by Kevin O'Connell

Created on: July 31, 2009

The ABCs of Hitting

Select a bat that allows for plate coverage and has some weight to it, yet is comfortable in the hands and can be swung with speed. Test the balance of the bat by holding it in just the lower hand and fully extended out in front of the body. If conscious effort is required to keep the bat extended, it is probably too heavy.

Hold the bat so that the handle in both hands is set in line where the fingers meet the meat of the hand. Wrap both thumbs around the bat handle. Grip the bat firmly as to allow for strong, natural wrist movement. Ultimately the hitter is required to snap or whip the bat head to the contact point. This snapping or whipping motion is restricted if the bat is held too deeply in the palm of the hands which is referred to as choking the bat.

Take a shoulder width stance, perhaps slightly wider, in the batter's box so that both feet are equidistant from home plate and that the bat when extended spans the width of the plate. The back foot should be within a foot of the furthest extent of the plate. Unless facing a pitcher that has exceptional velocity there is no reason to be extremely deep in the box. Setting either foot further from home plate than the other foot is not recommended as to do so requires body movement superfluous to the swing.

Fix the eyes in a straight line to the pitcher. Determine the release point of the pitcher, create an imaginary box around that point, and follow the flight of the ball from that particular point of origin. There is no reason to focus attention on the full range of motion of the arm. Do not move your head, but keep the neck muscles loose and relaxed.

As the pitcher prepares to deliver the pitch but has not yet started his motion, shift the body's weight to the balls of both feet. The heels need not be raised, but there must be no weight on them. Alternately shift the weight rhythmically from the back leg to the front leg. This barely perceptible rhythm prepares the body to react. Hold the bat straight up and down and perpendicular to the ground or if preferred with a slight angle to some degree over the back shoulder. The more upright the bat angle, the shorter the distance the bat head travels to the contact point. Start with the hands about heart high and the knob of the bat in line with the front of the knee of the back leg. The rear elbow should be at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from the torso. As the pitcher starts his motion, get quiet- stop the rhythm.

As the

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