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When a baseball hitter is ahead in the count at 2-0 or 3-1, there isn’t any such thing as a mediocre swing, late swing, weak swing or check swing during these hitter’s counts. He should have the buttons on his uniform shirt popping off because his swing should be aggressive or he should not be swinging at all and should take the pitch! You will definitely see many better pitches to hit when ahead in the count.

You can be much more selective and decide if it’s the type of pitch that you want to hit and it’s located where you want it to be located or simply take the pitch. If a hitter’s favorite pitch to hit is a fastball that’s belt high and out over the plate and the count is 2-0 or 3-1, if he doesn’t get the fastball out over the plate and belt high he simply takes the pitch. If you are a pull hitter, you can look for a certain pitch that’s over the middle of the plate or middle in, where you like it. If you are an opposite field hitter, you can look for a pitch that’s over the middle of the plate or middle away, where you like it. You can also position yourself in the batters box to hit a ball in a certain part of the strike zone, because that’s the only pitch you are going to swing at anyway.

Most people agree that on average, you get one real good pitch per at bat to hit. There is a much better chance that you will see that one real good pitch if you are ahead in the count and not even or behind in the count.

The main point here is that when you are ahead in the count you should only swing at one type of pitch that’s located where you like it located. You can afford to be very selective and you are in the driver’s seat and not the pitcher!

Although 2-0 and 3-1 are both very good hitter’s counts, the best of the two is the 2-0 count. At 3-1, if a hitter takes strike two, he’s one pitch away from a walk but is also one pitch away from strike three. At 2-0, even if the hitter takes strike one, the count is still favorable for the hitter at 2-1 and he still has plenty of breathing room.

About Author
Larry’s very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on playing excellent baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com

If a hitter falls behind in the count at 0-2 or 1-2, he is forced into much more of a defensive mode. When the hitter is ahead in the count, he can decide what type of pitch and pitch location he will swing at. Now, when the hitter is behind in the count, just the exact opposite is true. He now must swing at the pitcher’s pitch. The pitcher now decides what the hitter has to swing at and the hitter can no longer be selective as to what he would like to hit. All the real good hitters try their best to get the count in their favor. It’s totally incredible what the statistics over the years reveal. The difference between batting averages on 2-0 pitches compared to 0-2 pitches is like night and day. The hitter may be very wise to slightly alter his swing. I’m of the firm belief that the swing on a 1-2 pitch should not be nearly as aggressive as the swing on a 3-1 pitch. At 1-2, you’re one pitch away from taking a seat on the bench and the focus should be on contact and making sure you put the ball in play.

Some Suggestions For the Hitter:

• When you are behind in the count, you should work from the outside in. This simply means that you must gear yourself for a tough low and away strike and adjust if the pitch is over the inside part of the plate. You can look away and adjust in but it’s very difficult to look in and adjust to the pitch that’s away.

• When behind in the count and with two strikes on them, some very good hitters will spread their feet a little wider than usual, take no stride at all, choke up and just try to put the ball in play. This is smart baseball hitting. They are good hitters and realize they are at a disadvantage and just want to make contact and let the chips fall where they may.

There is nothing wrong with conceding a little to the pitcher when the pitcher has the count in his favor and you, the hitter, are behind in the count. And you may be very pleasantly surprised that even though you are more defensive in your approach, you may get several hits by simply focusing on just putting the ball in play. Real good hitters refer to this as not trying to do too much at the plate.

Sometimes, less can indeed, be more.

About Author
Larry’s VERY user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com

By now, we’ve all heard the expression to hit it where it’s pitched. It’s very frustrating for a pitcher when he throws a perfect low and away strike and the batter hits the ball the opposite way for a hit. Most pitchers will make a mental note of it and know how well schooled the hitter is.

