Deadly Misconceptions About Baseball Hitting Drills

This is one of many baseball hitting drills coaches teach —“Get the bat off your shoulder!”               

It is a common phrase used by fans, coaches, parents, and players. 

The question is “Why is that so bad?” 

Here is what happens when a player moves his bat away from his body in his hitting stance. As the batter does this, consequently separating the batter’s hands from his body. A hitter’s hands will more often than not be out over home plate right at contact. This will produce an arm swing with no balance in your body.   

So why is that a problem?  Let’s look at it this way. If you were to are wrestle someone, would you want your hands away from your frame?  Or would you want your hands close to the body for support? 

If you had to throw the best punch you could, would you hold your hands away from the body? No, you shouldn’t. You would want to have them by your shoulder to increase power.

 If you had to push an automobile, would you want your hands at your side, or would you want them in front of you? Your body increases power to the hands. And so naturally, keep your hands in front of you. 

Now, stand up like you’re at home plate with your bat out over the plate like it is in contact with the ball. What’s behind your grip?  Nothing! What MLB players.  

You might say…”I’ve seen major leaguers start with their hands away from their bodies. This has a tendency to be good.” 

And the answer to that is –“Major leaguers make an adjustment. Prior to making contact with the ball, they quickly bring their hands back to the shoulder area. You have to watch it in slow-mo to catch it.  But research shows that is exactly what they do. 

Therefore, let us be clear. You’ll be in a better hitting position when you keep your grip close to your shoulder. Keep your hands near your shoulder as you release your hips to take you to the ball. You will make contact in the proper zone, not over home plate. 

So if you want to learn how to hit a baseball,  remember this rule:  The only time separation of the hands from the body occurs is when they move forward to hit the ball. 

These techniques are fully explained in the “Super 8 Hitting System”, completely demonstrated in a series of baseball hitting videos, which includes many baseball hitting drills.  

HITTING TIPS:

Get the bat off the shoulder in the hitting stance?   No.

Make contact over the plate?    No.

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Baseball Hitting Videos – Eliminating the Strike Out

A baseball player has to be able to keep up with better pitching these days.  Even though I am a former baseball coach, I have the answer for this. The principles for the correct stroke are the same for fast pitch softball as they are for baseball.            

In today’s game it is absolutely essential that the good hitter is “short to the ball” with a good compact stroke. 

 A major part of being the best hitter we can be is to be “tough to strike out.”  A good hitter should have no more than a 10% strike-out ratio.A strike out leaves us no opportunity to help our team.  By not putting the ball in play, we give the defense their easiest out. 

While no one has to be convinced that a strike out is not good, we cannot fear the strike out.We shouldn’t let this enter our mind when preparing to step up to plate.We shouldn’t like it, avoid it at all costs, but never fear it.Each time we come to the plate, we will be able to make contact. 

So the first part of the process is TOTAL CONFIDENCE, to completely eliminate our fear of the strike out.

 Part two is “How do we do this?

 The Super 8 Hitting System gives us the softball hitting tips to practically eliminate striking out.  It explains the biggest secret in hitting.  It is called the “drive” action.It is compact, short, and will enhance your hitting stroke. 

By consistently practicing the “drive” action, the softball player can be assured that she can improve her ability to put the ball in play over 90% of the time. 

To do this, the player gets into a “45º drive position”, which means that before we initiate the stroke, we rotate the hips half way to the pitcher.  For the right-handed batter, this would point the knob of the bat and the belly button about where the second baseman would play.A hitter needs to snap the baseball bat on the ball. 

We fully explain the “drive action” in our system in a series of baseball hitting videos, which includes many softball hitting tips.

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Baseball Hitting Videos – Basic Batting Stance

Today’s video from our Baseball Hitting Videos series covers                                           

the basic batting stance, including how to practice the right style

sure to increase bat speed. Tips include taking the bottom hand

to take you to the ball, the top hand, which is the power hand that

forms a ‘V’, and how to keep your hands inside to perform the

‘Power V’.

 

Click below to view the full video!