Every baseball striker wishes to raise their average and hit for power, but as most people quickly discover, hitting a baseball is one of the most difficult sports to master. The good news is that you can go from hitting like a beginner to hitting like a professional with the appropriate advice, technique, and approach. The proactive approach to hitting in baseball is equally as vital as the physical method. Baseball hitting strategies and advice from professional baseball players are provided in this article. Continue reading to learn more.
1. Picking the Appropriate Batting Gloves and Bat
One thing that batters sometimes forget is selecting the proper equipment. If you want to be a good hitter, make sure you select the equipment that you are most comfortable with. There are many various types of equipment to pick from, and we’ll go through batting gloves and bats briefly below.
- Batting Gloves – If a batter chooses to wear batting gloves at all, one of the first items of equipment they will examine is their batting gloves. The difference between striking with strength and striking for contact may be determined by selecting the right batting gloves. As a result, you’ll want to make sure that the batting gloves you purchase are pleasant and fitted well on your hands. To determine the correct batting glove size, take a measurement from the base of your palm to the end of your middle finger, then compare the results to a batting glove table. Overall, the tighter the batting gloves, the finer. Furthermore, a creased batting glove should be avoided. Pustules are common with creased batting gloves, affecting your control. And, as we all know, a good and powerful grip aids in improving swing speed.
- Bat – The bat you’ll use is another vital piece of equipment to get right. Many baseball players like discussing the sorts of bats they are buying or considering buying, but you don’t want to buy a bat just because all of your buddies are doing it. Alternatively, look for a bat that is comfortable to wield. The bat you select will decide the precision with which you will impact the ball throughout your swinging, as well as the speed with which you will swing. You don’t want to pick a bat that’s too weighty or too lightweight, so check sure it’s the right weight and length for you and that it’s comfortable to wield. Furthermore, if you participate in a bbcor league, you should constantly check the bbcor bat ratings.
2. Make Use Of Your Legs
If you only use your arms and hands to strike the ball, it will never be particularly hard. If you’re not moving your hips and legs appropriately while you swing, it’s also doubtful that your bat trajectory will be as it should be. “Use your lower half” is a broad recommendation, so let’s go more precise. When swinging, your legs and hips should be really dynamic. Your legs should be stretched and your posture should be broad at first. After you’ve gotten into your position, you should be able to put down the bat and feel like you could defend a shooter on a basketball court or play defense on a soccer field. Agility, quickness, and the capacity to erupt from that posture are all required. You should be able to move your legs back and forth while staying inside them. Instead of rolling up onto each leg, adjust athletically while maintaining a solid stance within your feet.
3. Make Your Core Stronger
Your core should be engaged once your bottom half is powerful and proactive in your movement (abs, obliques, lower back). Your legs will fill your body up and move your weight into the ball, but the hips and core will need to release into the ball. Don’t consider the baseball swing as something you accomplish with your hands since your arms and hands will simply follow your core rotation. Rather, think of it as a process that begins from the ground up and culminates with the bat (and your hands) whizzing through the boundary. Considering your core is so important in baseball, whatever you can do to develop it will benefit you all over the field. Medicine balls, rotational workouts, and anything else that demands your core to regulate movement is fantastic for this. It takes a strong core to hit with power.
4. Have Faith in Yourself
Having the appropriate attitude is essential when it comes to improving your hitting, whether in preparation or during a game. Even if all of the other guidelines in this article are followed, a player will not be able to become a great hitter unless they have the right attitude. Every professional athlete has the proper attitude, which explains why they are so successful. Questioning oneself before getting into the batter’s box is a certain way to get hit by a pitch.
When you have the appropriate mentality, you believe in yourself and know that no matter how excellent the pitcher is, you will hit a fair number of pitches. Moreover, believing that all of your batting training routines in the cage have improved you. Due to the obvious time and effort they’ve put into honing their trade, all professional players have confidence at the plate, so keep in mind that having the right mentality takes time and training.
5. Hand-Eye Coordination Should Be Improved
If you are looking to improve your contact with the ball, then you need to have great hand-eye coordination. All pro players practice their swing in order to improve their hand-eye coordination, which helps them make contact with the ball more often. There are a couple of drills you can engage in to help you see the ball much better. Hand-eye coordination can be improved by training with smaller balls or a smaller bat. This workout improves your vision of the ball since if you can hit these tiny balls, hitting a much larger baseball should be no issue.
Conclusion
To conclude, the above-mentioned baseball hitting techniques are really helpful. To be clear, these aren’t the only ways to smash the ball hard; there are plenty more, but focusing on the ones listed above will provide beneficial outcomes.
