Posted by: betterbatter (jtwelborn@triad.rr.com) on Sun Oct 12 20:20:37 2008

> Jack, can you or anyone share anything on the overlapping pinky grip. That is the pinky finger of the Top Hand overlaps the bottom hand and the pinky finger of the bottom hand overlaps the bat knob. I hear this can give you up to 5-7 miles on hour additional bat speed. Is this true?



This is a very interesting question. I would not recommend overlapping top hand fingers over the bottom hand fingers. The push/pull effect that the rotational swing/curved hand path induces on the bat handle through the hands would likely be affected.

As for the pinkie finger overlapping the knob, I don't think that would be detrimental to energy transfer. I believe four bottom hand fingers can exert as much pull on the handle as five. Many major leaguers can be observed doing this.

Actually, the pinkie over the knob is a trick we sometimes use in our fastpitch program. Although we don't normally recommend it, there is a situation where we do use it. Just about every year we have young players coming into the program (high school) who insist on using their favorite bat that they have had for several years, ...and outgrown. By slipping the pinkie finger over the knob, the bat instantly becomes one inch longer. If the player is ready for that additional inch in bat length, the improved results are immediately noticeable. It is not long before she is ready to retire the old bat and get one that better fits her size and strength.