Bottom Hand/Fingers

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May 15, 2008
1,913
113
Cape Cod Mass.
I have been looking for information on the roll of the bottom hand fingers in the swing and haven't found much. Lots of info on the proper grip but nothing on the tension level and the consequences of loose fingers. So I cut the handle off an old bat and have been sitting on the couch watching softball and playing around with grips and grip tension. I have taken an interest in this because I have a couple of players that swing with an angle of less than 90 degrees between the bottom hand forearm and the bat (handle). They also have a problem getting the barrel out into the zone quick enough. They can't hit the outside pitch and can't pull the inside one. It seems to me that there is a lot flexibility in the bottom hand, the last 3 fingers aren't very strong and the soft tissue in the crotch of the thumb allows the bat handle to move substantially. I'm thinking that this 'looseness' allows the bat head to lag too far behind the hands. I have tried getting these players to focus on turning the barrel into the with the top hand but it's not working.
To stiffen the bottom hand the first thing I tried was an elastic wrist wrap. It has a loop that goes over the thumb, then I wrap it around the last 3 fingers and up across the vee between the thumb and the index finger. This cuts the flexibility in the hand and makes a substantial difference in my swing. The barrel definitely gets out sooner.
Next I tried a Pro Hitter pad on the bottom hand and this too made a similar difference, but it's uncomfortable and not very stable. I ordered a Thumb-Per to try.
Lastly, being a golfer myself I tried a full finger golf grip where the thumb is placed on the handle and the top hand fits over it. This too had a similar effect. The thumb adds a significant amount of support to the bottom hand grip. This week at team hitting I'm going to have my problem hitters try these methods.
 
Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
Lastly, being a golfer myself I tried a full finger golf grip where the thumb is placed on the handle and the top hand fits over it. This too had a similar effect. The thumb adds a significant amount of support to the bottom hand grip. This week at team hitting I'm going to have my problem hitters try these methods.
This is interesting. Will be awaiting the follow up post.
 
Nov 18, 2015
1,585
113
Joey Meyers (Hitting Performance Lab) had several videos and blog posts about swing speed (and exit velo?) that was correlated to grip / finger pressure.
 
Oct 16, 2008
164
18
SE Michigan
Nice post. Your players might be suffering from bat drag. Bat drag refers to when the body is turning but due some disconnection between the body structure and the arm/hand structure causing a lot of body created energy to not get to the bat....slippage. Grip and hand pressure can often play a part. Generally more grip pressure will firm up the whole arm structure. With drag, players feel like they can't get the barrel to the ball so their solution is often to open the front shoulder earlier but then they pull off and can't hit the outside pitch. Sometime it's the bottom grip being too loose but sometimes it's the top hand being too tight causing rolling over toppers.
 

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