Well, as many of you may (or may not) know, I like to play softball. Softball is baseball except for a few differences:

1) A softball is larger in size when compared to a baseball
2) The pitcher throws the ball underhand as opposed to overhand
3) Bats are more often to be aluminum or composite material (as opposed to wooden bats)
4) Distances between bases and field dimensions are smaller in comparison to baseball

Though with these differences, mechanics for hitting the ball are generally the same. When I first started to play softball, I constantly made the mistake of holding the bat tightly, having gaps between my hands when gripping the bat and swinging with only my arms. The problem was that it restricted movement of my swing and I wasn’t generating much power. For the first few years, I just usually hit singles through the infield and relied on my baserunning to score runs. However, like most people when they get older, you tend to get slower and get tired a lot quicker than you used to when you are running around the bases…but I found some tips which helped me to improve my swing and generate more power through my hits.

One of the major differences I had to make was to loosen my stance and drive my hips forward in order to utilize my rotational power to hit balls further. I’m not talking about a couple of feet, but rather substantially further. With driving of the hips, you need to “swing through the ball” by having your arms fully extended through the swing in order maximize rotational power. With the swing, your grip is also important as well…to maximize power, people try to grip the bat as far down the handle as possible to increase the radius. In most siuations, people have their back-arm hand over the front-arm hand while having their knuckles facing the same direction, however, I’ve seen people having their front-arm hand gripping the bat while the back-arm hand is palming the top of the other hand (just to guide the bat). I would only recommend the later technique if are strong hitter because all the power is generated from the front arm. Whatever way you choose, the key is keep the wrists loose so as not to restrict movement, since right before the moment of contact, you turn or snap the wrists together to drive the bat through the swing and connect with the ball.

Hopefully, all of this wasn’t too confusing, however, I am including a few videos as visual aids to what I have been talking about.

Again, utilizing the rotational power of the body to drive the hits further.

Proper grip of the bat and alignment of the knuckles.

Alternative grip of the bat and utilizing a forward step to swing. I’m not sure if this would be the best way for everyone…I would probably recommend it to stronger hitters.

Well, there you have it, these techniques will hopefully help to improve your hitting but like anything, it’ll take a bit of time and practice to get the hang of the adjustments. Anyhow, I wish you all the best and see ya on the diamond!

-Stephen