Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: KSTEVENS () on Fri Feb 27 09:44:26 2004

My opinion on this topic is that is is basically personal preference. You will notice in the major leagues that the grip tends to be one of the areas where there is a great deal of variation among hitters. In particular whether they have the small knuckles lined up with each other. Usually I tell kids that if they prefer to have the small knuckles in line that it is fine. Some young kids will misunderstand this and over-exaggerate it to the point where there wrists do start to turn in too far. In my opinion, the most important thing with the grip, is whether the hitter will have the ability to "unload," as I call it. "Unloading" the hands is what I call the portion of the swing when the barrel of the bat goes from being back to straightening out. I believe it is refered to as torque on this website. The bottom line is that if the hitter grips the bat so that the large knuckles of both hands are in line with each other, he will not be able to "unload" his hands. I believe that there are many "acceptable" grips, and that as long as the hitter can maintain a sort of L-shape between the back of his hand and wrist, he will be able to "unload" on contact. Probably the most common, and worst problem with hitters is that they over grip the bat. Gripping the bat too tight does not allow the barrel of the bat to "unload" because it causes the hitter to pull or drag the bat through the zone. This results in slower bat speed and makes it very difficult to adjust to pitch location. The hands are obviously the only physical link between the body and bat. A tight grip makes the bat become like an extension of the arms, which causes this pulling or dragging that I have described. What I mean by the bat becoming an extension of the arms is that the hitter uses his arms to maneuver the bat rather than his hands and wrists. It sounds silly, but there are tons of kids who do this, and all because of a tight grip.

I wrote this rather quickly so if anyone does not understand what I am "trying" to say please respond and I will try to clarify.

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> My opinion on this topic is that is is basically personal preference. You will notice in the major leagues that the grip tends to be one of the areas where there is a great deal of variation among hitters.  In particular whether they have the small knuckles lined up with each other.  Usually I tell kids that if they prefer to have the small knuckles in line that it is fine. Some young kids will misunderstand this and over-exaggerate it to the point where there wrists do start to turn in too far. In my opinion, the most important thing with the grip, is whether the hitter will have the ability to "unload,"  as I call it. "Unloading" the hands is what I call the portion of the swing when the barrel of the bat goes from being back to straightening out. I believe it is refered to as torque on this website. The bottom line is that if the hitter grips the bat so that the large knuckles of both hands are in line with each other, he will not be able to "unload" his hands. I believe that there are many "acceptable" grips, and that as long as the hitter can maintain a sort of L-shape between the back of his hand and wrist, he will be able to "unload" on contact. Probably the most common, and worst problem with hitters is that they over grip the bat. Gripping the bat too tight does not allow the barrel of the bat to "unload" because it causes the hitter to pull or drag the bat through the zone. This results in slower bat speed and makes it very difficult to adjust to pitch location. The hands are obviously the only physical link between the body and bat. A tight grip makes the bat become like an extension of the arms, which causes this pulling or dragging that I have described. What I mean by the bat becoming an extension of the arms is that the hitter uses his arms to maneuver the bat rather than his hands and wrists. It sounds silly, but there are tons of kids who do this, and all because of a tight grip. 
> 
> I wrote this rather quickly so if anyone does not understand what I am "trying" to say please respond and I will try to clarify.

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