General Hitting Philosophy

There are five (5) basic elements to solid hitting:

1. the longer a hitter can wait, the better a hitter they will become
2. Line drives and grounders are more likely to win games (statistics say so)
3. The hitter must have a plan at the plate
4. The hitter should understand patience, persistence and poise
5. drills and fundamental mechanics are important- work on them often

the longer a hitter can wait, the better a hitter they will become


Most problems in hitting are caused by starting the swing too early before getting a good read on the ball.  It is paramount to identify the pitch and location before commiting to a forward movement of the swing.  The added challenge is to perform these acts in less than 1 second.  An pitched ball traveling at 80mph takes approximately 0.4 seconds to travel to home plate (60 feet, 6 inches).  The hitter has 0.2 seconds to read the pitch properly and anoth  0.2 seconds to swing and deliver the blow.

In order to accomplish this and be successful, the hitter must develop a short, compact stroke and keep his power base intact throughout the swing.  The hitter must adhere to the rule of transferring weight from back to middle, not from back to front.
Line drives and grounders are more likely to win games (statistics say so)

A large percentage of games are won by the team with the highest on-base average rather than the team with the highest slugging percentage.  It is simply easier to catch a fly ball than it is to stop a ground ball, throw it accurately to a base and have a teammate catch it.  Likewise, line drives are harder to catch than fly balls.
The hitter must have a plan at the plate

Hitters should normally 1) hit the inside pitch to the pull side; 2) hit the outside pitch to the opposite side; and 3) hit the pitch down the middle of the strike zone to the middle of the field.  Successful hitters rarely deviate from thiese guidelines.

Successful hitting requires aggressiveness.  The hitter must be prepared to respond aggresssively to the pitcher's action and it may help overcome any weaknesses in the swing.

Thinking, rehearsing it mentally and having a high percentage plan is critical.
The hitter should understand patience, persistence and poise

The 3 P's (patience, persistence and poise) are present in all good hitters.  The hitter must learn all elements of the swing and can't learn and excel at them at all the sam etime.  It takes practice.  Patience and persistence must prevail.

Persistence has a more aggressive tone than patience.  If a player wants to become a good hitter, they must work harder than most others do.  Find additional activities and time to get more swings in at practice.

Poise is resiliency.  Hitting is one of the few activities where the standard of 3 hits out each 10 at bats is excellence.  In another words, a good hitter will fail 70% of the time in getting a hit and getting on base.  But a good hitter with poise will have a positive attitude and believe that they will get a hit, especially when it really counts with players in scoring position.
drills and fundamental mechanics are important- work on them often
 
Achievement in all areas of expertise requires learning fundamental principles and skills.  Fundamental must be taught and learned.  It helps to break down the fundamentals into smaller units and then placed back together again and repeated often.  Repitition is the Father of Learning.