Gaining Power Question???

[ball2face]

Originally Posted by chillywilly777

Loose grip to me always meant holding the bat loosely in your hands until you began your swing, not all the way through the swing. I was always told that holding the bat tightly slows down your muscle reflexes because loose muscles react faster than contracted muscles.

Great point chilly. I have heard of this before but I still just can't grasp the concept. I mean, I know the "loose" idea sounds good, but say you were going for a max bench press....would the human body perform better being all calm and relaxed and gripping the bar loose, or spazzing out and hyper gripping tight and getting even more focused??? I know some will say you will lose contact accuracy if you "spaz out", but maybe it would make one more focused???

[stork]

Originally Posted by ball2face

Great point chilly. I have heard of this before but I still just can't grasp the concept. I mean, I know the "loose" idea sounds good, but say you were going for a max bench press....would the human body perform better being all calm and relaxed and gripping the bar loose, or spazzing out and hyper gripping tight and getting even more focused??? I know some will say you will lose contact accuracy if you "spaz out", but maybe it would make one more focused???

Controlled chaos.

[chillywilly777]

Originally Posted by ball2face

Great point chilly. I have heard of this before but I still just can't grasp the concept. I mean, I know the "loose" idea sounds good, but say you were going for a max bench press....would the human body perform better being all calm and relaxed and gripping the bar loose, or spazzing out and hyper gripping tight and getting even more focused??? I know some will say you will lose contact accuracy if you "spaz out", but maybe it would make one more focused???

I hold the bar loose with my thumb by my pointer finger and the bar resting in the palm of my hand when I bench press so I'm probably the wrong person to ask. If you watch my very ****ty video quality swing in my sig you can see my fingers fluttering loosely on the bat until I start my swing. Keeps me relaxed.

[lcky3]

Originally Posted by ball2face

Great point chilly. I have heard of this before but I still just can't grasp the concept. I mean, I know the "loose" idea sounds good, but say you were going for a max bench press....would the human body perform better being all calm and relaxed and gripping the bar loose, or spazzing out and hyper gripping tight and getting even more focused??? I know some will say you will lose contact accuracy if you "spaz out", but maybe it would make one more focused???

The analogy doesn't translate because you only need enough strength to swing a bat fast enough to propel the ball at HR speed. Heavier bats need more strength to swing faster but also hit the ball with more energy, resulting in greater retention of speed through the swing.

You only have "loose" hands until right before contact; I squeeze the handle right before contact. Keep in mind, that's only with your hands. Everything else should be fairly loose to facilitate rotating through the swing.

(There's some real fodder for the homophobes who think everything is ghey)

[jbo911]

My grip used to be so tight that I'd go through 2 or 3 leather grips a year. I'm still working on it.

[wite n8]

Originally Posted by chillywilly777

Loose grip to me always meant holding the bat loosely in your hands until you began your swing, not all the way through the swing. I was always told that holding the bat tightly slows down your muscle reflexes because loose muscles react faster than contracted muscles.

this is a good explanation. when u tighten u'r grip as u start u'r swing, u'r muscles start reacting, and it's a quicker faster response if u go from loose to tight. it's in the arms too, don't flex them, keep them loose and all at once tighten u'r grip and flex u'r arms to generate a faster more forcefull swing.

the quick firing muscles going from relaxed to flexed/tightened make u'r swing faster, so u'r accelerating the swing faster while u roll u'r wrists as u make contact.

with the vice test, u'r taking out the variable of how u swing a bat w/ a tight or loose/relaxed grip.

[stork]

And if you can relax your hands prior, chances are you are a little more relaxed at the plate...then explode on the ball.

[ball2face]

Originally Posted by stork

And if you can relax your hands prior, chances are you are a little more relaxed at the plate...then explode on the ball.

So this means your actual grip on the bat at contact is pretty tight???

[stork]

Originally Posted by ball2face

So this means your actual grip on the bat at contact is pretty tight???

Fairly so. I try to keep it somewhat loose and when I start my swing forward I tighten grip up at some point. Work's for me.

[roland365]

Yes...if not the bat would go flying

Originally Posted by ball2face

So this means your actual grip on the bat at contact is pretty tight???

[creative10]

just go to an overlap....everything will change for the better.

[BigShep]

Originally Posted by ball2face

So this means your actual grip on the bat at contact is pretty tight???

Yes. You keep a relaxed grip until you start your swing. If you grip tightly prior to starting your swing your forearm muscles are "locked up" and inflexible.

[Nunya Bidniz]

The loose grip allows your wrists to come through more freely. Try gripping a bat and roll your hands through slowly with a tight grip then a loose grip. You may be shocked at the difference. The bat needs to be firm against the back of your hand (preferably just above the pads in the first knuckle crease, not in the thumb socket) at contact but the fingers don't need to be tightly wrapped. Try rolling your hands through again, but with your top hand completely open this time and you will see what I mean. Good question.

[roland365]

You don't get fluid motion squeezing the bat tight. Loose grip is relaxed while waiting for pitch. Your grip doesn't stay that way while swinging

[jrhenry24]

Originally Posted by ball2face

First I have to say I have learned a ton from this site about grips and finally changed my ways and I am loving it and see a ton of difference with the pinky drop and door knockers grip (I used to have a box grip). However, there is still one thing I have a problem with and cannot understand the logic of, and that is the loose or relaxed grip.

Here we go:

Say we are testing batted ball speed through a machine set up. You have the bat held stationary through a vice like setup where the vice is gripping the bat somewhere on the handle knob. The taper and barrel are hanging out from this device. A ball is pitched directly at the sweet spot at 40 mph. On the first throw the vice grip is holding the handle at a very loose grip..... loose enough where when the ball hits the bat, the bat will slightly rattle while being held inside the vice. The ball from this impact will travel, um, let's say 20 feet.

Now, we tighten up the vice grip on the bat handle and pitch the same ball at the same speed and the exact same sweet spot.

Someone please explain to me how the ball would not travel further on a tighter grip????

Therefore, explain how a loose grip is going to propel a ball faster off a bat compared to an extremely tight grip???

For example, take a broom stick and hold it very loose or relaxed in your palms and swing it at anything. You will get a rattle in your hands and whatever you swung at will travel "x" distance. Now, grip that biatch super tight and swing at the same thing the same way! The same object you hit again will travel at a greater distance.

So can someone explain to me better this loose and relaxed and soft grip concept??? Everything I tried does not make sense and most importantly, it is not making results....... what am I missing???

hold the bat in your hand like you would a robins egg. you will get 5-10 mph more batspeed and your hands will naturally grip the bat when they need to. keep it loose and everything will take care of itself.