Low and away strikes are almost always a pitcher’s bread and butter and the very smart hitters will learn how to take some of the effectiveness of the low and away strike away from the pitcher. It’s pretty much a baseball fact of life that if a hitter tries to pull everything, his batting average will suffer. It’s also a baseball fact of life that hitters who hit effectively to the opposite field have a strong tendency to hit for higher batting averages.

When Hitting To The Opposite Field:

The first order of the day and one of the most important baseball tips on hitting to the opposite field is to avoid the common mistake of letting up on your swing. Many baseball hitters will not swing as hard when going the opposite way. Their swing quite often loses its aggressiveness and this should be avoided. The hitter should attack the ball in the same exact manner and maintain the same aggressiveness. When you are trying to hit the ball to the opposite field, preferably you want the pitch over the outside part of the plate. The angle of the bat should be facing slightly toward the opposite field.

One of the best baseball tips on hitting to the opposite field is that you make contact with the ball deeper in the hitting zone. Contrary to what some may believe, you use the same exact swing that you always use. The only difference is you hit the ball when it is closer to the catcher. Pitchers are not thrilled with hitters who use all fields and can efficiently hit the ball to the opposite field. As a hitter, you don’t want pitchers to be thrilled when you are at bat.

Just remember these three things:

1) To attack the ball with the same aggressiveness.

2) Have your bat angled toward the opposite field.

3) Let the pitch travel a little longer and get a little bit closer to the catcher.

There is an obvious link between baseball hitters who can hit efficiently to the opposite field and higher batting averages!

About Author
Larry’s very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on playing excellent baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com

Not having the proper bat weight is an extremely common problem, especially with younger baseball players. You simply have to have the proper bat before addressing other important baseball tips on hitting. Way too often, younger players have the improper bat weight and almost always it’s because the bat is much too heavy! It also happens occasionally with older players also. Many baseball hitters falsely believe that that the heavier the bat, the farther and the harder they will hit the ball.

Guideline to Help Determine the Proper Bat Weight to Use:

1. Grab the bat at the very end, holding just the knob and using all your fingers. Use your right hand if you are a right-handed hitter or left hand if you are a left-handed hitter.

2. While holding the knob only, extend your arm and the bat out in front of you, with your palm facing up.

3. In other words, the distance from your shoulder to the end of the barrel of the bat should be approximately 5 or 6 feet.

4. Hold the bat for about five seconds and if your hand quivers, the bat is probably too heavy. If your hand remains fairly steady, your bat weight is probably okay.

This is just a guideline but your actual swings at the plate should be your truest and most reliable indicator as to proper bat weight. If you’re usually getting the bat around quickly enough on average or slightly above average fastballs, there is a very good chance that you are just fine.

You can also see what weight the rest of your teammates are using. Usually the difference among players on a team is only an ounce or two. So, you should be in the ball park already. No pun intended. So it’s really only fine tuning it by an ounce or so to your personal preference. If you are going to err, make sure you err on the side of the bat weight being too light instead of the being too heavy! Having a little “less bat” than you can handle is a very minor problem and is far superior than having “too much bat” and being constantly late on every pitch, where you will have no chance for a successful at bat.

Some teammates may kid you a little bit if you are using a lighter bat than most of the others. A perfect example for you to exercise “in one ear and out the other.” You are the one doing the hitting and you are the one who has to feel comfortable, not them. One of the most important baseball tips on hitting to remember is that bat speed determines how hard you will hit the baseball. I would rather have a bat that’s an ounce or two lighter but enables me to be quicker to the ball any day!

About Author
Larry’s very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on playing excellent baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com

When it’s all said and done, quite a bit of successful baseball hitting will come down to what your personal preference is because you are the one who must feel comfortable at the plate. However, there are some very good starting points.

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.

2. As far as your baseball stance, make believe its basketball and you’re guarding another player. This will give you a very good foundation to encourage effective baseball hitting. Your weight should be on the balls of your feet and you should be leaning slightly toward home plate.

