How to Hold a Wooden Bat

Wooden baseball bats are not commonly used by baseball players before they reach the professional level. Although these bats sometimes can be used in Little League or in scholastic sports, colleges do not use wooden bats, instead opting for aluminum baseball bats. All Major League Baseball players are required to use wooden bats. A wooden bat is held similarly to the way an aluminum bat is held, however, there are some small differences in technique.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Batting gloves

1. Put batting gloves on both hands. Whereas the rubber protection on an aluminum bat helps decrease the likelihood of a blister occurring, the same is not true for a wooden bat. A player holding a wooden bat has his hands exposed to the wood. Because of this, a player's hands are more susceptible to blisters and splinters. Wearing gloves can decrease the risk of injury.

2. Keep the hands away from the bottom of the bat. For younger players, they are able to have more bat speed and more control by keeping their hands away from the knob at the bottom of the baseball bat. The palms of their hands should be around the shaft of the bat and not around the knob. This is referred to "choking up" on the bat.

3. Grip the bat somewhat loosely in the hands. For a right-hander, he should place his left hand near the bottom of the bat. His right hand should be on top of the left hand, with the bottom of the right hand touching the top of the left hand.

4. Align the knuckles. When holding the bat, the upper knuckles of the right hand should align with the middle knuckles of the left hand. By keeping the knuckles aligned, a hitter is able to stabilize his swing and keep it straight.

5. Place the hands on the bat so that they are located near the top of the strike zone, which is just above the chest. The bat should be held above the shoulder with the hands just next to the shoulder. Having the bat in this position allows a player to not need to move the bat backward before swinging. Holding the bat in this position already puts it in the proper position to swing.

Tips & Warnings

• Bend your left elbow and point it toward the pitcher as you await the pitch. Wooden bats may be gripped a little tighter than aluminum bats. Hands could be jarred when the bat hits the ball. The jarring that occurs with an aluminum bat is more severe than the jarring that occurs with a wooden bat. The looser the hands are, the less likely they are to get jarred.
• Wooden bats are less durable than aluminum bats. Leaving a wooden bat outside in the rain could damage the wood.

References

• How to grip the bat

Resources

• Hitting Drills

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