1 Hand or 2 Hand Finish When Hitting?

 I know most of us hear very similar things at young ages.  We hear: eyes on the ball, don't dip your back shoulder, swing level, swing with 2 hands.  I know most youth coaches mean well when they say these things and they should be applauded for trying to help as they can only teach what they know.  While keeping your eye on the ball is great advice, the other 3 can be extremely harmful for the development of young baseball players.


Miguel Cabrera will a 1 hand finish


 Today, I want to talk about finishing with 2 hands in particular.  There has been some question as to why I "teach" a 1 handed swing.  I do not teach a 1 handed swing.  I simply tell everyone that comes in that it does not matter if you finish your swing with 1 hand or 2 hands. You see, once contact is made all the damage is done.  The finish is just a comfort thing.  As you see in the above pictures, Miguel Cabrera finishes his swing with only 1 hand on the bat and he's the best hitter in baseball.  He did have to alter this in the playoffs this year and go with a 2 hand finish due to his injuries You see, if you were to actually break down the swings of Major Leaguer players, you will find that some finish with 1 hand and others finish with 2 hands.  Thus, the argument of whether or not to watch what big leaguers do.  I have heard coaches tell their players repeatedly not to watch what the big league guys do.  This is absurd.  They are hitting at that level because they have the best swings around.  There is one thing that almost every single high level of baseball or softball hitter has in common: WHERE THEY ARE AT THE POINT OF CONTACT!    We get so carried away trying to make kids stand the exact same way and hold the bat the same way and finish their swing the same way and we fail to understand that most of it is irrelevant other than from a comfort stand point.  So 1 hand swing or 2 hand swing is up to you.  Whichever is more comfortable is the one you should use.



As you can see, they are all pretty much in the same spot at the point of contact.  Take a look at their angles.  Any kid that comes to me knows exactly what I'm talking about as this is what we focus on more than anything.  The upper body is leaning forward, hips are rotated and the bat is matching the plane of the pitch.  The pitch comes in downwards, so we must match it by swinging upwards at the same angle.     You have to get to this spot to hit at a high level.  How about their back shoulders?  They are surely below their front shoulders, yet I constantly hear kids being told to quit dipping their back shoulders.  I hope this has been a very informative post on what actually occurs during a high level baseball swing.