Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Oct 16 13:14:03 2000

>>>How do you line up your knucles? All my coaches have said to lign my middle knucles on my top hand with my middle knucles on my bottom hand but i see all kinds of good major league hitters lining them up differently. they line up thier middle knucles on thier top hand in between their big knucles and middle knucles on thier bottom hand. wich one is best? <<<
> >
> > Hi Kent
> >
> > I believe we need to rethink the whole concept of the baseball/softball grip. In fact, the term "grip" can be misleading when referring to the placement of the hands on the bat. We grip an object to prevent it from slipping or rotating in our hands. But there is no one "grip" (no slippage) that will allow the bat to stay on a good swing plane without a serious wrist-bind occurring. --- The bat must be allowed to rotate or slip in the hands as the swing progresses.
> >
> > Most of the better pro hitters have a raised back elbow as they prepare for the swing. The raising of the back elbow brings the forearms almost in-line with each other. This means the angle between the wrists is approaching 180 degrees (140 to 180 degrees). But as the swing progresses and the hands are extended (or rotated) toward contact, the angle between the wrist is steadily decreasing toward 10 to 15 degrees at contact.
> >
> > So batters who start with a raised back elbow and initiate the swing with top-hand-torque must have a "loose grip" or face wrist-bind problems. --- Batters who do grip the bat too tight have waves in their swing-plane due to wrist-binding.
> >
> > Kent, lining up the middle knuckles (10 to 30 degree wrist angles) encourages a "swing down" or wood chopping type of swing. Attempting a more level swing with this grip will cause a breakdown of the backside (topic for another time).
> >
> > PS. Wouldn't a term like "loose grip" be contradictory?
> >
> > Jack Mankin
> >
> >Jack
>
>>> How can the top hand be loose and still pull? I mean, pulling is pulling and loose is loose, right? I don't see how a hand with no pulling tension in it can pull something.<<<

Hi Melvin

When the batter pulls back on the bat with the top hand, the pressure from the pull in felt in the fingers of the top hand. But they are not clamped tightly around the bat. The grip (or hold) is loose enough to allow the bat to turn in the fingers as the batter pulls back and lowers the elbow to his side.

While the raised elbow lowers to the batter's side, the angle between the wrist decreases by 70 to 90 degrees. Then the back forearm must rotate downward from vertical to horizontal - another 80 or 90 degrees. Meanwhile, the palm of the lead hand must remain fairly downward all the way through contact. --- What do you think will happen if neither hand is allowed to slide or slip around the bat.

Jack Mankin