Baseball Reviews

Basics of Hitting Tips

There are many ways in which you can hit a baseball and I have many hitting tips. Practically this is one of the most important techniques to master in the game. Even if you only watch baseball you would benefit from earning how to hit the ball and how a certain angle or technique can impact the outcome. Let`s see some of the best tips on how to hit a baseball:

Eyes on the Ball

If coaches said one thing to remember it is to always keep your eyes on the ball. You cannot expect to react in a correct way or to perform if you don`t always follow the ball. Seeing the ball however is not as easy as it sounds. It requires the balance of multiple factors which determine the accuracy and responsiveness. You need to have the mental focus to follow the ball. This means you need to leave your problems at home as coaches often say. It may also be a good idea to forget about the crowd or people watching you. Your sole purpose is to follow the ball, which is why it is the first hitting tip.

Following the ball also requires good torso coordination. You need to anticipate when the bat will hit the ball and in order to do this, you need to have the right biomechanics in the torso movement. Your eyes need to be locked on the ball and the movement needs to be as short as possible. The swing should also not affect the position of your head.

The good news is there are many ways to train your brain to see and focus on the ball. You can train with a machine which has multiple pitching balls per minute. Or you can even have a training partner pitching balls at you during your training sessions. A pro tip here is to have the machine or person stand closer to you which will give you less time to react and will sharpen your skills.

Leg Positioning

There are countless pieces of advice on how to improve the position of your legs and how each angle affects your results. First of all, you need to have good mobility before you start working on your legs position. You can train with torso and leg exercises which can tone your muscles and improve joint mobility. Some of the best exercises to achieve this goal are squats, abs or lunges. You may also want to train abs with a medicinal ball. Strong oblique muscles mean you’ll have a better control, of your swing. Stronger leg muscles mean you will be able to stabilize yourself better. And finally, good joint mobility is essential for the rotational movement of the swing. These exercises will also improve your starting and stopping mechanisms which are essential for total control.

Legs are also responsible for stopping your forward momentum. A slightly bent leg means you will lose the major stabilization in that leg but you can still use it to improve your body`s position.  This hitting tip makes your swing either a hit or a miss.

Focus on the Toe

The back foot is best if kept on the toe. You can use it to move slightly forward or to the side at the last moment. If you train long hours you`ll soon find out which muscles are activated with the back foot. These muscles are the hamstring and the calf. If you over-train you may encounter muscle soreness.

A good way to improve the mobility and stability of the back foot is with certain exercises. They can include hamstring curls and calf raises. Hamstring curls can be performed with a machine or with free weights. Calf raises can also be performed with added weights or with bodyweight only.

Grip Technique

Many bat manufacturers talk about the importance of the grip when hitting the baseball. They know that this becomes very important if not done correctly. For a right-handed player, the position of the right hand when you hit the ball should be with the palm facing upwards. The position of the left hand when you hit the ball should be facing downwards.

You should also note that training or long hours can have a negative impact on your grip. This is especially true with some bats which transfer vibrations from the barrel to the handle and then towards the player. A good tip is to look or bats which offer good barrel isolation and keep the vibrations away. Of course, isolating your hands completely from sting is impossible. To train your grip you can include some light forearm exercises into your weekly routine.

Top Elbow Position

The elbow plays a crucial role in the swings` power. Basically, the further your elbow is from your torso the more torque you will lose. You need to keep your top elbow bent and control it towards your body. This can also be trained with multiple exercises. Since you will be involving many of the hands muscles such as the biceps, triceps, forearms and shoulders it might be a good idea to start toning them with dedicated exercises in the gym. You can train all muscle groups together or alternate pushing and pulling movements to mimic functional mechanics.

There are many more tips which can help you improve the outcome of your swing and hitting the ball. You can see that most advice is a mix of psychological and physical approaches which show the complexity of the movement which coordinates the body and the mind.

So many players fail to appreciate just what it takes for the perfect hit and this is why so many of them don`t train all the areas required to improve the much-needed skills. You need to keep your eyes on the ball and this is why you need to be mentally focused. You need to coordinate the whole movement with your legs and this is why you need strength and mobility. Finally, you need to coordinate your torso and hands to achieve maximum results with minimum swing. The good news is that most of these movements can be improved with practice.

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