One of the most important roles and duties assigned to any baseball or softball player is certainly their performance within the batters box. While fielding and defensive play is certainly important as well, batting is the one aspect of the game that places the player in a one-on-one showdown with another player – namely, the pitcher.
How to Improve Your Batting Average – Keep a Good Eye, Be Patient, Practice by Yourself
One of the most common mistakes made by amateur softball and baseball players is pure impatience – the desire to smash the ball out of the park on the very first pitch can be a temptation too strong for many. While it is certainly not recommended that one allows the first pitch to sail by without swinging – no matter what, as some players maintain – it is a good idea to know your strike zone and your sweet spot.
All players have a sweet spot where they like to see a pitch. After having played a few games, this will become more apparent to the player as they develop a swinging pattern. The worst pitches are either high and low on the outside – reaching for a pitch means that the throw was a ball in the first place, and further, that the fulcrum necessary to produce a quality hit just won't be there. Too far on the inside is a poor choice for a hit as well, as the sweet spot on the bat is at least half-way down the length and hardly on the narrow inside.
There is plenty of time to wait for a neat pitch – there should be no pressure to swing on the first two or three pitches (unless there are two strikes, in which case the threshold becomes a lot looser). The best method of practice is to simply throw the ball up into the air by oneself and continue to hit and retrieve the ball. After hours of practicing in this fashion, one will get a much better grasp of their own swing time in respect to the ball (causing less clean misses and foul tips), their own sweet spot, and what looks good to swing at and what does not.
How to Improve Your Batting Stance – A Good Grip, Weight Shifting from the Hips
Perhaps the worst batting stances seen on a baseball diamond are those players who literally hold stock still and simply swing the bat with their arms, cutting across the strike zone. The majority of the energy necessary to produce a deep hit comes from the hips, the center of gravity necessary to torque the ball outward with the bat as an extension of one's own body.
Enter the batter's box and tap the bat on the far side of home plate. The reach of ones bat should be just slightly beyond the edge of the strike zone. Crouch slightly, placing most of the weight on the hind leg. Raise the bat behind one's shoulders, and be sure not to hold it cross-handed (for right handed batters, the right hand is placed on top of the left). Always keep rapt attention on the pitch, not the expression of the pitcher, nor the fielders.
As the ball comes closer, lift the front foot and step forward slightly, now distributing the weight from the hind leg forward into the front. While swinging, turn the hips and push them forward in tandem with the swing of one's arms. This should be practised in private over and over until it becomes a natural part of ones swing.
Practice makes perfect, and by harnessing the power of the proper batting stance along with hours of batting practice in order to improve pitch selection and hand-eye co-ordination it will be no time before the ball will be see sailing out of the park!
Nicholas Morine - Nicholas Morine Bachelor of Arts, English Language & Literature Master of Philosophy, Humanities (Candidate) Memorial University ...
