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Article Series: Baseball
Teach Me About Baseball
Benefits
of
Batting Gloves In Baseball
Although many technological improvements have
greatly advanced the effectiveness of baseball batting gloves,
their basic premise remains has remained the same. Currently
many hitters use two batting gloves - one on each hand - so
that both hands can receive the benefits that a batting glove
offers. These batting gloves may serve a baseball player in
a variety of ways.
First,
when using a batting glove at the plate to grip his bat a
hitter effectively minimizes the chances of having
the bat slip. This allows a batter to become much
more efficient in hitting for average, power and contact. Not
only does this
minimize the slippage of the bat, but it also
benefits the fans at the game. This is the case because if
a bat slips out of the hitter’s hands, it may fly into the
stands and strike a fan.
The
second purpose a batting glove fulfills is acting as a buffer
between a player’s hand and bat. When making contact
with the ball, quite often a player will experience a painful
stinging sensation shooting through his hand due to the vibration
reverberating through the bat after contacting the ball.
Thus, when using
a batting glove, these stinging reverberations can be greatly
reduced if not completely eliminated in some cases.
Another purpose the batting glove serves is that it cuts down
on the cost of having to use pine tar. Pine tar is a natural
sticky substance that enables a hitter to maximize his or her
grip on the bat. However, the substance does not last through
very many uses. Thus, in order for a player to consistently
maximize his or her grip by using pine tar, they must constantly
buy the product. Although inexpensive, when one repeatedly
buys the substance over time, the cost can add up and far outweigh
the price of one batting glove.
The final purpose a batting glove serves a baseball player
is yet another form of hand protection. Although not one of
the batting gloves original intentions upon invention, it has
retrospectively enabled baseball players to protect
their hands while on the base paths. For example, if a batter slides into
second base and the defender steps on his hand with metal spikes,
then his batting glove(s) will in effect keep that defenders
metal spikes from puncturing his skin.
There are many different types and brands of batting gloves
that a baseball player can use. Depending on that player’s
preference he can choose from the Franklin models, to the Louisville
Slugger versions with each one specially engineered to meeting
the needs of becoming a better baseball player. Probably the
most used type of batting gloves in Major League Baseball are
Franklin’s. No matter which team you examine, each one of them
will have at least a few players using this throwback type
of batting glove. Unlike the new generation of batting gloves,
which entail many bells and whistles, Franklin models are just
your basic thin layer of leather.
Perhaps
the most popular “new generation” batting glove used by Major
League Baseball players is the Louisville Slugger
Bionic Pro. These batting gloves are orthopedically designed
to improve and maximize fit, comfort and performance. They
entail a “pre-rated” finger design that naturally forms around
the fingers that have dorsal hand expansion zones, which allow
the glove to expand during hand muscle contractions. The biggest
selling point of these batting gloves is the anatomic finger
and palm pad. According to experts, this pad effectively eliminates
any chance of getting reverberations after making contact with
the ball.
There are also other ways a baseball player can protect his
hands. According to Moises Alou of the San Francisco Giants,
a “natural” batting glove can be used at zero cost and will
have just as much effectiveness. He claims that before every
game he urinates on his hands in order to promote tactibility.
Alou also claims that this method greatly cuts down on the
pain due to the bat reverberations caused by striking a ball.
As out of the ordinary as this theory sounds, Alou has had
a very successful career. Thus, his philosophy on using a “natural”
batting glove can be taken as credible advice.
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SolveYourProblem.com
: 2009
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