force generator as the wrist moves from slightly extended or neutral to flexion through release........Wrist Flexion on it's own is a fairly weak contributor of force.......However.......Combined with INternal Rotation, wrist flexion/IR creates a "force couple" which exerts torque on the delivery system.........
This is INternal Rotation, combined with wrist flexion.........Creating torque..........
Even in my 9:00 drill I'm combining shoulder extension WITH INternal Rotation and wrist flexion to propel the ball........
One of the biggest issues one faces when teaching I/R is LACK of wrist flexion during the I/R release........This is what you see when inexperienced I/R mechanics appear to be strictly "Arm Roll"........
BUMP..... I came across this thread and thought it deserved to be bumped especially for those who are newer on the site (and some of the more tenured too
) It is somewhat buried and the title is more about arms versus legs but the "good stuff" in this thread is about the wrist IMO. I don't know if someone was searching for "wrist" or "wrist flip or flexion" they would find it so thus the bump.BM's post above is really important in regards to wrist flexion. I think there is so much here about how wrist flips are all wrong that it can be interpreted that the wrist stays stiff and the arm "rolls" through. I am not a fan of wrist flips and learned that years ago from this site but it took me awhile to realize the wrist does indeed actually flex (could be construed as a flip or called a flip) but it is not a single movement meaning it doesn't do much on its own. BUT it must work together with IR as well as the fingers.
BM says it best above so take a look and hopefully this might help someone who is scratching their head on wrist flips or snaps.
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