Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Fri May 3 13:07:58 2002

Science of Hitting,revised edition,1986,pp.58-9,excerpts:

....the impact of the bat on ball is reached not with the wrists rolling,or a "wrist" swing,but with the wrists square and unbroken,as they would be at impact when an axe is swung on a tree.The power is always applied before the wrists roll.Even when pulling?Yes,because the hips bring the bat around,not the wrists.....

[I would not describe the swing as a "hard push swing" which Williams goes on to do]

....You get your power not so much from the wrists or arms or shoulders,but from the rotation of the hips into the ball.When you are effectively pulling the ball,you may notice the top wrist does "break" a little,just at impact,but it is a very slight break and it is definitely not a roll......The wrists roll after the ball has left the bat.The "snap" that everyone(including me)used to say was so important comes after you hit the ball.It occurs only in the follow-through.....the hips set the swing in motion and lead the way.If they are restricted,if you don't open them wide enough,the wrists will roll prematurely......

I think Jack has further clarified these ideas.

1- Wrist rolling before at contact was found to be a horrible flaw that basically meant you didn't last in the show.

2-The wrists are basically just moved by twisting of the forearms as the palms get from their position at launch to up/down at contact by what anatomically is called supination(top hand) and pronation(bottom hand).This is accomplished best(avoiding "wrist bind" by a relaxed top hand grip that allows steady application of torque until the palms are up/down at contact and "unbroken" as Ted says.

3-Some "break" may happen with pulling.This is analagous to applying bht at contact with pulling of the inside pitch.In this case the bottom wrist flexes toward the radius bone of the forearm(radial deviation/flexion in anatomic terms)while the top hand wrist flexes toward the ulna(ulnar deviation/flexion).

4- "snapping" includes some degree of rolling which is always bad before contact in the rotational swing.

5- Any other early wrist action is going to intefere with connection/transfer mechanics by loosening connection or creating wrist bind(any dorsiflexin/plantar flexion is bad;early radial or ulnar deviation is bad.

6-Jack's ideas of the importance of the lower body being relative to how it gets the shoulders and torso turning is more informative than the idea that the hips rotate into the ball/lead the way.

The extraneous early wrist action can certainly prematurely extend the bat/hands and stop the transfer of energy and good body rotation.