3. Relax and let the air out. Tension is a hitter’s worst enemy.

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. Watch the pitcher’s cap, as 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 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 cliché 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! 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.

About Author
Larry’s VERY user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com

This article will explain different hitting tips to use when baseball training that will help improve your baseball and softball game.

Five keys to success are the longer the wait on a pitch will make him a better hitter, line drives and ground balls will improve a hitters batting average, a plan at the plate, patience, persistance, and poise, and baseball training drills.

Stance is very important to the swing as is load position, stride, launch position, rotation forward, shoulder rotation, weight transfer, brace off, bat arc, straight to the ball, bat speed, extension, seeing the ball, and putting the ball in play.

Hitting drills with or without baseball training aids are strike zone swings which you learn to hit in all areas of the strike zone. Dummy swings develop a proper swing when working with an object that does not move. This can be done with a batting tee which is a very valuable baseball training aid. Soft toss another great baseball training aid can be used for angle tosses, one-knee toss, with two balls at one time, and short toss.

Baseball pitching machines are baseball training aids that are great to help your improvement in hitting. They can throw at different speeds with an assortment of different pitches. There are many baseball pitching machines available.

Try different drills for hit and run, leadoff hitter, man on second in a nonforce situation with no outs, man on third with less than two outs, and two strike swings.

It is very important to use different baseball training drills and with baseball training aids will help your game to go to a higher level.

This article went over different basics and situations that will help make you a winner with practice, practice, and more practice, and the will to succeed.

If a baseball hitter is a real good fast ball hitter who has very quick bat speed, he should not change his hitting style and should get up there and take his normal swing.

On the other hand, not all hitters have that quickness in their swing and they should make adjustments to increase their chance for a successful at bat. Against some flame throwers, many very good hitters cut down on their stride or even omit it completely, especially with two strikes on them. There is nothing wrong with conceding a little bit to a pitcher. The only goal is a successful at bat and it’s not important how you achieve that success.

For those hitters who have trouble against “flame throwers,” they should remember that it’s not necessary to take any stride at all or to swing the bat hard. Some hitters, especially younger hitters, do not get this message. They quite often over swing and take this long, looping swing that is very late on the pitch and have very little if any chance at all. Unfortunately, this sometimes happens over and over again and is quite frustrating for a hitter of any age, whether it is a younger player or an older player. Younger players will not have fun on the baseball field if this continues to happen. If a young player continues to strike out three times a game, in no time at all he will lose interest in playing baseball.

The name of this game, from a baseball hitter’s point of view is to get the “sweet” spot of the bat on the ball. If you swing the bat so easy that it won’t crush a grape, but can somehow manage to get the sweet part of the bat on the ball, you will get your share of hits. If you do the same thing against a power pitcher, you will get more than your share of hits. It’s not important how weak a swing you had at the pitch and the weakness of your swing will go totally unnoticed. What will be very well noticed is how you hit the ball extremely hard against a flame thrower who has been striking out a lot of batters.

Leading bat manufacturers spend millions of dollars on research to have batted balls jump off the sweet part of the bats they manufacture. The hitter’s chore is to just get that sweet spot of the bat on the pitched baseball. Hitters should let the speed of the pitch do 90% of the work for them. Against the flame throwers, the hitter who has trouble with the heater should keep it as simple as possible. Start the swing early and no need to stride at all. Throw the barrel of the bat down at the pitch. One of the better baseball tips on hitting to remember is that even if your swing is so easy that it could not crush a grape, the sweet spot of the bat and the velocity of the fast pitch will do 90% of the work for you!

About Author
Larry’s very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on playing excellent baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com

If you have what is referred to as a “quick hip,” please forgive my bluntness but you will have no chance of being a successful baseball hitter. Only on an inside pitch, can you get away with opening the front hip a little bit early.

A “quick hip” is when the front hip opens a fraction of a second early. It is a common baseball hitting problem and a very serious one for many hitters at all levels of play. The swing itself should force the front hip open. If the front hip opens a fraction of a second too quick, it forces your front side to open too early and this is a recipe for disaster for a baseball player at any level of play.

