How to fix hitting roll over grounders

[Prouddadof5]

Just a thought, but do you line your door knocking knuckles up instead of your punching knuckles? I've been told that lining the door knocking knuckles up will cause the top hand to prematurely roll over at contact.

[The Uncoach]

Just a thought, but do you line your door knocking knuckles up instead of your punching knuckles? I've been told that lining the door knocking knuckles up will cause the top hand to prematurely roll over at contact.

Instead of being told, you should try it yourself. Now what do you think?

[bamajeff]

Here are 2 drills that are really effective in eliminating early rollover....
Extension One Hand Release
Extension Drill with Stop - 2 hands

[songtitle]

Here are 2 drills that are really effective in eliminating early rollover....

Extension Drill with Stop - 2 hands

eeekkkkkk !!!! No current MLB hitter hits like that.

[The Uncoach]

eeekkkkkk !!!! No current MLB hitter hits like that.

[Jake Patterson]

eeekkkkkk !!!! No current MLB hitter hits like that.

Palm up palm down???

[songtitle]

uncoach, the youtube drill appears to show a guy trying to make contact with arms extended like your pics. This guy is trying to do his version of the "Big Zone". Your pics are clearly well after contact. Big difference.

L slot (MLB hitters)


Big Zone (fastpitch)


Power V (extension) (notice the tee location)

[The Uncoach]

uncoach, the youtube drill shows a guy trying to make contact with arms extended like your pics. Your pics are clearly after contact. Big difference.

These are exaggeration drills designed to stop early wrist roll. As for trying to hit with arms extended.....you would be correct in a perfect world where every pitcher pitched the exact same speed and was thrown to the same location. You may not want it, but I want my hitters' zones as long as possible.

[songtitle]

1)These are exaggeration drills designed to stop early wrist roll.

2) As for trying to hit with arms extended.....you would be correct in a perfect world where every pitcher pitched the exact same speed and was thrown to the same location. You may not want it, but I want my hitters' zones as long as possible.

1) As with most drills, they correct one flaw by introducing another. Early wrist roll is usually caused by bad grip (stop using "door knocking knuckles"), or extending your arms to contact (keep an L slot).
2) I want my rear elbow back as long as possible. If I'm the pitcher, I want you to extend your arms.

[Jake Patterson]

1) As with most drills, they correct one flaw by introducing another. Early wrist roll is usually caused by bad grip (fix the grip)....

Can you further explain?

[dominik]

No that guy wants to hit with bent arms and extend through contact.

http://www.youtube.com/user/baseball...31/VaxeuLEPTso

[The Uncoach]

He hasn't introduced another flaw. In one of the vids he specifically suggested why exactly he would teach it (note: it wasn't optimal hitting position). Uh, oh. Looks like Al's been working on BamaJeff's drill.



You should watch more MLB video than just cherry picking "good" hitting images off the internet. There are lots of duck snorts, lollipops and ground balls hit that make it into the positive column of a hitter's average/OBP where they are disconnected and/or look like a little leaguer. I mean, we should just go off of images of major leaguers and how they are always connected. Guess what? They aren't always connected/in powerful hitting position.

Carp! His elbow isn't attached to his back hip.





Nuts. This isn't the perfect power position and his wrists uncocked too early. This hitter must need a lot of help!



Holy cow! Look at that open shoulder, elbow clearly in front of ribs and front arm fully extended on this outside pitch. What's he thinking? This guy is not MLB material.



Here's another pro who looks like BamaJeff's extension. This guy just needs a lot of work.



This one got the bat on the ball and decided he didn't even want to use his hips. Lazy man. Look at that extremely straight front arm. He's off the team!



Now I hope you read some of the comments with a sarcastic sense of humor, song. I love your humor and attitude. You are one of the people who make this board a fun read, IMHO. That said, I find too many people are so concentrated on what the perfect swing looks like, that they don't see the adjustability necessary to put the bat on the ball when the pitch/situation/timing isn't optimal. It's not a perfect world.

[skipper5]

From a previous thread:

Wrist roll at contact can happen when one (or more, in combination) of the following occur prior to contact--
In no particular order:

1. inadequate (or non-existent) opening of the hips--typical of young batters.

2. an overly choked grip

3. a lead arm that collapses against the batters side

4. out in front of the pitch

5. swinging around the ball

6. a severe down-swing

[bbrages]

IMO -- the closest I have seen to wrist roll with my own son was when he was using a crazy-light bat...

[shake-n-bake]

More intensity managing the count. In favorable counts look for and key in on hitting your pitch. Patience can be a virtue in getting you back into a good groove.

[Swing Coach]

One of the MAJOR differences between MLB swings and HS and college and younger is that the mlb'ers extend through the ball. I see hundreds of kids in my clinics that prove this. Kudos to Uncoach. This coach in the video is simply trying to fix a flaw that prevents a lot of hitters from making it to the next level...and in my opinion, he is on the righttrack --- thinking of anything to help players feel proper extension.

SC

[bamajeff]

uncoach, the youtube drill appears to show a guy trying to make contact with arms extended like your pics. This guy is trying to do his version of the "Big Zone". Your pics are clearly well after contact. Big difference.

