Snapping too early on the ball

[jhitman]

Yesterday I went and hit for a while. Probably 200 swings. For most of those 200 swings I was noticing a trend.... a distinct lack of ability to lift the ball. I was topping EVERYTHING. Lots of very average liners or even ground balls. Power was a little meh. Some balls I was driving well, while others were flying listlessly.

At about swing 150 I changed one thing that made a big difference. I started punching my hands forward more toward the pitcher, and letting the bat lag and wrist snap occur on their own. Before that it seems I was starting the wrist snap too early in my swing. Somewhat alligator arming the ball. I wasn't really driving through with the bottom hand. Instead, the top hand was trying to drive the (early) wrist snap. This resulted in a really early wrist roll, which caused the bat barrel to lift up and over the ball a bit. It also meant I couldn't get "inside" the ball very well either. Its really hard to generate any lift if you can't hit the inside part of the ball.

Yesterday made me realize the importance of "throwing the knob at the ball". That's basically what I started doing late during the BP session. Rather than forcing the snap, I was allowing it to occur on its own. I was definitely hitting the ball more out in front, but I was also lagging the bat better and keeping my hands out in front of the barrel as I swung. My wrists felt looser. Furthermore, I started getting under the ball way better and with authority.

I guess my point in posting this is that rolling the wrists early is a common problem, and seems to be a recurring one for me. I tend to do it late in BP or tournies when I start getting tired. Its like I'm trying to force the bat head around rather than let it swing around on its own.

Funny thing I have been doing the same lately and now working on letting the snap happen later after getting full bat lag with my lead arm. If you want to Ken (Swing makeover series) has a video on exactly this with Jeff Hall on SM #100. It really stresses exactly what you are speaking about above.

 

[TWmccoy]

Funny thing I have been doing the same lately and now working on letting the snap happen later after getting full bat lag with my lead arm. If you want to Ken (Swing makeover series) has a video on exactly this with Jeff Hall on SM #100. It really stresses exactly what you are speaking about above.

Yeah, its a real pain in the ass. I'll go out there and hit and start topping everything. I'm just not being assertive enough with my hands. Its surprisingly easier to snap early on the ball than you may think.

As soon as I made a more conscious effort to start throwing my hands forward I was hitting the ball harder, further, and with more spin. I was short arming a lot of swings without even realizing it.

Ken has made enough videos by now that I'd almost guarantee he has every single swing flaw covered.

 

[huzzdog]

I do. I wanna see your swing. To learn of course.

i've never taken a video.. did make a spoof though.. i'm the guy in white.. ( disclaimer.. it was after a league game and i was drunk)

 

[Country469]

I have that jersey in my closet

 

[huzzdog]

I have that jersey in my closet

yeah you do.. how's it smell

 

[Country469]

The one time a year I play I wear it for the first pool play game so probs like big foots ****

 

[jhitman]

Yeah, its a real pain in the ass. I'll go out there and hit and start topping everything. I'm just not being assertive enough with my hands. Its surprisingly easier to snap early on the ball than you may think.

As soon as I made a more conscious effort to start throwing my hands forward I was hitting the ball harder, further, and with more spin. I was short arming a lot of swings without even realizing it.

Ken has made enough videos by now that I'd almost guarantee he has every single swing flaw covered.

He has covered most flaws but SM #100 with Jeff Hall covers exactly what you were having an issue with. I tend to start my snap early as well and I think my issue is mostly caused by trying to tomahawk/oversnap to cut the ball. I tend to start early when doing that. Trying to fix it as we speak as you lose the bat lag when you commit this flaw.

 

[lukeamdman]

I'm not sure how it happened over the years but my top hand just got lazy. I stopped driving through the ball, and at one point it was so bad my top hand was letting go right at contact.

Switching to an overlap grip combined with "stabbing the knob" into the ball with the bottom hand changed everything for the better.

 

[dunkky]

i've never taken a video.. did make a spoof though.. i'm the guy in white.. ( disclaimer.. it was after a league game and i was drunk)

Thanks for the video. Great swing! Now i am going back to my swing and see what i am doing wrong.

 

[TWmccoy]

He has covered most flaws but SM #100 with Jeff Hall covers exactly what you were having an issue with. I tend to start my snap early as well and I think my issue is mostly caused by trying to tomahawk/oversnap to cut the ball. I tend to start early when doing that. Trying to fix it as we speak as you lose the bat lag when you commit this flaw.

I agree. The more you try to cut the ball, the more your top hand wants to start getting taking over the swing. Even using an overlap grip my top hand will get assertive and try to snap the bat prematurely.

My hitting improved dramatically when I didn't focus on snap at all. I basically just threw my hands forward at the ball and let the snap happen on its own. Positive results were pretty instantaneous.

Watched the Jeff Hall vid. He literally describes what I'm taking about right at the beginning of the vid. Punching the bottom hand/arm forward.