Three Major Problems Occur if You Have A Quick Hip:

1. You will not see the ball well. Your head will go along for the ride with your “quick hip” and you will be looking at the ball out of the corner of your eyes when the moment of truth arrives and you attempt to actually hit the ball.

2. Your power will be lost. You will be leaning toward third base if you are a right-handed hitter or toward first base if you are a left-handed hitter. That is not where the baseball hitting is taking place. The hitting is taking place in front of you, not to the left or right.

3. Your plate coverage will be poor. The only pitch you’ll be able to hit with any success at all is the inside pitch and low and away pitches will cause several baseball hitting problems for you.

I wonder how much young players who are struggling at the plate would improve considerably if they made this fairly simple adjustment at the plate. Keeping the front hip closed is easily one of the more important baseball tips on hitting.

How common is the baseball hitting problem of having a quick hip? Don’t just take my word for it, you can check it out for yourself. When watching a game live either in person or on TV, at any level of play, observe the weaker baseball hitters. (The hitters who are batting .220, .230 or .240.) Keep an eye on their front hip. In almost all cases, it will be opening too early.

On the other side of the coin, you can also check out the better hitters. They will be keeping their front hip closed!

About Author
Larry’s very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on playing excellent baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com

Serious baseball hitters must pay close attention to what a pitcher does well and what he does not do well. You may know this before the pitcher even takes the mound that day and if not, you can certainly learn a lot about him by watching him for an inning or so. Sometimes you can learn a lot after only one batter.

Good pitchers will stay awake at night trying to figure out how to get good hitters out. Just like the pitcher is looking for your strengths and weaknesses as a hitter, you too better be looking for his strengths and weaknesses! Pitchers at higher levels of play use pitching charts to get to know tendencies that hitters have. Why can’t you, as a baseball hitter, at least keep a mental chart of the pitcher’s tendencies?

By just being a pretty good observer, you will see that many baseball pitchers have certain habits and patterns that you should look for. You may very well be rewarded later on. Here are 12 things that you must watch for!

Some Very Important Things You Should Be Looking For :

1. Look for where his release point is. Quite often pitchers have different release points for different pitches and you may know what pitch he’s throwing just before he actually releases the baseball.

2. Time his pitches with your swing when waiting to hit. There’s no excuse for not having a very good idea how fast a pitcher is before you actually face him.

3. Is the pitcher always throwing a first pitch fast ball all the time?

4. Does he lean back more toward second base to get some extra speed on his fast ball?

5. Does he slow down his windup at the last second when he’s throwing a change up?

6. On the other hand, does he speed up his windup too much when throwing a change up because he is trying too hard to disguise it?

7. Does he always throw the curve ball with 2 strikes?

8. Is the first pitch to each batter “too fat” and an easy pitch to hit?

9. Is the pitcher always throwing a breaking ball after he shakes off his catcher’s signal? This tells you the catcher is never signaling for the breaking ball as his first signal and then when the pitcher shakes off the catcher, you know the pitch will be his breaking ball.

10. Does the pitcher raise his front shoulder higher when throwing the fastball to try to get something extra on it and throw it faster?

11. Is he always pitching low and away and not using both sides of the plate by occasionally coming inside?

12. Does he drop his arm slot down a little to get more lateral movement on his breaking ball?

If you’re serious about being a successful baseball hitter, you have to be thinking all the time. While on the bench, sit next to a very good hitter and talk about the opposing pitcher throughout the game. Baseball hitting is tough so try to gain every possible advantage. Remember, the pitcher is thinking of anything he can do to get you out. As a baseball hitter, you should be thinking of anything and everything you can do to have a successful at bat. You will be very pleased with yourself if you have observed that the pitcher has started five straight hitters off with a first pitch fast ball, then you get up, see a first pitch fast ball and hit a seed into one of the gaps!

