What part of your body do you use to hold the bat? You are holding the bat with your hands and not with other parts of your body. There are other body parts that you are going to use in order to swing the bat properly but when it comes to the grip of the softball bat, you know that you have to rely on your hands.
Your main goal when you are a hitter is to become good at hitting. If you are already good, your aim is to become better. It never ends because you always have a goal that you would like to achieve. In order to become a good hitter however, you have to grip your softball bat appropriately. How will you know if you are gripping it correctly? You only need to use your fingers to touch the bat.
In order to grip the softball bat right, you need to do the following:
- 1. The handle of the bat should be placed on the lower fingers of the hand.
- 2. The hands should close around the handle.
- 3. Remember that you should not squeeze the bat. When you do this, you will be restricting your movement and will lessen your ability to hit well.
- 4. The best way to hold is as if you are protecting the bat from falling but at the same time, you do not want to hold it too tightly because you feel like it would crumble. Of course, a good bat will not crumble but you have to hold your bat as if it is fragile.
Why do you think do you need to grip the softball bat lightly instead of tightly? When you do this, you are preparing your hands, your arms, forearms and wrists for the movements that you are going to make so you have the tendency to become faster. You can move better depending on the pitch. This is contrary to what most beginners believe in wherein they have to grip the softball bat so tight that their knuckles are already turning white.
Try to watch a softball game on television and try to memorize the things that the batters are going to do. Instead of people holding on to their bats so tightly, you will see that people are consciously reminding themselves that they should lightly hold on to their bats. They know that they can hit better when they do this.
There are still other tips that you have to remember that will let you hold your softball bat appropriately:
1. Do not hold the bat in the palm of your hands
When you do this, you are not letting your fingers and your wrists give you the power that you need in order to flex your muscles properly. Since you are going to exert more effort, you can expect that your hands will also be painful afterwards. This is something that you want to avoid at present time. If you would strike the ball while holding the bat incorrectly, you may become bruised or even injured.
2. Be comfortable in the way that you are holding your bat.
Being too tense while you are holding your bat will not amount to anything. It is recommended that you will align your knuckles in order to feel comfortable but if you do not agree with this, you may always choose to do the “box grip.” This is a type of grip wherein the second and third knuckles alight with each other. The comfort that you will feel when gripping the bat may be different from another hitter so be particular about this.
3. Relax your fingers.
You may think that everything is already relaxed but the truth is that your fingers are still gripping the bat tightly. You can always change this by relaxing your fingers consciously like what other players do. This still works.
You may think that everything is already relaxed but the truth is that your fingers are still gripping the bat tightly. You can always change this by relaxing your fingers consciously like what other players do. This still works.
Some Alignments To Consider
There are three types of alignments that are known right now namely:
- Big Knuckles
- Middle Knuckles
- Box Grip
A lot of experts recommend using different grips depending on the pitcher that you will be up against because your grip will determine how well you are going to hit the ball.
Practicing Your Grip
There are some advantages regarding practicing your grip like the following:
- You do not have to be in an actual ball park in order to start practicing. You may be in your own yard or you can even be inside your room. You simply need to grip it well following the things that are mentioned earlier.
- You need to find the right bat beforehand. Do you know that one of the reasons why people are good at playing softball is because they were able to find the right bat appropriately? Choosing the right bat is easy as long as the feel of the bat is right.
- Study other professional players and how they grip their bats. You will find that most of the good players are gripping their bats lightly. This will be enough to convince you to grip your bat properly.
Always remember that when you have a choked up grip or you are holding your bat too tightly, the power that your bat and your swing can give will be lessened. This means that you will be unable to hit balls properly. Your chances of winning will depend on your skills and the way that you grip your bat.
