Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Thu Dec 6 10:26:38 2001

What do you think?
> >
> > Tom-
> > what is the 'open top hand'? The only top hand stuff I've heard C. Lau talk about is letting go on follow through. Do you mean something else?
>
> MD-
>
> Mr. Lau is in a much better position to explain this.From the reader's perspective,this is one of the most emphasized points in the book.To learn the feel of the swing and break the habit of tophand dominance,Lau recommends several alternative ways of using/gripping with the top hand.This promotes maximum extension and followthrough of the bottom hand arm.
>
> In his recommended drills,Drill#1 is the "open top hand" drill.The bat is gripped in the usual way with the bottom hand while in the top hand it basically just rests in the "V" between the thumb and base of the first finger with the open palm facing the pitcher.Since Lau is a proponent of the 2nd knuckle lined up grip,this results in the base of the thumb applying top hand torque in the initiation of the swing,at least that's how I analyze it.A lot of the teaching here is necessary to avoid the "wrist bind" Jack talks about(which results from a grip that doesn't allow the top hand to slip) as well as initiate the swing with tht.

I haven't read the book and don't speak for CL. IMO, the loose top hand or open hand CAN be used for tht and to ease wrist bind. However, I agree with Jack about using a non-thumb grip (pull with the fingers) to get tht. I think that is a better way than 'pushing' with the thumb. I'm guessing that CL didn't intend tht or its effects to come from this drill.
However the loose grip will ease the bind problem, don't you think?
My daughter's wrist is sore, probably from this, and we're going to work on this tonight so I can experiment some right away and report back.