OVERVIEW
The Longer the Hitter Can Wait, the Better He Will Be.
Ability to identify pitch & location before committing forward swinging movement.
- Hitter has flaws in his swing & requires more than two-tenths of a second to get bat to ball
- Hitter is not strong enough or quick enough to get bat to ball in allotted time for success. Perhaps bat is too heavy.
- Hitter believes if he takes longer, harder, powerful wing at ball, it will go farther, perhaps over the fence. Creates long slow swing requiring early start.
- Hitter brings anxiety to plate, which creates poor focus. Is not playing in the moment. Brings garbage to plate. Concentration is poor, & he doesn’t properly pick up ball as pitcher releases. Hitter starts late or early.
- Hitter lacks confidence in hitting ability. Does not trust himself. Start late or early.
- Hitter tries to guess every pitch rather than read the pitch. H.S. level pitcher’s arsenal is varied & is unable to guess correctly. Most hitters guess fastballs or pitches in & start early.
- Hitter ego refuses to get beat inside on the inside fastball; thus approaches with early swing to get bat head out in front to meet inside pitch.
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Line Drives & Ground Balls Win Games
Year-in & year-out, a larger percentage of games will be won by the team with the highest on-base average rather than the team with the highest slugging percentage. Another truism is that a swing that produces line drives & ground balls takes less time that one that hits fly balls.
- For every 10 ground balls hit, 3 will fall in for base hits. On-base average equal 42%
- For every 10 line drives hit, 8 will fall in for base hits. On-base average equal 84%
- For every 10 fly balls hit (including all home runs), 2 will fall in for base hits. On-base average equal 29%
It is simply easier to catch a fly ball than it is to stop a ground ball, throw it accurately to a base, & have a teammate catch it. If on-base average wins more games, then line drives & ground balls are the route to take.
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Have a Plan at the Plate
Hitting commandment (a) hit inside to pull side, (b) hit outside to opposite side, & (c) hit pitch down middle to middle of field. Successful hitting requires aggressiveness. Hitter must be prepared to respond to pitch aggressively as aggressiveness will overcome many flaws in a swing. Rather than making 2 decisions, either to swing or not to swing, aggressive hitter makes only 1 decision, not to swing. Goes to plate to swing. Good hitters primarily use middle of field between SS & 2B baseman or the power alleys in outfield. 70% of H.S. pitchers pitch just inside midway point of plate to outside corner of strike zone. Thinking & having a high percentage plan is critical, & the hitter must rehearse it in mental pictures. He visualizes his plan, his swing, & where the ball will go. If the player wants success, he must first visualize it.
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Understand 3 P’s
Patience- “Good things take time.” “In some small way I can improve on yesterday today.”
Persistence- If a player wants to be a good hitter he needs to “keep on, keeping on.” It may take 101 knocks on a door before it opens, but he who knocks that last time will be glad he did not stop at 100. If a player wants to be a good hitter, he must work harder than most others do.
Poise- As in any journey toward excellence, bumps on the road can cause frustration. If a player wants to be a good hitter, he must develop resilience or poise, because he will experience more failure than success.
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Drills & Fundamentals Are Important
If a player does not learn fundamentals of hitting, improvement will come slowly &, in most cases, only because of maturation. Hitter will eventually reach a level where he can advance not further. It is that simple, & it is proven every day at the ballfield. Fundamentals must be taught & learned.
STANCE
- Feet are slightly wider than shoulder width in normal, open or closed stance.
- Weight is on balls of feet
- Back foot is pointed slightly in (pigeon-toed)
- Knees are slightly bent
- Waist is bent slightly forward
- Shoulders are level, or the front shoulder is down slightly
- Front arm is down with the elbow bent at a 90-degree angle
- Back elbow is down
- Bat is more flat than straight up & points in a path from the hands to the top of the back shoulder.
- Hands are 6-8 inches away from back shoulder & at top of strike zone.
- Head is straight up; hitter can see pitcher with his front eye closed.
- Body is properly stacked, one part on top of the next part in balance
SWING
- Ready to reduce the game from a team game to a one-on-one battle between himself & the pitcher. He must be ready to respond. The strike zone belongs to him!
- Imagine a straight line splitting the body from nose to belly button to a point between the feet. All parts of body closest to pitcher make up the front side & parts farthest from pitcher make up the back side.
- Basic law of power in baseball throwing & hitting: player stays behind the final summation of forces he is trying to generate until he reaches the final stages of the release of energy.
- Load before stride
LOAD
- Front knee is slightly in
- Little more weight (maybe 10 percent) has been transferred to the inside of the ball of the back foot
- Back knee is still above or inside back foot
- Shoulders can rotate slightly inward
- Front arm goes back slightly but remains close to 90-degree angle at elbow
- Bat remains close to original flat bat position. Bat head does not wrap around player’s head; that movement creates more distance & time to travel forward to ball.
- Hands move back slightly but do not drop below top of strike zone. When they drop, hitch, causes late swing & fly balls
- At completion of load, player should be able to shut his front eye & still see pitcher.
STRIDE
- Stride is short (6-8 inch) & toward pitcher
- Stride is a soft step that takes little transfer of weight from back foot
- Stride lands on big toe
- Head travel forward no more than 1 or 2 inches
- Hands remain in load position. Hitter will often let hands leak forward, reducing power.
- Stack is aligned & balanced. Not leaning forward at waist toward plate, letting butt move back from plate (sitting), shift weight to heels.
HIP ROTATION
- Hips rotate farther on an inside pitch than an outside pitch. Back knee & belly button should face direction ball travels off bat.
- Hips rotate on level plane. Back knee or bat does not drop.
- Hip rotation is released by pivot, or squash of bug, on ball of back foot.
- Hitter remains body balance throughout rotation.
- Weight transfer is from back to middle. Back foot remains in solid contact with ground at impact.
- Front knee at full extension at contact with ball
- Hitter feels himself drive front hip out of way. Front hip does not pull back hip forward.
UPPER BODY
- Front shoulder point toward ball until back shoulder comes forward on level plane as hips do.
- Bat arc should be on level plane with shoulders & takes straight path to ball.
- Hands should always stay higher than the path of ball as hitter approaches ball.
- Knob of bat to ball & lead swing with hands, not barrel of bat.
- Swings that conclude with hands well above front shoulder normally have upward bat path causing fly balls. Hands should finish at top of front-side arm.
- Bat speed & power comes from back side to middle & thoughts on generating bat speed from launch position to ball.
- Front elbow should never be fully extended but flexed for ball tracking, but back elbow should be close to full extension at contact with ball
- At contact with ball, top hand should be facing ball, not sky.
- Chin starts above front shoulder & by end of swing chin is over back shoulder with eyes staying on ball entire time.
- Hitter should be centering focus on small window surrounding release point of pitcher. Earlier a batter can obtain information on spin, velocity, & location the better his chances of hitting ball.
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