4Knobs
Device Design & Description
This is a baseball/softball hitting (batting) swing training device (apparatus) that “attracts”, encourages, develops, and promotes the proper use of the wrists in a specific & certain sequence/pattern as performed by Hall of Fame caliber Major League Baseball players, as well as All-American female college softball players.
This device ballistically stimulates & strengthens the muscles, joints, ligaments & fascia of the wrists, forearms & arms by working against a counterforce using resilient force resisters.
This is an entirely new wrist training hitting concept based on using a split grip to “attract”, encourage/promote bilateral SEPARATE activity of the hands.
A unique feature of this bat handle is that it has 4 knobs. (1) One is in the traditional position found on all bats at the end/bottom of the handle. (2) At the top of the bottom hand grip. (3) Where the handle pulls apart for the spring, and at the bottom of the top hand grip. (4) At the top of the top hand grip.
The rotation of the bat/barrel with this hitting training device occurs between the player’s split grip of the bottom and top hand. The player’s arms do not move very much; instead, the player’s wrist rotates the bat until it makes contact with the ball. After the coupled move of the top hand wrist, the barrel is essentially now parallel to the incoming ball’s path. With wrist rotation, the player’s wrist rotates the barrel spring through 90 degrees, making it perpendicular to the ball’s path at the moment of contact.
In order to get the hitter to “feel” the rotation center or pivot point on the bat handle, the device spaces the batter’s two hands apart on the respective grips – the bottom hand on the black part and the top hand on the white part.
Only by activating the bat handle center of rotation by pulling the spring apart with proper wrist action of the bilateral use of the top and bottom hands can the batter duplicate & feel what hitters who demonstrate elite hitting ability do.
- The Top Hand of the batter is placed on the top part of the handle between 2 knobs.
- The top hand & bottom hand are separated by or split apart by the knobs that allow the spring to pull apart.
- The bottom hand of the batter is placed on the bottom part of the handle between 2 knobs.
The second handle on the hitting training device (shown here as pictured in “white”) is for the hitter’s top hand and is located above the top of the bottom hand handle. It, too, is a graspable, cylindrical handle.
The top hand handle requires a “sequential coupling” movement of the top hand wrist.
When the top hand turns, it engages the spring and creates tension and rotary friction required for the hitter to create and cultivate elasticity.
When the hitter turns clockwise with his/her top hand and counterclockwise with his/her bottom hand, the spring is placed under tension and stretches apart.
The photo is of Ty Cobb showing his hands spaced apart with his respective grips – also known as a split grip.
There is a rotation of the center on the bat handle between the hands.
Bilateral SEPARATE activity of the hands is a key training component of this hitting training device. Bilateral separate activity of the hands creates equal & opposite forces and applies pressure to the bat handle in specific movement planes.
In hitting, the bottom hand is providing stability while the top hand, via the wrist, is making precise, separate movements.
The ability to pre-tense the muscle around the joint and either reduce or remove muscle slack before performing a dynamic action like the baseball/softball swing is a separating factor between performing at a top level or a mediocre level.
During hitting training, the concept is to “cultivate” the elasticity of the fascia, tendons, and ligaments. The object of this hitting training device is to cultivate elasticity through movements of the top hand wrist. And with this training device, the ballistic stretch is “bouncy,” “quick,” “athletic” and “cultivated” within a time constraint (within a 100th of a second) in a rhythmic, coordinated, sequenced motion.
Training with resistance while performing the specific hitting movements has been found to be very effective in improving functional strength and is increasingly favored over training with heavy weights using slow, specific motions.
Wrist & forearm motions to move the bat barrel to reach multiple targets and different parts of the hitting/strike zone cannot be modeled by simple, uncoupled motions.
Wrist motion is classically described in terms of two orthogonal axes: pure flexion-extension and pure radial-ulnar deviation. Baseball/softball hitting requires the wrist to rotate close to simultaneously about both axes.
