Baseball FAQ by DeMichael Tom;

Author:DeMichael, Tom;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sports
ISBN: 9781617136580
Publisher: Backbeat
Published: 2016-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

(More) Anatomy of a bat.

The basic anatomy of the bat is (moving up from the part closest to the batter’s hands): the knob, the handle, the taper, the barrel, and the end cap or cup (depending on how the bat is constructed). Of course, they all have a purpose. The knob? Imagine swinging the bat without a knob—it would fly right out of the hitter’s hands, strike the lady in Section 104, Row 2, Seat 6 right in the head, causing the hot dog in her mouth to go flying, hitting the bald guy in front of her . . . well, this may take a while, so just accept the fact that the knob is a very necessary part of the bat.

The handle allows for a proper grip—for a right-hander, the left hand is on the bottom, with the right hand on top. That may sound rudimentary, but the great Henry Aaron arrived in the big leagues using a cross-handed grip. Trust me, the only thing Hank would have wound up hammering would have been the mashed fender of a ‘57 Chevy if his grip had not been fixed.

In a perfect world, the first knuckles (closest to the meaty part of both hands) should line up. In a more realistic world, the hitter must make sure the bat is not gripped too tight or too deeply in the palms. A stiff grip leads to a stiff swing—not a good thing.

Most—but not all—power hitters like to hold the bat down at the end of the handle, some even hook their little finger over the knob. It may improve their home run swing, but they may also strike out a lot more. Choking up—moving the hands up the handle, toward the taper, improves bat control, but reduces the leverage. The batting average may go up, but the power may go down.

The taper allows the natural transition, in diameter, from the handle to the barrel, where all the action happens. After all, that’s where the “sweet spot” is located. If the bat is thirty-inches in length, roughly the top ten inches make up the barrel. But the sweet spot—the part that imparts the maximum amount of energy to the ball—starts about two inches from the end and extends for about five and a half inches on that barrel (with metal bats, the sweet spot can continue for another inch or two).

Like a late-night snack, handle thickness is a personal choice. A very thin handle seems to increase the whip-like action of the swing (and allows small-handed batters to feel like the Hulk). It also increases the likelihood of breakage in wooden bats. Thicker handles are better suited to longer-fingered hitters.

The stance starts with the UAP, with the bat held over the back shoulder. But before that even, stepping into the batter’s box allows for a very simple action that puts the batter’s balance in exactly the right position. For a righty, step into the box, take the bat in the right hand, bend forward at the waist, and touch the end of the bat to the far side of the plate.

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