How to Grip a Baseball Bat: Baseball Bat Grips

How to Grip a Baseball Bat: Baseball Bat Grips: In the batter’s box, the grip is one of the most important parts of your swing.

Without it, everything else can be thrown off and you can’t control your swing as well. In this guide, we’ll cover the benefits of a good baseball bat grip, the proper way of gripping a bat, three main ways to grip a bat, and choosing the right bat grip tape.

Ways To Grip A Bat

If hitting is about confidence and about playing with MORE calmness, toughness & focus and LESS tension, pressure & anxiety, then how we grip the bat is important.

Occasionally - I see big league hitters with the bat grip deep in the pocket or palm of the hand. I think hitters can get away with this when they're naturally strong or have achieved a certain level of grip strength that allows them to do this.

More often than not, I would recommend young hitters learn how to grip the bat with the handle in the fingers.

Benefits of Good Bat Grip

When you have a proper grip on your bat, you have more power in your hands. With a strong grip, you’re better able to control your swing and make solid contact. Without one, you won’t drive through the ball and your bat will slow down.

Speaking of speed, a proper grip can quicken your swing as well as give you more power. With your hands in the right spot, you’re better positioned to move your bat through the strike zone, making contact with the ball.

What else can you get from a proper bat grip? If your hands are in the right spot, you’ll be able to adjust your swing quickly if you get fooled by the incoming pitch.

The right grip will also make your whole body relax. Your swing won’t be nearly as effective when you’re tense.

Finding the right bat grip is about mechanics and preference. There are right ways and wrong ways to hold a bat. But there is no single, right way to grip a bat that suits everyone. Once you learn the fundamentals, you can adjust your grip to work for you.

We’ll cover three major types of grips below to help you find yours. But first, let’s look at the process for gripping a bat properly.

How to Grip a Baseball Bat – 3 Step Process

1) Knuckles

The first thing you should look at when adjusting your grip is your knuckles. Conventional wisdom has always said to line up the first knuckles (the knuckles at the base of your fingers) on each hand.

Aim instead to line up the flat parts of your fingers between your first and second knuckles, which you can see demonstrated in this.

2) Work Backwards

The next step is taking your bat through your swing to contact point and then stopping.

You should see where your wrists are, if they’re supporting the bat or not. Wherever your wrists are comfortably stacked behind the bat should help determine your best grip.

3) Grip in Your Fingertips

This next step will help you keep the bat out of the palm of your hands and in your fingertips. Take the bat in your bottom hand, with your usual grip.

Take your top hand and wrap your fingertips around the bat, above your bottom hand.

Once you have the bat loosely in your top-hand fingertips, remove your bottom hand and roll the bat more securely into your fingertips.

Grab the bat with your bottom hand again and check your grip by bringing your swing to your contact point.

With these steps, you’re on your way to the proper baseball bat grip. More importantly, you learn how to determine which grip feels the best for you.

Let’s look at three different grips that are taught to baseball players, to give you a better idea of finding the right grip.

Three Main Types of Grips

1) Knocker Grip

This grip was discussed in step 1 above. It’s the method in which you align your first knuckles on each hand, how you would knock on a door. As we mentioned, some aren’t a fan of this grip. But others support it, finding it more comfortable for them. suggests that this grip gives you a little bit more control as you swing the bat.

Control is exactly what you’re after if you’re trying to make solid contact.

2) Box Grip

This grip is also covered in the above steps. Again, you don’t line up your first knuckles. Instead, you line up the flat parts of your fingers in between your first and second knuckles, making a box. This grip tends to be favored by professionals because it lends you more power. The power comes from keeping your back elbow up, promoting more torque.

3) Combination

The final “type” of grip you can go for is a combination of the knocker and box grips. Your best grip may not be exactly one or the other, and according to it’s alright to be somewhere in the middle.

Whichever grip you choose, remember to keep these three things in mind:

Keep the bat out of the palms of your hands. You have more control and more power when it’s in the fingertips.
Keep your grip loose and stay relaxed. Tensing up will negate the power you can drive through the ball.
Be comfortable. When it comes down to it, pick a grip that feels the best to you. If you’re uncomfortable, you can’t stay relaxed and you can’t perform your best.

Choosing the Right Bat Grip Tape

The final thing to consider when it comes to gripping a baseball bat is choosing the right grip tape. If you want a better grasp on your bat to help you control your swing, grip tape can help. Before you decide if you need bat grip tape, you should consider the following things:

Your age
Your hand size
How thick the grip should be
Price range

The major options available are high-end polymer grips from companies like Vulcan, Lizard Skin, and Easton. They come in a variety of colors so you can even personalize your bat.

Another option is less expensive grip tape or athletic tape, with various thicknesses. You’ll want to consider bat speed and grift comfort when deciding how thick your grip tape should be. Dick’s Sporting Goods has on adding new tape to your bat.

Guide Final Thoughts on How to Grip a Baseball Bat: Baseball Bat Grips

In this grip guide, we covered the benefits of a proper grip, how to find the best grip for you, types of grips, and choosing bat grip tape.

Your grip is an essential part of your swing and shouldn’t be overlooked. When used properly, the tips here can help you optimize your bat grip.

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