Posted by: Jon (jonwilliams@fuse.net) on Fri Sep 12 13:41:34 2003

Is there a technically correct hand position for hitting?

For example, Bret Boone looks like he has a really "strong" grip (in my definition of strong) where he has turned his hands so far that he's past the point of where the knuckles on each hand line up with each other. He looks like he's past the point of having an exact palm up/palm down position at impact. I would also observe that when I attempt this grip the backs of my wrists are completely flat with the back of my hand and lower arm below the elbow.

In my terminology I would call a "weak" grip one where (approximately) the middle joints on the fingers of each hand line up on the handle. It seems to me when I try to hit this way it encourages me to "release" my top hand (equivalant to golf terminology) or another way of saying it is that I think it either forces or at least encourages me to roll my wrists through impact. I would also observe that in this grip position I have a lot of wrist "cupping" (again a golf term)...or a lot of bend in the back of the wrists.

It appears to me that to get a palm up/palm down position at impact I need to have the flat part of the bottom half of my fingers lining up. I.e. the portion of your fingers between the knuckle and middle joint. If I line my hands up so the flat parts of the bottoms of my fingers line up I seem to get to a palm up/palm down alignment at impact.

Is there a truism that your hands have to be in a certain position to make a proper swing?

Thanks in advance for your input.
Jon