Ken Griffey Jr.

“Line up the ‘door knocking’ knuckles” is the phrase I hear most often to describe the correct way to grip a baseball bat.  It seems to be widely accepted, but is it really true?  What is the correct or proper way to grip the bat?

Check out these pics and make your own conclusion: knocking knucles photos

Barry Bonds

Here is another study that I was a part of at La Tech – this one was done to see if adding weight to the forearms while training (taking swings) would help improve bat speed and batted ball velocity.

Read more…

I had always been told that baseball players NEED strong hands and forearms.  Made sense – that’s what holds on to the bat and ball, a lot of MLB guys seems to have huge forearms – so, there I went with the wrist roller and rice bucket.  Didn’t get me too far.

On the other hand, when I started to learn a bit about specificity, over/underload and feedback, things started to change.  During the time when I really increased my bat speed, I did absolutely no direct hand/forearm strength training. 

And I have seen the same scenario play out for a number of other players as well.

Hey, just my experience.

Until I was 21 years old and a junior in college, the focus I had heard from almost every instructor I can remember was the hands.  Throwing the hands at the ball, quick wrists, use those hands, etc.  I’d never had someone explain to me what it meant to use my body efficiently. 

The following is an explanation on the role of the hands and forearms from Yale University Physics professor Robert Adair’s The Physics of Baseball:

The main thing that jumps out to me here is that the role of the hands is to TRANSFER energy rather than supply it.  So the hands/arm need to be strong enough to transmit energy generated by the body’s rotation.

More on “efficient” forearm/grip strengthening to come…