One thing all good hitters should always do is you should always put your knuckles together - all eight of them - should be lined up together that will create better whip and better bat speed. even though he doesn't use this knuckle alignment - see picture

Founded by New York Yankees legend and Los Angeles Dodgers Hitting Coach Don Mattingly in 2005, we feature the patented V-Grip handle baseball bats and softball bats which are statistically proven to increase bat speed by promoting proper grip technique and alignment of the knocking knuckles see actual picture of Mattingly lining up his rings during his playing days. The baseball bats and softball bats, approved for T-Ball, Youth, Little League, Senior League and Adult High School and College play, keep the bat in the fingers and away from the palm for a more tension free swing.

Line up your "door-knocking knuckles." This may feel uncomfortable at first, however with practice it will become second nature. This allows your wrists to roll properly after making contact with the baseball this grip will promote roll at contact.

When gripping a baseball bat, we need to make sure that the bat is being held in the fingertips and not back here in the meat or the palm of the hand. The way we can check that is to simply line up our door knocking knuckles and that's the first knuckles that we, or the middle knuckles in the middle of our hand. If those knuckles are lined up, then we're gripping the baseball bat appropriately. To make sure with the little kids, I asked them to stand up their first fingers. If their fingers stand straight up, then they're holding the bat correctly. If their fingers are going in this direction, they are not, they're holding it too much back in their hand. To grip the bat appropriately again we need to have the bat in our fingertips and if we line up our door knocking knuckles and our first fingers can stand straight up, then we're holding the bat correctly.

Let's start with the grip. By now you have probably been told something about the baseball grip, either right or wrong. This is usually the first thing discussed at hitting clinics and baseball camps. Everyone preaches about aligning the "door knocking" knuckles. Well that is correct, but why? When the knuckles are aligned properly both hands work together. But when a batter has an improper grip the hands work against themselves. This improper grip can cause poor bat control. Unfortunately, when a batter tries the proper grip for the first time it feels uncomfortable. Don't worry, stay with it because it will get more comfortable over time. The benefits will outweigh the initial discomfort.

It's uncomfortable for a reason

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Door Knocking Knuckles
The best grip to use will line up the knuckles we would use to knock on a door. This allows for a freer and quicker swing.

More of the same

The knuckles should be slightly ‘misaligned’ with the top hand ‘knocker’ knuckles between the middle and top knuckles of the bottom hand. An easy way to teach this (from Mike Epstein) is to “have the hitter place the bat barrel between his feet and lean it against his body. Have him to pick the bat up by the handle with both hands. This places his hands in the correct grip: the “knocker” knuckles of the top hand will be aligned perfectly between the “knocker” knuckles and the big knuckles on the bottom hand.” notice the contorted top hand

The picture (left) shows the correct grip of a hitter. The top hand "knocker-knuckles" line up with the "knocker-knuckles" of the bottom hand. With the hands in this position, it is virtually impossible to elevate the back elbow. Most MLB hitters do not use the grip he describes, and 99% of them elevate their back elbow at toe touch

Line up these ["door-knocking knuckles."] This will force you to be in the right position. Otherwise, you're not able to roll over your top hand... like you should rolling your top hand early is a problem to be avoided.

Line up what we call "door-knocking knuckles" These are knocking knuckles, the ones you knock on the door with. Line those up. It enables you to turn over the bat properly, when you swing.

One of the thigs you learned in elementary school we are here to help dispel the myths you learn in T-ball is you want the knuckles that you knock on a door lined up.

In the end you want players hands to align somewhere from the middle knuckles lining up (door knocking knuckles) and the middle knuckles of the lower hand lining up with the top knuckles on the upper hand (rings).

From Doug O'Neil & team (D & D Baseball was a company that produced great videos back in the 90s)
We teach to align the middle finger knuckles (door knocking knuckles). This creates a loose grip which will also gives the range of motion and whip necessary to hit any pitch location without rolling over or locking yourself. The hands and grip will naturally tighten when the pitch is on the way.

From Daryl Ringwald (Hitting Coach, Ontario and B.C.)
Lining up the door-knocking knuckles brings the elbows in. Keeping the elbows in lets you have a quick controlled power swing

So, I was working with our players today on hitting when I noticed something with one of them. As I looked at her hands I could see that she was holding the bat handle deep in her palms, and her knuckles were in the "matched grip" position, i.e. the knocking knuckles on one hand were lined up with the big knuckles of the other.

I stopped her for a moment, double checked what I thought I was seeing, and had her move the bat into her fingers and turn her hands so the knocking knuckles lined up (more or less) with each other. She then continued hitting, but with measurably better results. Instead of hitting weak ground balls and fly balls, she started blasting line drives.

The girl was pretty excited about this discovery. We both commented on the big difference a small change can make. and so begins a lifetime of mediocre hitting

The way you know your knuckles are lined up properly is... they are lined up here [pointing to door knockers]. If you point your index fingers out and they are both pointed straight up, it's correct.

Keeping back elbow down when waiting for pitch brings your hands through quicker. If you have your elbow up, you still have to drop it to swing…. This also goes along with your grip. If you have your big knuckles lined up, you elbow stays up, which is more difficult to hit. When your middle knuckles line up, the elbow stays lower, which is what you want….. Quick hands through the strike zone!

number knuckles: A method of teaching young hitters how to properly grip a bat by assigning numerical values to joints in the fingers. The joints made by the finger and the hand is (#1), the middle knuckles (door knocking knuckles) are (#2), and the end joints of the fingers are numbered (#3). Aligning the middle knuckles, #2’s, or thereabouts, puts the bat out in the fingers and gets it out of the palms.

Granted, you see different grips from professional hitters, but this method seems to help hitters who don’t have professional abilities. In spite of the evidence to the contrary...

lining up the middle knuckles (10 to 30 degree wrist angles) encourages a "swing down" or wood chopping type of swing. Attempting to initiate the swing into a more productive plane with this grip will cause a breakdown of the backside and force the back elbow inward toward the bellybutton.

Some telltales of the Linear Hitting approach are the use of (problematic) cues like... Line up your door knocker knuckles.

We want your grip to either be the "knocking knuckles" lined up, or slightly offset (rings). I prefer the offset grip. Anywhere between the knocking knuckles and the offest grip you should be fine.

The easiest way to ensure that you are keeping the bat up in the fingers is to rotate your hands so that the second row of knuckles on each hand line up with each other.

If you are uncomfortable with aligning your knuckles as described earlier, try rotating the hands until the second and third knuckles line up with each other. This is known as a "box grip" and is used by quite a few Major League players. Either way, it is important to be comfortable. So, pick the one that feels the best for your size and shape of hand and stick with it.

From Bobby Woods (on the new Hitting Skills video from Marty Schupak and the Youth Sports Club)...
If your arms form a natural V-shape and the bat rests easily in your fingers that's all that matters. Where the knuckles line up doesn't matter - you want to be palm-up/palm-down at contact.

From Chris Sperry (Head Baseball Coach, University of Portland)...
Not concerned with the knuckles at all, more important that the hands come through the zone palm-up, palm down.