You’re a baseball player. You love the game. You’re the type of person who will spend hours in the batting cage or hitting off a tee. Or maybe throwing a ball against a wall to practice fielding. However, one thing you might not enjoy so much is how your hands feel while batting. It’s not just you though. Batting can be quite painful sometimes. It’s a necessary part of the game, though. So, why do your hands hurt while batting, though? Let’s take a look at a few reasons.
So, Why Do My Hands Hurt?
The simple answer is vibration. If you’re curious about the more technical answer, though, it’s physics. When the ball is thrown, there’s quite a bit of power and energy behind it. When the ball hits the bat, that energy is transferred to the bat and sometimes your hands. Our hands are the most sensitive to vibrations between 200-700 hertz, according to Science Daily. Our hands will feel the worst when they experience vibrations between 600-700 hertz. If the ball doesn’t hit the “sweet spot” on the bat, it’s going to hurt. In fact, pro baseball players don’t even hit the sweet spot half the time.
Another reason your hands might be hurting is that you’re gripping the bat too tightly. You might be afraid the bat’s going to fly out of your hands. Maybe you were taught an improper technique. No matter the reason, it hurts! There are some ways to keep your hands from hurting, though. Let’s explore those options more.
What can Prevent the Pain?
Well, hitting the ball perfectly every time and gripping the bat properly. Will this always happen? Well, if Ted Williams or Ken Griffy Jr. or Albert Pujols, or Mike Trout couldn’t do it–I doubt any of us normal players have much of a chance at it–unless maybe you’re Ty Cobb. Even then, he didn’t do it perfectly either. As mentioned, even the pros don’t hit the ball perfectly half the time. So, having some extra protection can help players new and old. You’ll want to consider getting a pair of batting gloves as well as bat grips or tape. These will all help protect your hands.
Finding the Proper Equipment
One of our favorites? The bat grips from Lizard Skins. These bat grips have a full adhesive back and a finish strap so the grips stay put. They come in so many colors and patterns, and they can even be personalized with your name or your team’s name. Most importantly, though, the grips disperse the vibrations so they all don’t go to your hands. They are also slip-resistant, so you don’t have to worry about the bat flying out of your hands.
You can also get batting gloves which will help you keep better control of the bat. Batting gloves also come in a wide variety of colors, sizes, and can be personalized. The gloves will also help to lessen the vibrations on your hands.
