Posted by: john (ajjdad@hotmail.com) on Mon Jun 23 21:22:10 2008

Making contact where you say you are, I believe is an indication of hitting around the baseball, and having your hands cast away from your body.Your hands are leading the swing. It's so important to have the back elbow coming through simultaneously with the upper body, at initiation of the swing, as the shoulders trigger swing launch. If that doesn't happen, the hands get away and, lead the swing, inducing the type of contact you described.
As far as grip, hold the bat in your fingers, not in the palms, and don't worry about aligning any knuckles. Be comfortable.