Swing Grip

The palm-up/palm-down part is at contact. As I understand it, this promotes the best opportunity to maximize energy transfer to the ball.

Precisely how a player holds the bat to get to palm-up/palm-down will vary based on the individual. The most common grip I hear is to line up the "door knocking knuckles". This is easy in a team/camp instruction setting because you can have all the kids knock on the floor with both hands and have them line up the appropriate knuckles.

The other common instruction I see is to have the player grip the bat and point their index fingers (while holding the bat), making sure they are pointed in the same direction.

I think the best advice regardless of how you actually hold the bat is to keep the grip light.

Just like golf a good swing starts with the grip. Many have it wrong, and grip the bat with a "death grip". As well as having the hands in the proper position, the bat must be gripped with the lower hand gripped toward the little fingers and upper hand gripped with the fingers. Ben Hogan used to say grip the club like you have a bird in your hand and I believe a good batting grip is the same. (Can't wait to see gotwood's take on this one)

Range of Motion

palm up and palm down = 90 degrees

'L' grip = 210 degrees

side to side = greater than 210 degrees

'L' Grip Advantage

'L' grip eliminates hand rolling.

Hands roll in the th/bh and s/s grips if you lose control of the bat speed.

'L' Grip and Side/Side grip

Both promote a 'short to the zone, and long through it' swing.

The grip is simple, place the bat in your fingers so the second sets of knuckles line up. the bat is held in the fingers not in the palm. This allows freedom in the hands. If you miss align you will feel it in the fore arm area, when set up properly you feel nothing.
The misalignment is where the death grip comes from. your hands and wrist can not roll through your swing.
Remember Ernie banks he would wiggle his fingers on the bat before the pitch. It was his way of reminding himself to hold the bat lightly. You will automatically firm up as you swing through.

Ernie held the bat with his second set of knuckles lined up with the first set on the other hand. (Box Grip) (L Grip)

If you ever get to Wrigley, take a look at the statue. The grip is the same.

I will have to the next time I'm there.

Knocker knuckles to puncher knuckles, if it's good enough for Bonds, it's good enough for me, lol, but palm up, palm down at contact is optimal, so you need to know what to do with the hands to get them from A to B.

Door knocking knuckles are great for ground balls.

Otherwise, use a comfy grip. Loose top hand.

Door knocker knuckles and a side/side swing grip will send that low and inside pitch into the stratosphere.

Power and Quincy,
Classic box grip explainations...worked over 100 years and no need to change it. Never heard it called anything but box grip; now I lnow what a L grip is.

Knocking knuckles is fine in LL in getting kids on the same page and to get the bathead into the hitting zone...just not the best method for adults.

'L' Grip is a knocker knuckle alignment.

While the 'box grip' will produce an 'L Grip' swing, knocker knuckle L is a looser faster grip. Think Rod Carew.

I once heard what I thought was a good answer to this. As all hitters are indeed different and hands vary in shape and size, just lay the bat comfortably in the fingers (not the palms). When you find a good feel, "just close your hands" and there you are! Now "don't squeeze too hard" and go hit.

Abrams,
I have never heard the term "Box Grip". Can you explain?

socalcoach,

Powertoallfields explained box grip perfectly. Box grip has been around forever; first heard the term from some old guys back in the early '60s.

Got it thanks, never new it even had a name.

Was watching BP and talking to an MLB player Friday about knuckles and his comment was that nobody lines up door knuckles. He said most MLB players are still trying to figure out why anybody recommends lining up door knocking knuckles. Very uncomfortable.

That MLB player must be a pitcher in the AL.

Ever hear of the bats that Don Mattingly sells?

If he hits better than Mattingly before he hurt his back, he'll be in the Hall of Fame.

"The baseball swing is the same as the golf swing, except for the stride." - Babe Ruth

Although Mattingly had a great career batting average his homerun production had to be among the lowest of HOF 1B. Anybody that has hit lining up knocking knuckle to knocking knuckle knows this is uncomfortable. I think I like HOF Mike Schmidt's comments about knuckles lining up "knuckles schmuckles". This can be found in his book on hitting.

It's the loosest most effective grip in swinging any device that is weighted at the top end.

I'll stick with the Babe on this one.

Good to see that Mike Schmidt's face has cleared up of all those pock marks during his more productive years.

"How to hit home runs: I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball...The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go. I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can."

Babe Ruth

quote:

Originally posted by Quincy:
It's the loosest most effective grip in swinging any device that is weighted at the top end.

A loose grip makes a lot of sense. The knocking knuckles to knocking knuckles is just too uncomfortable. I look at pictures of hitters and just don't see anyone using knuckles to knuckles. I'm not sure where this advice came from but I don't see it being applied. It was interesting to hear someone else that has been around baseball say the same thing.

Baseball is so steeped in tradition and that is a great thing but these ideas regarding hitting techniques need to be held to the magnifying glass. Video analysis and technology have enabled us to really take a close look at hitting.

A lot of the things I grew up believing regarding hitting are simply false and don't hold up to the scrutiny of slow motion video.

Early in Babe's career I would agree with the quote.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtXVC1irZGA

But the bat speed he generated as the Home Run Great requires a looser, faster, tighter swing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQONcj2RcDo

Golf Swing Comparison

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnq8t2JbIoI

Look at Hank Aaron too. He looks like he has a death grip on the bat with his top hand. I will say a tight top hand makes rotation of the wrist a little harder but it works for a lot of guys too.

To me tight bicep and shoulder muscles really kill batspeed and matter more than hand grip styles or pressure.

Some guys really grip the bat then you have guys like Pujols who don't use the death grip.

I totally agree with you on bicep tension slowing bat speed as well as limiting extension.

Any movement requiring extension of the arms requires triceps.

The expression 'strong hands' will give many the idea that the grip is tight. The seeming contradiction comes when the expression 'loose wrists' then follows.

Hand strength is required to hold on to the bat against the amount of force pulling the bat head away from the body.