The wrist kinematic strategy for reaching targets in the various parts of the strike zone requires significant coupling between ulnar deviation and wrist extension. Most non-elite baseball/softball hitters try to use uncoupled wrist motions & simply cannot anatomically get to the located targets, thus forcing them to make inefficient, compensatory movements/adjustments that most times involve the improper and excessive use of the shoulders & upper trunk. Such compensatory shoulder movements include counter rotation of the upper torso/“big” moves, trying to get length with their hands behind the rear shoulder, which compromises control & consistency & power.
The wrist rotates faster than any other link. In order to make the barrel spring snap & recoil, the player needs to create wrist rotation of approximately 2,700 degrees per second. The faster the wrist rotation happens then the longer the player can wait to perform the final wrist movement — elite hitters can delay wrist rotation until .29 milliseconds before contact with the ball.
The bat’s barrel is only in contact with the ball for .005 (½ of a millisecond); applying force after contact or focusing on arm extension or a long follow-through or finish is flawed.
A training device that simply helps a batter to “break” his/her wrists to make contact, or focusing on “finish” by accelerating the barrel or applying force post-contact, is flawed & not the object of this device.
A golf club swing is very different from a baseball/softball swing; thus, hitting training devices should be sport-specific.
Repeated use of this training device as part of a player’s daily hitting protocol will promote muscle memory for proper swing technique.
This is a self-teaching training device, encouraging the player to train implicitly by acquiring the skill and feel without lots of instruction.
The wrists are an “attractor” — meaning if the player performs these wrist movements, then their body will self-organize and be attracted to perform the other parts of the swing towards an elite movement pattern.
The wrist is the foundation of all movements of the hands, fingers, thumbs, and forearms needed for the use of the upper extremities. Many athletes require the benefits of improved control and additional strength to the wrist muscles, tendons, and joints; hitters must increase their wrist range of motion and strength in order to achieve peak performance, and this is a specific objective of this hitting training device.
This hitting training device is sports-specific to baseball and softball, and skill-specific to hitting/batting. The position in which the device is held and the motions through which it is moved provide specificity training, ensuring the daily repetitions on this device will transfer to game performance.
If a player/hitter is not provided solutions to improve their movement patterns through positive growth and reliable, proven protocols, then it is highly unlikely they can improve their skill performances.
Device Design & Description
This is a baseball/softball hitting (batting) swing training device (apparatus) that “attracts”, encourages, develops, and promotes the proper use of the wrists in a specific & certain sequence/pattern as performed by Hall of Fame caliber Major League Baseball players, as well as All-American female college softball players.
This device ballistically stimulates & strengthens the muscles, joints, ligaments & fascia of the wrists, forearms & arms by working against a counterforce using resilient force resisters.
This is an entirely new wrist training hitting concept based on using a split grip to “attract”, encourage/promote bilateral SEPARATE activity of the hands.
A unique feature of this bat handle is that it has 4 knobs. (1) One is in the traditional position found on all bats at the end/bottom of the handle. (2) At the top of the bottom hand grip. (3) Where the handle pulls apart for the spring, and at the bottom of the top hand grip. (4) At the top of the top hand grip.
The rotation of the bat/barrel with this hitting training device occurs between the player’s split grip of the bottom and top hand. The player’s arms do not move very much; instead, the player’s wrist rotates the bat until it makes contact with the ball. After the coupled move of the top hand wrist, the barrel is essentially now parallel to the incoming ball’s path. With wrist rotation, the player’s wrist rotates the barrel spring through 90 degrees, making it perpendicular to the ball’s path at the moment of contact.
In order to get the hitter to “feel” the rotation center or pivot point on the bat handle, the device spaces the batter’s two hands apart on the respective grips – the bottom hand on the black part and the top hand on the white part.
Only by activating this bat handle center of rotation by pulling the spring apart with proper wrist action of the bilateral use of the top and bottom hands can the batter duplicate & feel what hitters who demonstrate elite hitting ability do.
- The Top Hand of the batter is placed on the top part of the handle between 2 knobs.
- The top hand & bottom hand are separated by or split apart by the knobs that allow the spring to pull apart.
- The bottom hand of the batter is placed on the bottom part of the handle between 2 knobs.
The second handle on the hitting training device (shown here as pictured in “white”) is for the hitter’s top hand and is located above the top of the bottom hand handle. It, too, is a graspable, cylindrical handle.
