coach telling DD to "roll the wrists"

[obbay]

This is a red flag to me to tell him to butt out - but maybe I don't understand the benefits to rolling the wrists.

His daughter (14) is big and strong and has the most screwed up bat path I've ever seen but she punishes the ball. I think she can do it because of her strength even though the mechanics are messed up. its like her swing starts normally but converts to a tomahawk at contact. I know she has strong wrists because I've played catch with her and she puts some serious mustard on the ball.

My DD (13) is much smaller, looks to have a good swing (except for a few needed adjustments) but she just doesn't seem to hit the ball hard.(I think due to size and ineffective use of the lower body)

Is there a benefit to teaching her to do something that I do not see in MLB or NCAA?

 

[James Smith]

Unless she does the Louisiana half swing how does she not roll her wrists? I might not be visualizing it correctly.

 

[CoogansBluff]

When does coach want her to roll the wrists?

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

How to Stop Wrist Roll

 

[rdbass]

Long gif, pay attention to when the wrist roll over.

Another gif look when the wrists roll over.

 

[CobraAssist]

OBBAY,

I can only assume that you're talking about an early wrist roll. DD develops the "rollsies" (as she calls them) and spends a day or two beating balls into the dirt about a foot out in front of the plate. Here's a fact for you. There are people out there with not-so-pretty swings that pound it, and others with mechanically beautiful swings that have difficulty hitting their way out of wet paper sacks. Hand/Eye coordination plays a big part in that. Sometimes when you come across someone who's daughter can crush it with an ugly swing, they think that her way is how it SHOULD be done. The TRUTH is, their daughter just has God Given Talent. Just keep plugging away. Make sure your daughter always listens (genuinely) to what people have to say. If she's receiving private instruction, have her run whatever she hears past said instructor. DD got thrown off for about a month because a new girl's dad started saying "throw your hands at the ball."

In regards to your DD's lack of hard hits. Post some video on here and let the Peanut Gallery have a shot at her. I've done so on several occasions, and have always come out of it knowing more about hitting, and with a few different drills to help fix whatever issues she was dealing with at the time. Just make sure you are not the kind of person who takes things too much to heart. There are some folks on here that practice brutal honesty.

Josh

 

[rdbass]

Yeah, them guys, opps that might be me?
Another example of when to roll the wrist. Female example:

My DD hits the ball but, because of her size (110 lbs and 5'2'') doesn't hit 'moon shots'.
Singles,doubles are good too,right?

 

[softballphreak]

This is a red flag to me to tell him to butt out - but maybe I don't understand the benefits to rolling the wrists.

His daughter (14) is big and strong and has the most screwed up bat path I've ever seen but she punishes the ball. I think she can do it because of her strength even though the mechanics are messed up. its like her swing starts normally but converts to a tomahawk at contact. I know she has strong wrists because I've played catch with her and she puts some serious mustard on the ball.

My DD (13) is much smaller, looks to have a good swing (except for a few needed adjustments) but she just doesn't seem to hit the ball hard.(I think due to size and ineffective use of the lower body)

Is there a benefit to teaching her to do something that I do not see in MLB or NCAA?

One thing that has worked with some batters is to have them practice over swinging. In practice, as a drill, tell her to swing harder than she thinks she can. Make this a regular drill. When she's swinging harder than she thinks she can don't pay too much attention to perfect fundamentals; this is an over swing drill.

Also, get an 18" bat and have her swing hard using only the top hand. Off of a tee and off of front toss (not side toss).

You'll see good results.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Recently posted at BBF.

The rolling over of the top-hand wrist is a natural movement of a good swing … assuming it takes place at the proper point within the sequence. Again … assuming that the roll-over is happening at the correct point in the swing, then wrist rollover is a good thing.

There are some that believe rollover is too early, when it is not. For the sake of what follows, let's assume that the complaint is about an observation of the wrists rolling over prior to contact … as that would indeed be an issue.

If the issue is about a rollover of the wrists prior to contact, the fix is not with the wrists. One should not forcefully attempt to maintain a palm-up orientation to extension, as that would negatively impact the swing. The wrists should be allowed to rollover naturally … neither forcing rollover, or forcing a palm-up orientation. The solution isn't to address the wrists directly, but to fix the mechanic that is causing the wrists to rollover too early. That is, rollover of the wrists should be treated as a ‘result’, and hence one does not directly treat the issue, but instead treats the issue indirectly by correcting the mechanic that leads to the observed 'result'.

A common cause that leads to the wrists rolling over early is when the lead elbow breaks down-and-in too soon, negatively impacting the swing plane. The fix here is to correct the lead arm (some will say elbow), and when you do, the issue with premature wrist rollover goes away.

If the issue truly is premature wrist rollover, then correct the mechanic causing the issue … and don’t directly work on applying tension levels to the wrist to prevent rollover.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Always ask the coach to demonstrate, what he/she wants. He may have just heard the term and thinks that it sounds good.