Batting

Hitting requires the proper shifting of the weight in order to make solid contact and hit through the ball.

The Stance should be comfortable and athletic. The stance can be open, closed or square but whatever the set up the stance should be athletic and comfortable for the hitter. The head and eyes should squarely face the hitter. Having both eyes on the pitcher is best if possible. During the set up, the hands and elbow should be away from the body to create space and freedom during the swing. The body should be mostly erect with a slight crouch and flexing at the knees. The weight should be evenly distributed at the set up.

Basic Batting Mechanics start with knowledge of the strike. the difference between most good hitters and bad hitters is swinging at pitches to hit rather than bads pitches or the pitchers pitch. You can expand the strike zone with two strikes but before two strikes the batter should swing at something they can handle. Bad balls are difficult to hit safely. Make sure the barrel of the bat is in the zone during contact. During the swing it is important to keep the head still and follow the ball. On the swing the chin goes shoulder to shoulder. the bat should be kept still and when triggering the swing slight backward movement is best. Moving the hands up and down is called a hitch and this take time complete and must be started early in the pitch process.

A short controlled stride is important and helps keep balance. Keep the movement of the head to minimum. Step toward the pitcher while shifting weight from the back foot against the front foot. A good controlled hip turn is required to drive the ball. Turn hip quickly on inside pitches and point the front toe toward the pitcher. Keep the front hip closed on outside pitches. Remember the hips open the front shoulder so early release at the hips may cause flying open. Starting the swing with the trigger, drive the bottom hand or knob of the bat at the pitcher keeping the wrist back.

The power of the swing is in the top hand in the case of a right handed hitter. Early releasing of the wrists causing poor bat speed and can lead to lunging. The hands should be inside the ball at this point. At full extension, release the bat by swings through the ball and rolling the wrists. Allow the bat to travels around the body for a full follow through. At this point the weight is on the front foot, the back foot is pivoted and up on the toe and belly button is pointing at the pitcher for a complete swing.

The Mental Approach of Hitting starts with eliminating the fear of getting hit with the pitch. Fear of the ball creates many problems at the plate which are hard to overcome, like stepping in the bucket. Be sure to have hitters wearing batting helmets at all times when facing live pitching. There are two types of hitters aggressive versus defensive. Defensive hitters put the ball in play more often with less power. They tend to be more selective at thh plate and utilize the whole field. Aggressive hitters go to the plate thinking big things. They tend to go out of the strike more and are less selective. They tend to pull the ball more and strike out more often but usually hit with more power. Neither of these approaches is wrong but you must know you hitter when they come to the plate and ryou are requiring them to do certain things like hit the other way, work the pitcher, hit an run, sacrifice fly etc.

Choosing a bat will vary based on the individuals size, strength, type of hitter and finger size. The bat should be balanced light rather heavy. Bat speed generates power and the greater the bat speed the faster the ball is off the bat. When looking at the newer high tech bats please be aware the it takes a certain swing speed to activate or benefit from the technology. Today's bats are lighter than those in past years so lighter remains a good option. Do not overspend on a bat and shop around there are lots of deals out there.

The Grip is starting point of every swing. There a couple of types but the main thing about the grip is that the hands should be together without space between them. The batter can choke up on the bat or grip it an inch or two from the end to lighten the bat or they can use an end grip, hands down to the knob. One thing to consider is the knuckle down grip where the knuckles are in a line when holding the bat. This creates a quicker wrist action and speeds the bat up. Also hold the bat more in the finger tips to free up the wrist action.