Did you watch the last 20 sec. of the video? He specifically states he doesn't want the hitter to make contact at extension, he wants them to make contact at the L-slot position pictured in your post, but then extend through the baseball. He's NOT, NOT, NOT advocating contact position illustrated in the Ripken tee picture.

[Chris O'Leary]

One of the MAJOR differences between MLB swings and HS and college and younger is that the mlb'ers extend through the ball. I see hundreds of kids in my clinics that prove this. Kudos to Uncoach. This coach in the video is simply trying to fix a flaw that prevents a lot of hitters from making it to the next level...and in my opinion, he is on the righttrack --- thinking of anything to help players feel proper extension.

SC

Lack of extension in kids is a symptom -- and often a benign one -- rather than a flaw that is usually a product of a things like...

1. Lightweight, high-drop bats.
2. Lower bat speed.

[songtitle]

Did you watch the last 20 sec. of the video? He specifically states he doesn't want the hitter to make contact at extension, he wants them to make contact at the L-slot position pictured in your post, but then extend through the baseball. He's NOT, NOT, NOT advocating contact position illustrated in the Ripken tee picture.

haha, I didn't make it that far. I went back and suffered through the full 2 minutes. You are correct, he does say that in the last 10 seconds, but....

His actual swing is "extension at contact" (demonstrated in the first 10 seconds of the video). Maybe he did this drill too much?
baseball-pros-ext.JPG

Again, it's a bad drill if it's intended to "fix" wrist roll. The drill will "fix" wrist roll, and like most drills, possibly introduce another "fault" - extension at contact.

Why would anyone need to learn to extend? The pitcher will do that job for you. That's like taking lessons to learn how to hit a grounder.

Wouldn't it be better to learn how to "stay back"?

[songtitle]

There are lots of duck snorts, lollipops and ground balls hit that make it into the positive column of a hitter's average/OBP where they are disconnected and/or look like a little leaguer. I mean, we should just go off of images of major leaguers and how they are always connected. Guess what? They aren't always connected/in powerful hitting position.

It's not a perfect world.

I hear you. But, I imagine these guys don't practice to hit like this.

[danocaster]

We have used Epstein's 3/4 drill, the Insider Bat, and hitting into the heavy bag with the Perfect Connextion and stopping at contact has helped my son to ingrain the flat palm position. (although the last drill is for a different purpose)

song- Could you please elaborate on what the "big zone" is? That's a new one to me.

We've been working on rotational mechanics, mostly from Epstein, and having the lead elbow work up and rear elbow slotted.

Also, thanks for the link on bat grip. We've always done the door knockers but I've been wondering about the box grip. I can see how comment about door knockers and bat drag makes sense.

[The Uncoach]

Also, thanks for the link on bat grip. We've always done the door knockers but I've been wondering about the box grip. I can see how comment about door knockers and bat drag makes sense.

The knuckle alignment many MLBers have in their stance is different than the alignment they have when at the contact position. Also, He has a pic of Pujols' grip on the bat. Guess what? He's lining up the knockers. As an FYI, he's the best hitter in MLB. Notice that the author of that website suggests they (Suzuki and Pujols) have to contort their hands to have that grip at stance. Pujols doesn't suffer from bat drag. That alone dispels the notion that lining up the knocker knuckles causes bat drag. I see HS freshman who "line up their rings" that the author of that website is a proponent of, and you know what? A lot of them have bat drag. I don't know about you, but I'd think through the alignment and why it changes with many MLBer's by contact position. I'd weigh the worry about "contorting hands" in the stance or whether having them in good position at contact is more important. Now, do your kid a favor and look at the pics posted of Mauer (I'd say Ramirez, but that pic is a bit blurry), Pujols and A-Rod. Rings lined up at contact? At the "through extension, palms still flat" position? No? No kidding.

[Jake Patterson]

The knuckle alignment many MLBers have in their stance is different than the alignment they have when at the contact position. Also, He has a pic of Pujols' grip on the bat. Guess what? He's lining up the knockers. As an FYI, he's the best hitter in MLB. Notice that the author of that website suggests they (Suzuki and Pujols) have to contort their hands to have that grip at stance. Pujols doesn't suffer from bat drag. That alone dispels the notion that lining up the knocker knuckles causes bat drag. I see HS freshman who "line up their rings" that the author of that website is a proponent of, and you know what? A lot of them have bat drag. I don't know about you, but I'd think through the alignment and why it changes with many MLBer's by contact position. I'd weigh the worry about "contorting hands" in the stance or whether having them in good position at contact is more important. Now, do your kid a favor and look at the pics posted of Mauer (I'd say Ramirez, but that pic is a bit blurry), Pujols and A-Rod. Rings lined up at contact? At the "through extension, palms still flat" position? No? No kidding.

I tried to blow up

apujols2..jpg

[songtitle]

song- Could you please elaborate on what the "big zone" is? That's a new one to me.

Sorry, dano, it's a fastpitch term similar to Power V.

[songtitle]

Here is what I "know":
- most MLB hitters (over 99%) use a box grip (the 2 that don't, contort their wrist/hand in order to make it work)
- they keep their top hand loose as they swing forward, so they can rotate the bat in their hand, so that...
- their back hand palm is up at contact (which keeps them from "rolling over" and hitting the ball into the ground)