The Art of Hitting

 
  This is a skill that requires its own post. Books and books have been written about the art of hitting a baseball. Just as many books have been written about the art of pitching a baseball - or the art of making a player NOT hit a baseball! (more on that later)

  Hitting a baseball (round object) with a bat (also a round object) is one of the hardest athletic skills to perfect. When executed properly, the contact point is about the size of a dime.   The best way to achieve this aim is simply through practice and repetition. This repetition has come to be known as creating 'muscle memory' whereby an action becomes so ingrained that you no longer have to think to achieve a given result.

  If you have difficulty determining from which side to swing the bat, ask the child to try to hop on one foot. This random request results in an immediate preference for the 'dominant side'.  In other words, if the child hops right foot first, then that is generally right hand dominant. As a result, the right leg would provide the initial power during the swing and should therefore be the back foot, swinging the bat from right to left.

 As the athlete becomes more advanced, one suggested way to avoid injury is to take batting practice from the opposite side.  Jose Bautista suggests that swinging from the opposite side keeps his body in balance by working his body equally, stretching, weight training, swinging a bat, even throwing from time to time.

Ok.  Let's break it down.

  The leading hand should be at the bottom of the handle of the bat, the other hand gripping above. Ideally the hands should be rotated until the knuckles of the 2nd joint are as in line as possible.  This alignment of the knuckles results in the hands rolling over on the follow through, which in turn puts ‘back spin’ on the ball, causing it to travel further. Later we will discuss how batters learn to 'hit down on a ball' to enhance this effect.

  The hitter should take an athletic stance, knees inside the feet, with the back foot towards the rear of the batter’s box, perpendicular (or 90 degrees) to the pitcher’s mound and the weight back (about 60%). The feet should be such that the forward foot is slightly further away from the plate, such that the arc of the swing is roughly back stop to the opposite baseline and the contact point toward the front knee. Feet should be parallel and perpendicular to the pitcher’s mound.  The hands should be together and rise to approximately shoulder level.  Some like to keep the rear elbow held high to help ensure a level swing, some keep it low to avoid muscle tension in the forearm that can lead to a slightly slower bat speed. Have the player try both ways to find their comfort zone.

  Generally, the bat should be held in a somewhat loose grip, again to reduce muscle tension in the forearm and bicep.

  The bottom hand essentially 'steers' the bat, while the upper hand provides the upper body power. Pull the lower hand toward the ball, and then push through with the other.

  The swing begins with a distinct backward shift in weight. This may or may not involve lifting the leading foot from the ground, but should be such that only the ball of the foot touching.

Note:  The player’s knees must remain between his feet, especially on the backswing. Don’t let the rear leg buckle.
 

  As the ball leaves the pitchers hand, the hands rise slightly in anticipation of the swing. This is known as ‘loading up’ or triggering. As the weight begins to move toward the baseball, the hips turn with the torso, shoulders and arms to follow. Often the player will learn to use this forward foot lift to help with timing. The more aggressive a batter is, the more likely they are to swing early, so a higher lift will slow them down, with the advantage of a greater weight shift and more power. Don't over-emphasize power though at this time; rather work towards increased bat speed. You'll find that power increases with bat speed anyway.

As the hips turn, the follow through should result in the back leg rotating so the shoe laces wind up pointing to the pitcher’s mound while the front leg ‘locked’ to keep the weight back and stop the forward momentum .

Allow the player to follow through naturally on the swing, the hands finishing at about ear height, the shoulders square to the mound and the weight on the back foot. There are batters who have had success as ‘front foot hitters’. This is a skill that we’ll discuss later for advanced hitters. I don’t recommend teaching this style of batting as it requires a great deal more upper body strength and can be learned easily later.

   The batters eyes should never leave the baseball from the time it leaves the pitcher's hand until it hits his bat, the ground or the catcher’s glove. An easy exercise is to have the player take a stance at the plate and just watch pitches go by. The batter should keep his body as still and relaxed as possible to aid in following the ball.

  As an aid, if you have a batter who seems to continually swing at high pitches, have them keep their chin down such that when they swing the chin touches first one shoulder, then the other.  A good drill is to have the player swing while holding a handkerchief under their chin.  This also aids in creating a nice level swing.

Finally, bat selection.  The player should be able to hold the bat with the top hand only, at full arm extension. Out front, or to the side - doesn't matter, the player should hold the bat approx. 3 sec at minimum. If the player, no matter how big they are, cannot hold the bat for at least 3 seconds - get a lighter bat!

Next week Hitting Drills.