 

[TWmccoy]

I'm not sure how it happened over the years but my top hand just got lazy. I stopped driving through the ball, and at one point it was so bad my top hand was letting go right at contact.

Switching to an overlap grip combined with "stabbing the knob" into the ball with the bottom hand changed everything for the better.

I'm having the opposite problem. Bottom hand is lazy and not driving the ball. Top hand is trying to take over and do all the work, which is producing a lousy early over snap. Like I'm trying to force everything rather than letting my wrists and the bat do the work naturally.

Releasing the top hand early is another bastard of a problem though. I think everyone does it occasionally. It results in a horribly sloppy swing (tons of mis hits) and a loss of power.

 

[Redsfan]

the biggest problem for most of yall is you overthink this **** so much and make it a big deal.

I gotta side with Country on this topic. Some of you guys have so many thoughts in your head when you are hitting that I'm surprised you can hit the ball at all. I don't know why you would think about anything other than pulverizing that bright yellow ball hurling towards you at a blistering 12 mph?

 

[lukeamdman]

I gotta side with Country on this topic. Some of you guys have so many thoughts in your head when you are hitting that I'm surprised you can hit the ball at all. I don't know why you would think about anything other than pulverizing that bright yellow ball hurling towards you at a blistering 12 mph?

Some people aren't satisfied putting at much thought into as a caveman and would rather improve.

 

[Redsfan]

Luke, what I'm saying is when you are thinking about arm angles, grip, top hand, bottom hand, wrist snap and etc, you aren't thinking about the most important thing. That is hitting the ball. I try to think about nothing other than hitting the ball hard somewhere and it's worked out quite well for me.

 

[lukeamdman]

Luke, what I'm saying is when you are thinking about arm angles, grip, top hand, bottom hand, wrist snap and etc, you aren't thinking about the most important thing. That is hitting the ball. I try to think about nothing other than hitting the ball hard somewhere and it's worked out quite well for me.

In games absolutely.

In practice though, what TW is talking about, when you're fixing something is when you pay attention to the smaller details.

 

[Redsfan]

I usually don't think about much other than getting my timing down in practice. Haha.

 

[TWmccoy]

In games absolutely.

In practice though, what TW is talking about, when you're fixing something is when you pay attention to the smaller details.

Yes. During the offseason I'll work on stuff. I basically have 4 months of no games to mess around and tweak my swing. Sometimes I'll take a long, leisurely BP where I break down swing elements and look for patterns. What's working? What isn't working? What can I do to fix it? BP the other day was somewhat of a breakthrough for me. I had been doing the same thing wrong for a long time without even realizing it. It wasn't even that my swing was sucking, but I could tell it wasn't as good as it could be.

I FULLY agree that no one should approach the plate in a game thinking about 23 different swing elements at once. You'll never have success that way.

Call me a perfectionist, but I want my swing working as efficiently as possible. I'm fully willing to take the time to work out kinks.

 

[lukeamdman]

Yes. During the offseason I'll work on stuff. I basically have 4 months of no games to mess around and tweak my swing. Sometimes I'll take a long, leisurely BP where I break down swing elements and look for patterns. What's working? What isn't working? What can I do to fix it? BP the other day was somewhat of a breakthrough for me. I had been doing the same thing wrong for a long time without even realizing it. It wasn't even that my swing was sucking, but I could tell it wasn't as good as it could be.

I FULLY agree that no one should approach the plate in a game thinking about 23 different swing elements at once. You'll never have success that way.

Call me a perfectionist, but I want my swing working as efficiently as possible. I'm fully willing to take the time to work out kinks.

I've only ever played in D leagues so it goes without saying that we really suck. For the first 5-6 years though I was always in the 3rd or 4th spot in the batting lineup. We'd have maybe one team practice before the season started each year but other than an indoor cage here or there in the off season I never did batting practice.

For reasons unknown, possibly just me getting older, I started to hit off the end cap more and more, and I didn't realize it at the time but my arm extension was getting worse and worse. Before I knew it I had worked my way to the back of the lineup.

About 3 years ago, at the end of the lineup and starting to get frustrated and not enjoying softball anymore because I was hitting like pure crap all the time, I decided to record my swing. Holy Toledo...everything about every part of my swing absolutely sucked.

Starting then I examined every part of my stance, stride, grip, extension, etc while also doing BP every weekend. The following spring there was some definite improvement but it's taken a few years to get to where I don't cringe when I watch video of my swing.

This last fall season is when I finally started to NOT think about my swing at the plate in games and my power and consistency was the best it's ever been.

 

[huzzdog]

i've never thought about the swing mechanically. golf.. that's a whole different story. .probably why i was a much better softball player than golfer

 

[dunkky]

i agree. softball is no different than any other thing. In order to get better, you have to analyze everything and identify what you are doing wrong. so u don't repeat that in the real games.

this reminds of me a time when I had to prepare for an exam in HS. my friend told me, why i bother putting several hours to study when there's not much to study. He was a damn smart dude, but what he failed to realize is that not everyone had his comprehension level.

