Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Jan 31 00:52:44 2000

>>>My question is whether you find the thought of keeping the wrists"cocked" until contact or snapping the wrists at contact are useful swing thoughts or teaching cues.Many instructors stress this,including Dave Hudgins in his description of the short stroke.Does this snapping feel/action still contribute in the rotational/torque swing or does this mostly apply to the linear/extension handpath where both hands are moving forward through contact rather than torquing around a point between them? <<<

Hi Tom

I think the involvement of the wrist in the baseball swing is greatly overstated. The wrist actually stays fairly straight during the swing. What most people consider “wrist action” is in reality the shifting back and forth of hand and forearm position. The batting grip does not allow as much freedom of movement for cocking and uncocking as one might expect --- Working independently, each wrist can rotate (in the plane of the swing) through about 80 to 90 degrees. But griping the bat with both hands greatly restricts their movement (maybe 10 degrees or so max).

I am sure some of you will have a hard time believing what I just stated. So test it for yourself. --- Grip a bat with both hands -- now sit down and place your elbows on a table -- hold your forearms vertical and still – how much angular displacement can to achieve cocking and uncocking your wrist.

Jack Mankin