Hitting Approaches

Hitting Approaches

There are many thoughts, philosophies, and ideas around hitting. Many players and coaches focus on the mechanics and fundamentals of hitting. While mechanics and fundamentals are very important, they are basic and shouldn’t be complicated. I'm not writing these blogs to come across like I’m an all-knowing coach. I'm simply offering my beliefs and philosophies in the hope that they can help you become a better player.

Here are my basic thoughts on the mechanics of hitting:

- Have a quiet head and eyes! This means minimal movement. Our eyes tell us the speed and location of a pitch, as well as when to get ready.

- Have a short and direct path to the baseball.

- Finish "throwing the baseball," meaning keep your bat/hands through the zone as long as possible.

- Have a strong base, meaning finish with the strongest posture you can.

There are a few technical elements that can improve overall strength and power, and it's important to always look to improve in these areas. However, you can have all the proper fundamentals and the best swing in the world, but without a good approach, you will not find success at the plate.

What is an Approach, and How Do We Form One?

 n approach is a plan at the plate. It is formed in a few different ways:

- Recognizing how a pitcher is pitching to us. All pitchers have a plan to get a hitter out; they have their own approach. As hitters, we want to stay engaged in the game to recognize things like: How are they starting us off? Are they throwing an outside fastball or starting with a breaking ball? Are they creating patterns with their pitch selections? What pitches are they throwing in offensive counts, and what pitches are they using to try to get us out?

- Assessing the situation: How many outs are there? Where are the runners? And what is the situation of the game?

These are all questions we need to ask ourselves, and the answers help us form our approach.

Remember this: Hitting is offense. Be offensive. Hit in offensive counts.

What Are Considered Offensive Counts? 

3-0, 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-1, 2-1, 3-2

Successful hitters control the counts and take advantage when they are ahead in the count.

As you move up levels, pitchers get better, and their secondary and strikeout pitches improve. We don’t need to fear two-strike counts, but if we can avoid them by being aggressive when the count is in our favor, we’ll be more successful and have fewer strikeouts! Plus, you never know—umpires are human, and they make bad calls sometimes. We don't risk getting rung up on a bad call when we've already hit in a favorable count!

This is the first part of our approach discussion. This is general, and there are more specific situations we’ll discuss in detail. In upcoming blogs, we’ll explore different in-game situations and how to form approaches around them!


Coach Nick

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