WebBall.com - One-Hand Hitting

Flat hands and arm extension

What you see vs what you think you see.

More misunderstandings have been generated by so-called one-hand hitting than by many other things in baseball, certainly in hitting. Problem is: while the follow-through is obvious, the point at which the top hand let's go is not. Many see the results, not everyone understands the technique and timing. As will become obvious below, it really is NOT one-hand hitting - contact is made with BOTH hands on the bat.

So does that mean nothing is different if the release is after contact? No. There is a difference in how power gets generated and transferred to the bat head. The one-hand follow-through is not for every young batter, but it is being taught by more and more hitting instructors. So here are the details...

The Power Path - inside the ball

Take the knob of the bat to the ball and the barrelhead will follow.

A straight line is always the most direct and quickest route. With the bathead kept close to the back shoulder, you're staying inside the ball. Keep those hands on a direct path forward as you squish the bug and the hips start to rotate.

Flat Hands and Backspin

Get your hands to stay flat (one palm up, one down) and extend through the ball.

The result is a quick barrelhead that explodes on the ball with backspin - to carry the ball farther.
Remember backspin is good, topspin bad. Rolling your wrists creates topspin and the ball simply will not carry as far. Also, you want the sweet spot to move into and through the hitting area longer so keep your swing an elipse not a circle (flatten it out).

The ideal angle is to bring the bat through so the ball trajectory is between 15 and 30 degrees up - enough to clear most infielders without being a lazy flyball. (Some research has shown the ideal home run angle to be mid-30s, depending on wind, but the danger is it will go too high then stall and drop for a can of corn out.)

Extending Your Lead Arm

Here's a WebBall training tip that can test for flat hands vs rollover. Place a Frisbee upside down between your palms (curled edge up) and do a complete baseball swing. If the Frisbee slides off your bottom hand and launches straight at that 15-30 degree angle, you've done it right. Any kind of rollover and the Frisbee will tumble.

Here's where things get different...

You want to extend, but not roll over.

Lead arm extension is important for power and distance - to get the ball to carry. If you let the wrist roll over early then the flat swing is gone - the barrel snaps back toward your body and you'll lose both extension and power. It's all about getting the top hand to extend every time - because otherwise it wants to dominate the swing.

Pull versus Push

Arms pull quicker than they push.

You want the bat going toward the pitcher with as much force as he is throwing - equal and opposite. You can't push the top hand fast enough. Let the top hand support the pulling action of your lead arm. If you try to push you might actually slow things down.

Remember, folks, we are describing this specific approach. We know it differs here radically from those who advocate the "torque technique" - which has its own space on WebBall. We're not saying this is better, or any other approach is better - just tyring to explain it.

Clear the Zone and Finish High

Understand the forces at work.

At the point of contact, your lead arm (knob hand) is fully extended whereas your top hand arm is actually constricted or pinched in at the shoulder. So the knob hand has more leverage. Also muscles can contract quicker than they extend so the tendancy to rollover is compounded when the hand now below the bat grips too much or too long.

So let the bat slide off and let the lead arm extend right around.

The lead arm should finish out and above the front shoulder. (If you didn't get full extension, the arm finishes below shoulder height. This is similar to checking the finish angle whith a two-hand grip - above the shoulder, not across it.)