The Wrist

[Ken B]

On the plus side I see a Doorway where I think she can pop considerable speed over this winter by focusing on release and SNAP!!!!!!!!

I think it would be worth focusing on posture, whip and brush. The release is a result of these three. With good posture and whip, brush is often a byproduct. If not, a little awareness building and practice will help to get there.

Here’s a video that shows how release is triggered by brush—with whip and posture as the foundation:

 

[Ken B]

What I hope you’ll notice is that the arm maintains about the same degree of flexion/bend throughout the release.

The lower arm is pulled down by the upper arm. The upper arm pauses at the torso as the whole unit rotates within the shoulder socket. ***Watch the orientation on the bicep and palm throughout the fastball release. They maintain the almost SAME orientation from 8 o’clock until the fingertips lose contact with the ball. Only then do you see the wrist begin to flex and the forearm pronate into follow through.

You’ll see the same in slow motion video of Abbott, Ueno, Osterman, Garcia, etc.

IR can be achieved without posture and brush. Watch video of Bunner, Carda or Barnhill.

What you won’t see in any elite pitcher is a cocked/loaded/extended wrist and a forced flexion/wrist snap at release.

 

[Ken B]

It is kinda odd how most everyone on this board is very anti wrist snaps for a drill warming up. Then you go to a tournament and almost every pitcher you see warming up does them. So the vast majority of the people out there instructing pitchers are teaching it. Even the ones that teach IR. The ones I know of around here that teach IR also have there students do wrist snaps. They may call them snaps sometimes and other times call it working on your spins but it is all the same action.

Wrist snaps do nothing with IR/whip. An instructor that claims to teach IR/whip and teaches wrist snaps does not understand the kinematic sequence that elite pitchers use to deliver the ball.

 

[Ken B]

I still see wrist snaps a lot in the facilities where I do lessons here in the midwest. The funniest part is when I get a new student, I ask what their warm up routine is and when they say wrist flips in the beginning, I always ask why they do them. 99.99% don't come up with a good answer, they look at me like it's a crazy question... but then can't tell me what they're trying to accomplish.

That said, I know of a non-Hello Elbow coach around here who allows his students to do them. I think he lets them do it because they THINK it's helping them. I'll have to ask him why he lets that happen.

When I do my example of how silly it looks for a baseball pitcher to stick his arm straight up, lock his elbow and do "wrist snaps" everyone laughs but, I always ask "If it's silly for them, it's silly for us too, right?" (Everyone is free to use that example for yourselves, just give my humor the credit please!!! lol). Why don't baseball pitchers do this? Answer: becasue that's not how we throw the ball!! The elbow needs to be loose, relaxed, and whip in the pitch. So does a softball pitcher's. Teaching yourself to lock the arm is counterproductive, and it's hard to unlearn after someone has been doing it for a while.

Love this!!! I’ve stolen this and used it in almost every first lesson for the last 10+ years!

 

[Ken B]

Personally, what I have found on both rise and dropballs, if I was lacking in spin for the pitch, I would increase my elbow whip. It can sometimes be easy to be lazy on pitches, neglecting to put max effort on each pitch. Sometimes it's just the simplest things that can have the biggest impacts. If I felt like the ball wasn't moving well, or I was getting hit around (more than usual!!!) I could sometimes trace my issue back to having less spin on the pitches which means less movement. So I'd exaggerate the whip of my arm as much as possible. Unless I was having "one of those days" where absolutely nothing worked and I didn't belong in the circle that day, I would usually find this would help me significantly.

The she more the elbow whips, the more the wrist and fingers will follow which generates the most spin. Those pitchers who do the wrist flips deprive themselves of this motion. Instead, they teach themselves all the action occurs in the wrist. The wrist is only part of it, and I wouldn't even consider it the primary part. You can't snap the elbow without the wrist and fingers following, but you could snap the wrist without the elbow. All anyone has to do is look at a baseball pitcher, or any kind of throwing overhand. The thought of taking the elbow away from throwing a ball that way is preposterous.

Another classic cue I’ve stolen from you and works almost every time.

(If I’ve violated any patent laws, please note that I only charge my clients .02 per hour…

)

 

[lostcreek1]

Wrist snaps do nothing with IR/whip. An instructor that claims to teach IR/whip and teaches wrist snaps does not understand the kinematic sequence that elite pitchers use to deliver the ball.

Well that doesn't negate the fact that 99% of them do it.

 

[_MIA_]

Well that doesn't negate the fact that 99% of them do it.

and most people, by definition, are average.

 

[lostcreek1]

and most people, by definition, are average.

That is an irrefutable fact.

 

[radness]

Another classic cue I’ve stolen from you and works almost every time.

(If I’ve violated any patent laws, please note that I only charge my clients .02 per hour…

)

It's nice to see compliments on the forum!

 

[Rosey]

Wrist snaps do nothing with IR/whip. An instructor that claims to teach IR/whip and teaches wrist snaps does not understand the kinematic sequence that elite pitchers use to deliver the ball.

Edit: I meant to say that Ken B's statement is spot on I think.

I consider a wrist snap an extension of the wrist to flexion. Some people may have different definitions. The whole point of IR is that the wrist is stable (not necessarily tense) and the ball gets let out right after IR hopefully with brush but not always. There is no snap to me on any pitch.

Overhand too.

Snap

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