Posted by: Jack Mankin (mrbatspeed@aol.com) on Sun Jul 18 22:22:01 2004

>>> Can you describe how you see the grip relating to droopy bottom wrist at contact (interfereing with palms up/down)? <<<

Hi Tom

A number of years ago while charting the swings of professional players, I noted a very interesting flaw occurring with some of the hitters. Just before and during contact, the lead-wrist would suddenly turn downward. I referred to this flaw as the “Wrist Droop.” Reflecting, I probably should have termed the flaw ‘knuckle droop’ because the lead-wrist is actually being forced upward.

For some time I could not figure out what caused the lead-wrist to turn downward just before contact with some batters. However, I did notice that batting performance dropped considerably for hitters who exhibited the “Wrist Droop.” The Dodger’s Mike Marshall stands out most in my mind. He was having a good year (late 1980’s), but when the flaw appeared, his production really declined. I’m not sure he even finished the season.

One day as I studied a hitter with the flaw, it suddenly dawned on me what was causing the wrist to droop. It was the hitter’s grip. – Almost all batters who exhibit the flaw have the back-elbow elevated as they prepare to initiate the swing. When the wrists remain fairly straight, a high back-elbow produces an angle of 130 to 160 degrees between the top and bottom wrist. However, as the hands approach the palm-up/palm-down position at contact, the angle between the wrists should be around 20 or 30 degrees.

Whenever a batter has a wide angle between the wrists at launch, he must allow one of the hands to rotate around the bat to attain a narrow angle (20 to 30) by contact. However, if the batter starts with 100+degrees and grips the bat tight enough so neither hand can slip, something has to give. The “Wrist Droop” occurs as the lead-wrist is forced to rotate up-ward giving it a droopy appearance.

Jack Mankin