HITTING Bad Advice Skills & Instructions BASIC ADVANCED BASICS The Bat Grip Stance Load & Stride Swing Special Situations Bunting Illustrated Step by Step   ADVANCED Stance versus Swing Bat Angle  Bat Selection  Aluminum or wood Bat Size Bat Sizes and Age Getting Ready HITTING APPROACH  KNOW YOURSELF How do you step in the box? KNOW YOUR OPPONENT STRATEGY KNOW THE SITUATION BE A TOUGH OUT GRIP LOOSEN UP PICK IT UP LIKE AN AX KEEP LOOSE STANCE  DIG IN WEIGHT AND HANDS LOCATION IN THE BOX DEPTH Proper Hitting Goals On-Deck Preparation Stance versus Swing Bat Angle COIL STRIDE COMMON PROBLEM Keep the Front Toe Closed During the Stride Perfecting the Stride Hitting Off Your Front Leg "Squishing the Bug" Flat-Snap Hitting Finishing the Swing Seeing the Ball Plate Coverage and Forward Extension  Poor Timing Correcting a Weak Swing Lunging and Over Striding Lunging forward during stride Over Striding Staying Closed Before the Swing  Stepping Out on the Pitch The Level Swing Bunting The K Factor (The Strike factor) Trouble Shooting Your Hitting Free Download Video's Coaches   PITCHING CATCHER OUTFIELD  INFIELD  SHORTSTOP  CATCHING  GROUNDBALLS

Lesson number one:  Loose muscles are fast muscles. Take a light but firm grip with the bat in the fingers of the hands. The easiest way to ensure that you are keeping the bat up in the fingers is to rotate your hands so that the second row of knuckles on each hand line up with each other. Never hold the bat back in the palms of the hands! Holding the bat in this manner inhibits the flexion of the wrists during the swing and robs you of natural quickness and power. Holding the bat in the palms can also be very painful. I have seen many batters, of all levels, strike the ball while holding the bat incorrectly and receive a terrible bruise near the web of the top hand. These bruises seem to linger with hitters for several days or even weeks. Believe me, it only takes one of these bruises to make a believer out of you about the importance of holding the bat in the fingers. If  you are uncomfortable with aligning your knuckles as described earlier, try rotating the hands until the second and third knuckles line up with each other This is known as a "box grip" and is used by quite a few Major League players. Either way, it is important to be comfortable. So, pick the one that feels the best for your size and shape of hand and stick with it. Both ways may feel a little uncomfortable at first, but it is important that you pick the one most suitable for you and practice it over and over. Soon it will become second nature to hold it in your fingers automatically. When that happens, you will have laid the foundation for all of the other parts of the swing to work effectively. The grip is the first of the three essential fundamentals you will need to master if you want to become a good hitter. Remember, the hands are the only body part connected to the bat. The bat is the only thing you have to contact the ball. Get this most basic of fundamentals down so that it is an unconscious act, something you don't have to give any thought to whatsoever. Some of the great hitters in Major League history were said to have carried their bats around everywhere they went. Just to carry it, to get used to feeling it in their hands, to grip it, to feel it's weight, to feel comfortable with it. You can do the same. The great thing about practicing the grip, is that you don't have to be anywhere near a ballpark to do it. You don't need any extra space. All you need is a bat. You can practice your proper grip while watching your favorite program. Or even better, while watching a baseball game on television. If you do watch a game, you can take advantage of the opportunity to study how Major League hitters are holding their bats. Pay attention to how loose their grips are. You can learn a lot if you know what you are looking for. Remember; loose, comfortable and up in the fingers. info was obtained from www.BeABetterHitter.Com [Back to BASICS]                   Click the button above to go back to the web page or web site you were at before coming to this page Do you like what you see, got a gripe, would you like to see something added to this site? Conatct us at jontanderson@juno.com