By Paul Yost paulyost@hotmail.com
©Copyright-2008 Houston5ABaseball.com
Paramount Training
Grip strength is an important contributing factor in many sports. It allows the athlete to grab and hold onto other players, rip the ball away from an opponent, slide past a blocker, etc. Sounds like football, doesn't it. Why is this quality important for baseball players? Some studies have linked grip strength to power production when swinging the bat. This means that all that time spent on forearm strength could be a waste - well, not totally. Forearm strength is important, but let's examine why grip strength is essential to hitting the ball farther.
Like I said, most hitters spend all their time working on developing forearm strength. When swinging the bat, if the hands cannot grip the bat firmly at the point of contact, forearm strength will not be able to be utilized to it's full capability. The inability to hold the bat with a strong grip at contact can prevent the athlete from producing maximal power, causing the ball to travel a shorter distance.
So What Do You Do In Training?
1. Use exercises that challenge grip strength. This could be chin up/pull up variations, deadlifts, rowing activities, farmer's walks, etc.
2. Use various sized grips. Changing the diameter of the grip on the barbell, dumbbell, kettlebell or other weighted implement will vary the exercise somewhat in terms of the contributions from the hand.
3. Use isolated movements specifically directed towards the hand/grip. Holding plates for time, squeezing tennis balls and grippers are just a few of the many tools that can be used in an isolated manner.
Grip strength is obviously an important aspect of sport. It's contribution to baseball can be fairly substantial. Just remember before spending all your time on developing grip strength, that this is only part of the equation. The ability to generate power comes from the entire body working as a whole. Hitters must also have strong/powerful legs and a solid trunk/core. If you aren't incorporating some way of challenging grip strength in your program, however, I suggest you start. It could at least be part of the solution to a lack of doubles and homeruns.
About Paul Yost Paul Yost is a Certified Strength and Conditioning specialist with an MS degree from Texas A&M University. He helped improve athletic performance as a Personal Trainer, Student Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Texas A&M University and as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in Professional Baseball. Paul is experienced with athletes from: baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, softball, swimming, and soccer. You can view the services Paul offers at Paramount Training