The top hand handle requires a “sequential coupling” movement of the top hand wrist.
When the top hand turns, it engages the spring and creates tension and rotary friction required for the hitter to create and cultivate elasticity.
When the hitter turns clockwise with his/her top hand and counterclockwise with his/her bottom hand, the spring is placed under tension and stretches apart.
The photo is of Ty Cobb showing his hands spaced apart with his respective grips – also known as a split grip.
There is a rotation of the center on the bat handle between the hands.
Bilateral SEPARATE activity of the hands is a key training component of this hitting training device. Bilateral separate activity of the hands creates equal & opposite forces and applies pressure to the bat handle in specific movement planes.
In hitting, the bottom hand is providing stability while the top hand, via the wrist, is making precise, separate movements.
The ability to pre-tense the muscle around the joint and either reduce or remove muscle slack before performing a dynamic action like the baseball/softball swing is a separating factor between performing at a top level or a mediocre level.
During hitting training, the concept is to “cultivate” the elasticity of the fascia, tendons, and ligaments. The object of this hitting training device is to cultivate elasticity through movements of the top hand wrist. And with this training device, the ballistic stretch is “bouncy,” “quick,” “athletic,” and “cultivated” within a time constraint (within a 100th of a second) in a rhythmic, coordinated, sequenced motion.
Training with resistance while performing the specific hitting movements has been found to be very effective in improving functional strength and is increasingly favored over training with heavy weights using slow, specific motions.
Wrist & forearm motions to move the bat barrel to reach multiple targets and different parts of the hitting/strike zone cannot be modeled by simple, uncoupled motions.
Wrist motion is classically described in terms of two orthogonal axes: pure flexion-extension and pure radial-ulnar deviation. Baseball/softball hitting requires the wrist to rotate close to simultaneously about both axes.
The wrist kinematic strategy for reaching targets in the various parts of the strike zone requires significant coupling between ulnar deviation and wrist extension. Most non-elite baseball/softball hitters try to use uncoupled wrist motions & simply cannot anatomically get to the located targets, thus forcing them to make inefficient, compensatory movements/adjustments that most times involve the improper and excessive use of the shoulders & upper trunk. Such compensatory shoulder movements include counter rotation of the upper torso/“big” moves, trying to get length with their hands behind the rear shoulder, which compromises control & consistency & power.
The wrist rotates faster than any other link. In order to make the barrel spring snap & recoil, the player needs to create wrist rotation of approximately 2,700 degrees per second. The faster the wrist rotation happens then the longer the player can wait to perform the final wrist movement – elite hitters can delay wrist rotation until .29 milliseconds before contact with the ball.
The bat’s barrel is only in contact with the ball for .005 (½ of a millisecond); applying force after contact or focusing on arm extension or a long follow-through or finish is flawed.
A training device that simply helps a batter to “break” his/her wrists to make contact, or focusing on “finish” by accelerating the barrel or applying force post-contact, is flawed & not the object of this device.
A golf club swing is very different from a baseball/softball swing; thus, hitting training devices should be sport-specific.
Repeated use of this training device as part of a player’s daily hitting protocol will promote muscle memory for proper swing technique.
This is a self-teaching training device, encouraging the player to train implicitly by acquiring the skill and feel without lots of instruction.
The wrists are an “attractor”-meaning if the player performs these wrist movements, then their body will self-organize and be attracted to perform the other parts of the swing towards an elite movement pattern.
The wrist is the foundation of all movements of the hands, fingers, thumbs, and forearms needed for the use of the upper extremities. Many athletes require the benefits of improved control and additional strength to the wrist muscles, tendons, and joints; hitters must increase their wrist range of motion and strength in order to achieve peak performance, and this is a specific objective of this hitting training device.
This hitting training device is sports-specific to baseball and softball, and skill-specific to hitting/batting. The position in which the device is held and the motions through which it is moved provide specificity training, ensuring the daily repetitions on this device will transfer to game performance.
If a player/hitter is not provided solutions to improve their movement patterns through positive growth and reliable, proven protocols, then it is highly unlikely they can improve their skill performances.