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Baseball Hitting Drills
It's All in the Wrists

One of the absolute vital baseball hitting drills has to do with the proper wrist action at the point of meeting the ball. If a baseball hitter is going to reach their potential they will have to be able to hit the ball with their wrists in the proper position.

Some baseball players are naturally able to hit the ball and have the ball ‘jump’ off their bat. Some players have more ‘pop’ in their youth baseball bats than other youth players.

Why? Assuming the batter is meeting the ball correctly in front of the home plate then it could be the wrist action from the hitter that differentiates one batter from another. How can smaller framed, skinny built hitters make the ball jump off their bats?

It is the natural skill they have with their wrists. Their wrists are in the perfect batting position more often than the rest of us mediocre hitters.

So much of hitting comes from the hands. The hands differentiate the various skill levels in each hitter. Hitting is a skill=and the hands are the craftsman's tools that perform the skill. Like a surgeon is skilled in their surgical cutting…a ballplayer is skilled at hitting a baseball squarely.

When Do We Roll the Wrists?
Powerful Batting Tips

The batter’s wrists have to be in a very similar position as an ax wielding lumberjack. Chopping down the tree with an ax is the same wrist action as hitting the baseball.

What would happen to the ax if your hands and wrists ‘rolled’ over before striking the tree? Ouch! The ax would harmlessly clang against the tree with the ax blade on its side.

The ax might even break like a wood bat might break. There would be no power or positive action for the wood chopper or the baseball hitter.

With a youth baseball bat the barrel of the bat would ‘roll’ right over the ball or maybe top the ball into the ground. The batter will get nothing more than a “Baltimore Chop’ in front of home plate or a routine four hop groundball to the infielders.

Some younger youth league players ‘roll’ the wrists so severely the bat will rotate completely over the top of the pitchers pitch. This can be very frustrating to the little league age youth player.

Rarely will the batter make contact and when they do the ball is not batted very sharply. As youth league baseball coaches, instructors, mentors, teachers and parents it is important for baseball players to be able to understand what position the wrists should be in as the bat swings through the strike zone.

The Secret Drill 
To Fix the Wrist Roll-Over

Rolling the wrists early usually gets a hitter a groundball. Groundballs are not bad especially if they are hit sharply and tough to handle. But when they hit the ground in front of homeplate consistently then we need to make some adjustments.

The simple drill is to have the batter keep the ball from hitting the ground.

This simple hitting drill is the best way to fix the 'wrist roller'. Go to the detailed professional baseball hitting information and pick up this drill and many more.

Baseball Hitting Drill
The 'Tire Drill'

Since we cannot take our ax and go around chopping at trees we must find another way. An old automobile tire is good if you can hand it or attach one to a pole. The 'Tire Drill' is a really one of the best baseball hitting drills.

This is a good backyard baseball drill or have one near the batting cages area on the side of the field. An old boxing punching bag is really good too. Anything that can be struck many, many times using the same action as the ax chopping the tree will work.

Roll the Wrists Where
in the Swing?

The wrists will roll over prematurely if the batting grip is incorrect, too.  Not having the bat lined up in your hands correctly can be a factor in early wrist rolling. 

This makes it harder for the wrists to roll too early. Use your batting practice for baseball hitting drills that encourage line drive swings.

For complete details on batting grips and rolling the wrists and how to fix it spend a minute at the coach and play baseball resources pages.

Happy hitting everyone…it is one of the greatest feelings in all of youth sports.

Return to Hitting 101 from baseball hitting drills.

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