What Does “Knob to the Baseball” Mean and How does it Help your Swing?

Baseball coaches are notorious for repeating other coaches’ catch phrases and repeating them to their own players without even knowing what they mean. There are a lot of verbal crutches being used in every game and every practice. You’ve probably heard them all:

• “Knob to the ball!”
• “Squash the bug!”
• “Keep your eye on the ball!”
• “Let it travel!”
• “Quick hands!”
• “Stay inside the ball!”
• And many more tired clichés!

Believe it or not, many of these are actually useful tips, but they’re only useful if you know why they’re being said and how they’re supposed to help your swing. Without the why and the how, coaches might as well just say, “I dunno, Johnny. Just hit the ball with that bat or something.”

You don't have to like Barry Bonds, but making contact and keeping pitches fair were a result of him going knob-to-the-ball.

Here’s how Getting the Knob to the Ball Actually Helps your Swing

First of all, no, you’re not going to actually hit the ball with the knob of your bat. Let’s get the ridiculous things out of the way, first.

When you start your swing by getting the knob of your bat to the ball, you will be:

1. Giving yourself more coverage of the strike zone to keep the ball fair to both sides of the field.
2. Increasing your chances at making contact with the sweet spot of the bat.
3. Increasing bat speed through the strike zone and, therefore…
4. Increasing your hitting power.

More Coverage of the Strike Zone

​Take this “knob to the ball” thing to the extreme: imaging starting your swing by getting the knob toward the pitch coming at you, then just continue pushing the knob forward. You should be able to picture the barrel of the bat being “dragged” through the strike zone so that the ball would be hit the other way off the sweet spot of the bat. Now, keep that image in your mind…

More Opportunity for Contact

​Imagine, when you finally get to the point in that swing when your wrists snap forward and the bat whips through the strike zone. You’re now able to hit a pitch late when it’s already over the plate and keep it fair the other way, and you’re also able to hit a pitch out in front of the plate (like a curve or changeup) and keep it fair down the line… and all those contact points in between, too – that will make you a dangerous hitter when you can make contact on any pitch and keep it fair, using the whole field.

Increasing Bat Speed

​Imagine your current bat speed – pretty good, I bet. When you go knob to the ball, you’re starting out with your original bat speed – you’re not losing anything. Eventually, your wrists are going to “whip” the bat through the strike zone as you’re making contact with the ball. That added whip with the wrists will increase your bat speed even though you’re not swinging any harder. Remember, if you physically have to swing harder, you will alter your swing mechanics. This is why we see so many guys swing too hard at a fat pitch, only to foul it straight back or miss it altogether. You ask any batter who does that and he’ll say, “I swung too hard.” Swinging knob to the baseball increases your bat speed without any added effort.

Increasing Power

​As noted above, you’ll be generating more bat speed through the zone. Simply put, this creates more power upon contact: harder hit balls that fly farther.

How to Practice your Knob to the Ball Swing

​Honestly, any way you can get your knob to the ball reps in is fine. Playing a pick-up baseball game with your buddies, hitting off a tee, hitting in batting practice – however you can do it, do it. If you want a more-regimented approach, here you go:

• Start with tee work. VERY IMPORTANT: start with your regular swing first so you can feel the difference later on. Hit about 10-20 off the tee with your regular swing just to get warm and to get a feel for the ball coming off the bat. Once you get those swings out of the way, focus on getting the knob to the ball…
• Keep hitting off the tee, staying focused on only getting the knob to the ball. If you pop a few up, knock the tee over or flat-out miss the ball, don’t worry about it. You’re doing something for the first time – expect a learning curve. And don’t worry, this is a very short learning curve. You should be good with the knob to the ball swing within another 10-20 swings off the tee.
• When you do get the hang of it, you’ll notice something really cool: you’ll hear a louder “crack!” off the bat. Seriously – it’ll just sound different and you’ll know that you killed the baseball. When you hear it for the first time, you’ll know… and it’ll be awesome.
• Once you’re good off the tee, move into batting practice. Again, don’t be discouraged if you don’t hit the first few really well – expect that learning curve. And, again, when you do finally connect on one, you’ll hear, feel and see the difference!

​It’s important to practice this as much as you can before game time, then trust your knob-to-the-ball swing in your first at bat in a real game. I see some kids just kill it in practice, but then they’re afraid to try it in a game. They’d rather just make contact instead of risking doing something new. As a coach, I don’t care if they swing and miss a few times or even if they strike out a couple of times. I’m there to tell them they did it right – it just takes a couple of at bats to get used to it. And once you get used to it, you can’t be stopped.
 
When I see a player finally connect in a game when they focus on going knob to the ball, there’s nothing else like it. The player’s confidence goes through the roof. And it’s not a temporary confidence, it’s a confidence of knowing, “Every pitcher I face for the rest of my life is in big trouble.”
 
And that’s why we coach, right?
 
Practice knob-to-the-ball swings and don’t give up on it. You’ll notice a difference almost right away in how you hit the ball, and it’s a change that will stay with you forever.