In this month’s Grip Tip you will learn a simple way to develop explosive power and hand–eye coordination at the same time. This simple training method will greatly help you develop athletic strength which will transfer quickly to any athletic endeavor. One important thing in training is to learn methods that transfer well and teach you how to use your strength, power and speed during movement.

Quite often, people train in the same “comfortable” bodyposition all the time. With this type of training you can get strong; however, your strength and power is quite limited and greatly reduced when movement or any type of adjustment come into play. As everyone understands, sports and real-life situations usually have movement and changes that come at you very quickly and without warning. With this in mind, let’s take a look at this training tip which I call “Three the Hard Way.”

The only thing you will need for this exercise is a tennis ball or a baseball. The tennis ball of course has more give to it, but either one will work. Once you have your ball, hold it in one hand in a palm-down position at about chest level. From here, let go of the ball quickly and then quickly grasp it with vigor as it starts to fall down. Be sure to grasp the ball very quickly in the same palm-down position. As soon as you explode on the ball and grasp it again in this position, very quickly release it and then quickly explode and grasp the ball from the side with your palm facing inward toward your opposite hand. Once again, be sure to grasp the ball with power and vigor. Once you have the ball in the palm-facing-inward position, without hesitation let go of the ball quickly and then quickly and powerfully grasp the ball from underneath in the palm-up position.