Baseball Hitting Drills: It’s All In the Wrists

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.

Chopping the Tree: Powerful Batting Tips

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.

Square Up on One: The ‘Sweet Spot’

That feeling is what much of baseball is really all about. The challenge for us is to use your baseball hitting drills and skills to square-up on a good pitcher and hit a ball right on the nose.

Professional ball players refer to the feeling as ‘hitting the ball on the ‘screws’ which comes from the golfing term when driving a golf ball off the tee and really getting a hold of one.

The Secret Drill : Hit the Ball in the Air

The simple drill is to have the batter keep the ball from hitting the ground. Have the batter hit the ball in the air. No…not pop-ups and lazy flies from upper cutting the swing.

Just have the batter take batting practice hitting the ball solidly in the air. It is virtually impossible to hit the ball in the air and roll the wrists at the same time.

So the best drill to fix the wrists rolling too early is to hit the ball in the air. Get the ball off the ground. Swing for the outfield.

Even if the ball hits the ground in the infield the ball should be hit sharply. Preferably a line drive base hit will be the result. Many times those line drives turn into extra base hits and even home runs.

Baseball Hitting Drill: The Tire Drill

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 late in the Swing

Keep the handle of the bat in the fingers of the hand…not jammed deep into the thumbs. Line up the door knocking knuckles too.

This makes it harder for the wrists to roll too early. Use your batting practice for baseball hitting drills that encourage line drive swings. Happy hitting everyone…it is one of the greatest feelings in all of youth sports.
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