Even if you don’t know anything at all about a pitcher, you can learn his strengths, weaknesses and overall tendencies very quickly. Beating the pitcher requires clever use of your mind as well as your body. The pitcher is using both his brain and his arm to beat you and you must do the same if you truly want to be a successful baseball hitter.

About Author
Larry’s very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com

It was discovered through still photography, that the best hitters in the world only have about 10 perfect swings per year. Let’s look at a only a few baseball tips on hitting that are short and right on point and will help you to be successful. I can’t stand it when baseball hitting is turned into a lesson in geometry or physics.

A Balanced and Workable Stance

All good athletes are balanced almost all the time. It gives you a solid, comfortable foundation, which is where hitting begins. One of the most important baseball tips on hitting is that hitting starts with your foundation! Some very good hitters find it useful to have a little body movement while in their batting stance. They may rock a little back and forth which they find relaxing. It’s almost impossible to have your muscles tighten and tense up when your muscles are moving. You can then be quicker and shift your weight much better than someone who is just standing there like a statue. It’s identical to a goalie in hockey. If he stands up straight like a statue, what chance will he have to move freely to make a save on a slap shot that’s traveling close to 100 mile per hour? What chance will a tennis player have waiting for a serve in excess of 100 miles per hour? None of them will have a good chance and neither will a baseball hitter.

Striding With the Front Toes Slightly Closed

If your toes are slightly closed, it encourages you to keep your front hip and front shoulder closed as well. In other words, instead of having the toes pointing straight out away from your body when you take your stride, turn them an inch or two inward, back toward the catcher. If you point the front toes out toward the pitcher, it will encourage you to open your front side too early which will create many baseball hitting problems.

Have the Bat Fully Loaded When the Stride Foot Touches the Ground

All good hitters have the bat in the “launching position” when their front foot completes the stride. Make sure you are ready to explode to the baseball when your front foot lands.

You Stride and Then You Swing

They are two separate movements that should happen very quickly and smoothly but they are separate movements. Many weaker hitters make the mistake of striding and swinging at the same time.

Making an Aggressive Motion Toward The Pitcher

A lot of hitters do not do this but do you know what? All the great hitters do. That is where the ball is coming from and that’s where you should be going. Real good hitters go into the ball to hit it. It’s a common baseball hitting problem to not go toward the pitcher when swinging. The reason it’s such a common baseball hitting problem is because it is simply not natural to move your body toward a baseball that someone is throwing in your direction.

Having a Tension Free Swing

Tension is a hitter’s worst enemy. It’s one of the baseball tips on hitting that’s been around for decades and is still one of the best. Tension destroys a fluid, graceful swing that’s necessary for hitting the ball properly. Don’t squeeze the bat too tightly and don’t tighten up your muscles. Like mentioned above, many very good hitters have a slight waggle to help them relax.

Head Behind the Swing

The real good hitters actually see the ball a little longer than the weaker hitters. They literally lower and turn their heads when making contact. You simply can not keep your head facing the pitcher and look at the baseball out of the corners of your eyes when trying to make contact.

Hitting to All Fields

Rarely will you find a hitter with a high batting average who limits himself to hitting the ball to only one part of the field. Pay attention to the old expression, “hit it where it’s pitched.” In the long run, you will be much better off.

Hitting Through the Ball

Hitting through the ball is necessary for successful hitting. You should pretend that you are trying to hit three or four baseballs that are tied closely together with a piece of string, instead of hitting only one baseball. This will help you keep the bat in the hitting zone longer.

Focusing on the nine baseball tips on hitting listed above should hopefully have you well on your way to successful baseball hitting.

About Author
Larry’s very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on playing excellent baseball. ANY baseball player, coach or parent who wants to help their child will be fully equipped! Some FREE baseball tips on hitting and FREE baseball pitching tips are available at Larry Baseball.com