 

[jhitman]

Yes. During the offseason I'll work on stuff. I basically have 4 months of no games to mess around and tweak my swing. Sometimes I'll take a long, leisurely BP where I break down swing elements and look for patterns. What's working? What isn't working? What can I do to fix it? BP the other day was somewhat of a breakthrough for me. I had been doing the same thing wrong for a long time without even realizing it. It wasn't even that my swing was sucking, but I could tell it wasn't as good as it could be.

I FULLY agree that no one should approach the plate in a game thinking about 23 different swing elements at once. You'll never have success that way.

Call me a perfectionist, but I want my swing working as efficiently as possible. I'm fully willing to take the time to work out kinks.

I do this exactly too. I don't have games in the Winter basically Nov thru end of Feb. On somewhat mild days I go out with my bucket of balls and work on things. Nothing wrong with trying to improve your game. Of course when the games come in early April hopefully have what I worked on during the Winter down pat so I can just go up to the plate and swing away.

 

[TWmccoy]

I've only ever played in D leagues so it goes without saying that we really suck. For the first 5-6 years though I was always in the 3rd or 4th spot in the batting lineup. We'd have maybe one team practice before the season started each year but other than an indoor cage here or there in the off season I never did batting practice.

For reasons unknown, possibly just me getting older, I started to hit off the end cap more and more, and I didn't realize it at the time but my arm extension was getting worse and worse. Before I knew it I had worked my way to the back of the lineup.

About 3 years ago, at the end of the lineup and starting to get frustrated and not enjoying softball anymore because I was hitting like pure crap all the time, I decided to record my swing. Holy Toledo...everything about every part of my swing absolutely sucked.

Starting then I examined every part of my stance, stride, grip, extension, etc while also doing BP every weekend. The following spring there was some definite improvement but it's taken a few years to get to where I don't cringe when I watch video of my swing.

This last fall season is when I finally started to NOT think about my swing at the plate in games and my power and consistency was the best it's ever been.

I think everyone should take a look at their swing once in a while and make adjustments. Things change over time. You won't have exactly the same swing from year to year.

I applaud anyone who's willing to take the time to fix their swing when things are awry. I play with plenty of guys who run into prolonged sucky periods and seem content to do nothing about it.

Aging will definitely change your swing, often without you even realizing it. I won't call myself old yet, but I've reached an age where I feel adjustments need to be made to stay consistent.

 

[swingnmiss]

I don't "snap" my wrists at all......... Things like that happen naturally in my swing. I do not force a "snap" or a "roll".........I just let things happen naturally......Like a whip cracking.

 

[jhitman]

I don't "snap" my wrists at all......... Things like that happen naturally in my swing. I do not force a "snap" or a "roll".........I just let things happen naturally......Like a whip cracking.

Also if you force the snap it tend to slow down your bat. If you have a good swing the wrists should snap naturally like you stated above.

 

[dunkky]

i think snapping is an outcome of good extension. Perhaps, one should focus on good arm extension.

 

[TWmccoy]

i think snapping is an outcome of good extension. Perhaps, one should focus on good arm extension.

This is true. I'm going hitting again later this week. Obviously I have something to work on. I ended my last BP session well. I'll see if I can recreate the magic of arm extension and throwing the knob at the ball.

 

[dunkky]

same here bro. i got a lotta work to do. wish i can see some live pitching. maybe i'll drag one of my lazy ass friends to pitch me.

 

[TWmccoy]

Today I was back at it with BP. Rather than simply throwing my hands forward today, I focused on aiming them directly at the ball as it came in. This took a little getting used to. Generally I try to swing inside the ball. However, doing that resulted in the problems discussed in the first post of this thread.

Initially I wondered how this could even work. My initial thoughts were "how the hell am I going to NOT hit the handle here?" My hands just seemed so far away from my body. However, throwing my hands at the ball worked..... perhaps better than I'd even imagined. By getting my hands out and at the ball I wasn't snapping too early. My swing felt surprisingly fluid and powerful. The hands went forward right at the ball, and at the end of the extension the bat head came whipping around on its own (no top hand push, like before).

Overall, my BP session today was light years better than my last one. I was getting inside the ball using different mechanics than I'm used to. I was lifting the ball well, and touching distances I haven't seen in a long while.

Throwing your hands at the ball works. By the end of the session today I was feeling really good repeating that motion swing after swing. I wasn't short arming anything, and I was getting good air and backspin on the ball. Done properly you really can throw your hands right at the ball without jamming yourself.

 

[lukeamdman]

Hit any bombs with that 10" FF2 yet?

 

[TWmccoy]

Hit any bombs with that 10" FF2 yet?

Haven't swung it. I'm not going to bust that bat out until games start. I generally don't swing gamers in BP. I usually use an assortment of old alloy bats and hit .52s for BP. Today was 37 degrees and I didn't dent or crack any of them. I love .52s.