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.  The strike out gives us NO chance 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 must not let it affect our boldness when we come up to bat.  We should hate it, despise it, avoid it like the plague, but NEVER fear it.  Know that every time we come to bat, we will make SUPER 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?”

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

The Super 8 Hitting System gives us the hitting tips to practically eliminate striking out.  It explains the biggest secret in hitting.  It is called the “drive” action.  It is short, direct, and will immediately improve contact.

By consistently practicing the “drive” action, a player can be assured that he can improve his 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.  Then all the hitter needs to do is to snap the bat on the ball.

Three advantages happen immediately:

1.      The batter will see the ball better: better read and ball movement.

2.      Movement of the hips after this is minimized because the batter is already in one-half a pivot.  This makes the stroke extremely short and quick.  The body has basically completed its role.  From here the hands just snap the bat.

3.      Hands now go directly to the pitch in a straight line, linear to the pitch.

Seeing the ball should be twice as easy for the hitter, eliminating “swing and miss” of the pitch, outside and inside the strike zone.

Players that perfect this technique rarely strike out.

We fully explain the “drive action” in the Super 8 Hitting System, completely demonstrated in a series of baseball hitting videos, which includes many baseball hitting drills. 

HITTING TIPS:   “DRIVE” — One of the biggest hitting secrets in baseball.

By Joe Brockhoff

The Problem:  “Rolling the wrist at contact”

Have you ever wondered what happens to the bat when the wrists roll? The bat head rolls. I’ve seen this happen hundreds of times during my 30 years in baseball coaching.  Hitters who make beautiful contact with the ball and then turn the hit into a grounder because they rolled the bat head too early.  Yet the remedy is so simple!

The Super 8 Hitting System Solution: Coach Joe’s “Under-Under Rule.”

1.                                First, take a quick inventory of your baseball hitting mechanics. On contact the top hand should be under the bat. Open up the hand on the bat when it is at the point of contact. It should be under the bat with palm up. 

2.                                Following contact, the bat head should travel to its forward extension, and the top hand should still be under the bat. Check it out. Open up the hand. It should still be under the bat with palm up. 

3.                                The only time the wrists should roll is when the bat is brought back to the opposite shoulder following the forward extension of the bat after contact. Keep the bat head in line with the stroke and don’t allow it to roll.  

4.                                When making contact, keep the barrel of the bat constant before, during, and after contact. Otherwise, the ball will escape.  

Coach’s Corner Extra Baseball Hitting Tips:  Here is another way to keep the hands in check. The knocking knuckles of the top hand always face the pitch on contact and never face down as the bat goes into extension.

Joe Brockhoff

Usually when a hitter is late and popping up or flying out, his stroke is too long. This is caused by dropping his hands behind him as he approaches the ball. Your son probably has what we call a loop in his stroke. Our research shows that a loop stroke will travel as far as 96 before contacting the baseball, as opposed to the short stroke which will only travel 36.  By dropping his hands as he goes to the ball, his bat head is getting under every fast ball.

Practice these baseball hitting tips and baseball hitting drills from our Super 8 Hitting System.

We clearly outline this in our video analysis videos… the basic problem that you need to resolve is to eliminate the arcing on the back side.

Click on the play button below to avoid making these costly mistakes:

Here’s another question I received from a player:

Q – Dear Coach Brockhoff, 

       Hi, my name is Matt.  I am a high school baseball player and I have used the the super eight hitting system.  I am just writing to ask a question about how to improve my swing plane.  When I was younger, my coaches told me to try to hit the top of the ball and pound the ball ino the ground.  I didn’t really know mutch about hitting at the time, so I took their word for it.  I spent years drilling these ”wood-chopping” hitting mechanics and have developed some bad habits.  Now, whenever I make contact I consistantly hit the ball into the gorund and I have trouble getting line drive elevation.  I was wondering if you could write back and explain how to improve my swing plane and give me some drills that i could do to help me out.  thank you for your time. 

Sincerely, 

Matt

A – Hi Matt,  

It is unfortunate that you were taught this swing down technique because you cannot get your bat head in line with the pitch this way.  Your bat should swing through the ball diagonally up at all times, never down.  If the pitch is high, then come right through it.    This baseball hitting technique will produce line drive elevation.  Dry swing this over and over using the proper stroke, also Tee and toss drills. 

Our ReaderBoard drills featured in our Super 8 Hitting System #4 DVD (Combos) is a good resource for practicing the proper stroke lines.   

Best wishes and good luck,

Coach Joe Brockhoff

Here is where you can get the #1 secret to hitting for power and average. I walk you thru the #1 secret in baseball hitting, and where you can get a copy of my most popular baseball hitting drills DVD, shipped right to your door for free.

Included in this DVD are 7 more baseball hitting tips that you can put to work for you now.