Do the elite batters line-up their "knocking knuckles" when gripping the bat?

[SoCalSoftballdad]

CO ... here is an example of Manny's grip at 'launch'. The alignment of the 'knocking knuckles' resembles more what some refer to as a 'box grip'.

Here we see the 'knocking knuckle' alignment at 'contact'. Looks more to me like the "knocking knuckles" of the top hand are roughly aligned to the wedding ring area of the bottom hand ... perhaps could even view this as having the knocking knuckles aligned at contact. Different alignment of the knocking knuckles as seen in his launch position IMO.

Just so we are clear, are you saying that Manny has an "off-set" grip at launch and aligned "knocking knuckles" at POC? If so, he must be turning his top hand to achieve the alignment?

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Just so we are clear, are you saying that Manny has an "off-set" grip at launch and aligned "knocking knuckles" at POC? If so, he must be turning his top hand to achieve the alignment?

This discussion could actually get somewhat involved, and include what takes place in terms of early torquing movement.

What I want to point out is that Amy’s ‘feel’, or ‘description’, isn’t far off from reality.

Clearly the front, and rear arm, orientations can be different between ‘launch’ and ‘contact’.

What I’m saying is that the knocking knuckle orientation at ‘contact’ is often different than the knocking knuckle orientation at ‘launch’.

Try this … perform a simple backwards chaining experiment.

Grab a bat and arrive in your ‘contact’ position. Have your top hand knuckles roughly aligned to where your wedding ring would be on your bottom hand. From this position, trace back (i.e., swing in reverse, backwards chain, return from where you came, etc.) your swing to the launch position. As you trace back your swing to arrive at a ‘powerful’ and ‘comfortable’ launch position, take note of the relative orientation of your top & bottom knuckles. Do this … and I believe you’ll learn something interesting.

 

[Wellphyt]

I would say that most hitters align their top hand "knocker" knuckles in between their bottom hand "knocker" and "punching" knuckles.

The advantage of lining up the knocker knuckles is that it promotes the slotting of the back elbow. If you rotate the top hand to align the knocker knuckles up with the bottom hand, the back elbow wants to tuck down to your side. My understanding is that Epstein recommends it on his dvds for this reason. However, when Epstein was asked this very question on his old message board he put up a still shot of his grip and he did not line up his knocker knuckles. Neither does Ted in his book.

I do not see a problem with teaching kids to line up their knocker knuckles early in the learning process, as long as the instructor and student understand why it's being taught; and that it's not a mandatory. If a student isn't getting their back elbow slotted correctly, it will help. If a student is wrapping their top hand, it will help.

 

[playball13]

I have heard a slight variation of aligning the knocking knuckles that seems to work well when using a more finger tip type golf grip and it allows for a better extension. Align the knocking knuckle of the pointer finger of the bottom hand and the knocking knuckle of the pinky finger of the top hand. The easy cue is to grip the bat and make sure those 2 knuckles are touching. You can see those knuckles are aligned in the second photo of Manny making contact and in most of Pujols swings.

 

[Ken Krause]

Funny, this question just came up last night with one of my students. She told me she'd been taught (actually by me, among others) to line up her door knocking knuckles, but never really did.

That's ok, I told her, and went on to talk about the slightly offset grip that's being advocated here. I told her I will say "door knocking knuckles" to prevent the big knuckles from being lined up, or even the box, which I don't like much either. For young kids, it's easier to provide exact coordinates than a general rule. Kids' brains don't handle abstract concepts that well for the most part. It's up to the instructor/coach to understand you're going for the general rule.

 

[ifubuildit]

For young kids, it's easier to provide exact coordinates than a general rule. Kids' brains don't handle abstract concepts that well for the most part. It's up to the instructor/coach to understand you're going for the general rule.

Without a doubt. Great statement right there Ken.

 

[Ken Krause]

I never once in my life paid attention to where my knuckles were, was top hitter on team as pitcher.

Be careful of confusing "successful" with "correct."