Effective Baseball Hitting

By Chris Moheno

There is much more to baseball hitting than meets the eye. When it comes to this technique, it is imperative that body and mind work together in order to achieve the best hitting results.

When you love to play baseball, your goal will be to become a better hitter. Each individual will have their own opinion and give you their advice and hitting tips.

Take all of the advice on board and eliminate everything that does not fit your hitting style. Try different variations of hitting, stances, approaches and hitting drills.

If something in particular suits you, then keep it; if it doesn't, then eliminate it. There will always be something that can be improved. However, listed below is some of the best advice that you will ever wish to receive.

• When hitting, it is important to always remain calm. You will not be able to hit the ball successfully if you are nervous.

• Stand in a loose comfortable position parallel to the plate with your legs approximately shoulder width apart and your knees and hips well bent. Your body weight should be perfectly centered in the middle. Your hands should be placed approximately five inches away from your body and only a couple of inches above your shoulder height.

• Paint a picture in your head of a box shaped area for following the ball. When the pitcher goes through their motion, imagine a box surrounding his or her shoulder where the ball comes out. This will assist you in determining what he or she is going to pitch.

• Wait until the pitcher is in their windup with approximately 60% of your body weight on your back leg. When the pitcher separates their hands, which were previously together with one in their glove, you should take a light smooth stride of approximately 2 inches long.

• Now you need to be prepared for receiving the ball. As your front foot steps forward, you need to shift approximately 80% of your body weight onto your back foot. Your hands should be moving backwards very slightly whilst at the same time ensuring that you keep a 90 degree bend in your front elbow. Your front shoulder should be heading forward towards the plate with the backwards motion of your hands. This action is done very quickly and is known as the load.

• Never take your eyes off the ball when baseball training or when undergoing a real game. Once the ball is in the air, you have a fraction of a second to identify the pitch. You then need to pivot, twist your hips and bring your hands straight down with the knob of the bat going straight to the ball whilst transferring your body weight back to the center. The bat then needs to be extended whilst keeping it on a level downward plane. Once you make contact you flick your wrist and extend the bat pointing the end of it to the pitcher and finish with the bat on your shoulder.

• When baseball hitting you will experience inside pitches, outside pitches, and pitches down the middle. When hitting an inside pitch you should hit the ball out in front of your body. When hitting an outside pitch you should let the ball get back in the zone and hit it behind yourself or at your body. When hitting a pitch down the middle, you should hit it right on top of your body with good extension.

• You will sometimes identify a curve ball, which will look as though it is going to hit you. No matter what you do when baseball hitting, you should never buckle backwards. It is important to stand your ground and if anything, turn into it and stay low. This will assist you in hitting the ball with a great deal more consistency and power.

• Don't be afraid of fast pitchers. A fast pitch will simply result in the ball going further. If you see the ball coming towards your midsection, do not lift your hands and allow it to make contact with your ribs. What you need to do is press your arm into your side and allow the ball to hit you in your arm. Trust me; a ball hitting your arm is much better than hitting you in the ribs.

The final, and probably most important piece of information that you should always follow when it comes to baseball hitting, is that you must, at all times, wear protective gear and a helmet. Baseball is a fantastic sport, but not so great when you do not play by the rules and wear the appropriate protection. Pitchers can very often slip up, sometimes accidentally and sometimes on purpose, and a baseball is not one that you want to be hit with on several occasions when you are not correctly kitted out.

Chris Moheno has a long time passion for sports in general and for baseball coaching more specifically.

His goal is to spread the word about effective non-fluff baseball training techniques for both more experienced and young baseball players, to help them perform better during the game.

Discover more about baseball training secrets on baseballtrainingsecrets.

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