How much or little do you think the grip on the bat effects the hitters approach and/or swing?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kostas Moumos on July 10, 2011 at 4:53pm

Sure, Grip effects hitting!

The late great Ted Williams carried around rubber balls which he squeezed in order to strengthen his grip.

My son uses stress balls from the dollar store to strengthen his grip.

Permalink Reply by Jim Rickon on July 10, 2011 at 5:26pm

I love the stress balls! What about the slot in the hand and the way that the bat is angled in the hand regarding the grip. (position of the grip on the bat)

Permalink Reply by Kostas Moumos on July 10, 2011 at 11:37pm

?

 

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Jim Rickon on July 11, 2011 at 2:03am

Ever thought about which fingers of the hand are made for gripping?

Permalink Reply by Kostas Moumos on July 12, 2011 at 3:28pm

Thumb, index and middle.

Permalink Reply by Jim Rickon on July 12, 2011 at 4:14pm

Actually, the middle finger, the ring finger, and the pinky are designed for gripping. Those three fingers contain more than twenty muscles that extend into the forearm. The index finger and thumb only consist of five muscles that are more for picking things up (fine tuning)

Hitters that engage the bottom three fingers of the hand on the grip of the bat gain more control and feel for where the barrel is. Especially with the top hand. Try to hold a bat with one hand using the index finger and thumb vs using the other three fingers. Tha angle that the bat is at in the hand is related to this as well.

Permalink Reply by Kostas Moumos on July 12, 2011 at 5:12pm

That's wicked!

I never thought about it.

 

Permalink Reply by Kostas Moumos on July 12, 2011 at 5:14pm

From now on I'll have my son squeeze the stress balls more with his smaller fingers.

Thanks for the info.

 

Permalink Reply by Jim Rickon on July 12, 2011 at 5:20pm

No problem. Have him contunue strengthening his entire hand, but have him grip the bat with his bottom three fingers rather than his index finger. He can get used to this grip by pointing the end of the bat toward the pitcher as he grips the bat. He needs to maintain that grip on the bat as he gets into his stance.

Permalink Reply by Larry Cicchiello on September 10, 2012 at 5:56pm

I think the grip does play a part in successful hitting. I've found that younger hitters, in particular, squeeze the bat too tightly. Even advanced hitters when in a slump sometimes tense up and grab the bat too tightly. I've heard the baseball expression that "Joe is in a slump and he's gripping the bat so tightly the saw dust is coming out." This will decrease their bat speed. Similar to a pitcher squeezing and/or choking the baseball to slow a pitch down and fool a hitter. Another common problem is some hitters grip the bat with their palms instead of where the fingers meet the hands. Get those knocking knuckles lined up!!!