Most of us have heard coaches talk about “rolling the wrist” in hitting. Have you ever wondered what happens to the bat when the wrists roll? The answer: The bat head rolls.
Personally, I have seen this happen over and over again during analysis of players in their front view hitting videos. They took beautiful contacts of the ball and turned them into ground balls because they rolled the bat head too early.
Does it seem logical to roll the wrists at the point of contact when we are trying to attack the ball? Answer: Absolutely not. The only time the wrists should roll is when the bat is brought back to the opposite shoulder following the forward extension of the bat after contact.
We must keep the bat head in line with the stroke and not allow it to roll. When making contact, the barrel of the bat must be kept constant before, during, and after contact. Otherwise, the ball will escape.
So, to learn how to hit better in baseball, here is a great rule: It’s called “UNDER – UNDER”.
Check out your baseball hitting drills. The top hand on contact, should be UNDER the bat. Open up the hand on the bat when it is at the point of contact. It should be under the bat with palm up.
Following contact, the bat head should travel to its forward extension, and the top hand should still be UNDER the bat. Check it out. Open up the hand. It should still be under the bat with palm up.
So again, here is one of our best baseball hitting tips: Use this: The UNDER – UNDER rule.
One final note: Here is another way to keep the hands in check. The knocking knuckles of the top hand always face the pitch on contact and never face down as the bat goes into extension.
These techniques are fully explained in our baseball hitting tips web site for the “Super 8 Hitting System”, completely demonstrated in a series of baseball hitting drills, which includes many techniques for learning how to hit better in baseball.