Baseball Tips On Hitting--Ten That Will Have You Well On Your Way!
Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2010
by Larry Cicchiello
Larwenty Online Enterprises Inc
Baseball tips on hitting are extremely helpful but too often they turn into a lesson in geometry. Here are ten very good guidelines that are very basic but also very good.
1. Stand close enough to the plate so that when you're bent over slightly at the waist, you can extend the bat and still reach the outside corner of the plate.
3. Relax and let the air out. Tension is a hitter's worst enemy. One of the hundreds of baseball tips on hitting that's been around for decades and will always hold true.
4. Grip the bat where the fingers meet the hands. Not the palms. Use a medium grip because a tight grip will actually slow down your bat speed.
5. Your head should be facing the pitcher and completely relaxed, just as if you are watching television. One of the most useful baseball tips on hitting is that you should watch the pitcher's cap. It is a very good point to focus your eyes on because it is close to where the pitcher will be releasing the ball. Your eyes will then not have to refocus.
6. The height of the back elbow should be lined up a little lower than the back shoulder. Please don't listen to that old clich that's been hollered out for decades to "keep your back elbow up." To have your back elbow up by your back ear works well for very few hitters and I really wish that parents and coaches will stop hollering that out to hitters. Start just below shoulder height and then you decide for yourself if you want to raise it or lower it!
7. When the pitcher breaks his hands apart, shift your eyes from the pitcher's cap to the pitcher's window. (His window is simply where he releases the ball.) Go back and load up by cocking the wrists and the hips a split second before the pitcher releases the ball.
8. As the pitcher is actually releasing the ball, stride forward with your weight about 70% back on the inside of the back leg and about 30% on your front foot.
9. As the ball is pitched, you must turn your head and follow the ball into the hitting zone. It's been referred to many times as keeping your "head behind the swing." If you leave your head turned and facing toward the pitcher, when the ball arrives in the hitting zone you will be looking at the ball out of the corners of your eyes which only makes baseball hitting tougher.
10. When swinging, keep the front shoulder and front hip closed! Staying closed definitely makes my top 5 list of baseball tips on hitting! Maybe even makes my top 3. The baseball hitting is not taking place by your third base coach if you are a right-handed hitter or by your first base coach if you are a left-handed hitter. Not staying closed is a recipe for disaster.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)What about vizualization? I always tell my guys to see themselves hitting a line shot in the gap.. right center...Great point Ray. A fabulous high school coach I know makes everyone on his team do two things. One is they ALL choke up with two strikes on them. The other is that they will visualize hitting the ball hard before EVERY pitch!
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