Posted by: () on Mon Jan 7 08:56:35 2002

>>>
> Hi Shawn
>
> You have raised some interesting questions. I will give you my opinion on "wrist snap" in this thread. But I would like to combine your statement: " There's another way to visualize wrist snap and the hand path. That being, 'the legs crank the hand path', or the legs power the swing" with the subject of "separation" in a new thread.
>
> In order to understand the role of the wrist in the swing, I think it is necessary to clarify what is powering the "wrist snap." Is the flexing and un-flexing action being powered by the muscle groups in the forearm or is the flexing and un-flexing caused more by the inertia and trajectories of the bat and the wrists serve mainly as hinges?
>
> The muscle groups that control wrist action are a comparatively small group. Considering the bats' mass, it could only add a small percentage of the energy required to generate good bat speed. Also the baseball grip is constrictive to the range of wrist movement. Therefore, the value of what we commonly think of as “wrist snap” in the baseball/softball swing is way overblown. Although I’m sure the following statement will raise hackles on the necks of many of you, but.....before dashing off to the keyboard it may be wise to closely examine some video in frame-by-frame sequence. --- “During the swing, the more the wrists flex and un-flex - the weaker the swing.”
>
> It probably would have been more accurate if I had stated - 'forced' to flex and un-flex. The wrist is forced to flex whenever the hands are extended forward without a corresponding angular displacement of the bat-head. This occurs when a batter extends the bat knob-first while allowing the bat-head to trail behind. -- Here is where the "linear kinetic energy transfer theory" misleads the batter. Thinking that once he has transferred his weight to a firm front leg and extended his hands, energy will be released that will un-cock the wrist and the bat will come flying through. ---(As I demonstrated in the instructional video), it doesn't happen. Only rotational energy transferred by a circular hand-path and torque applied to the bat can generate angular displacement of the bat. -- With a straighter hand-path the batter will need to rely more heavily on torque to bring the bat-head through.
>
> With a more circular hand-path and applying torque earlier in the swing, a great hitter will keep his hands back longer and allow the arcing bat-head to keep better pace with the advancement of the hands. Much of the bat's early angular displacement takes place while the back-forearm is still in a more vertical position where the wrist can rotate instead of being forced to flex. So the wrist of a rotational hitter can stay much straighter during the swing.
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> With either the linear or rotational swing, what we perceive as “wrist snap” is actually the push-pull action of the arms applying torque to the bat as it approaches contact. --Example: Lead arm reaches full extension and acts as a pivot point for the back arm to push the bat around (torque). Note that during this action the wrist remained fairly straight. Basically the same is true when applying bottom-hand-torque but reversing the role of the hands and arms. In either case it is the push-pull action of the arm that generated angular displacement - not wrist snap.
>
> Jack Mankin
>

Jack,this is a beautiful description.I think back to all the years I tried to figure out how to launch a powerful swing(before reading tour stuff) with little success.What a waste.I must have flexed and unflexed the wrist a million times,but never got results.Insanity is trying the same thing over and over while expecting different results.Your description brings some sanity to this skill.You can't fight the underlying fundamentals that you have clarified.Thanks again.