Full Count Baseball

Wow. It’s finally here, the first day of practice. We’ve waited all winter for this. For some of us, we’ve been practicing for months. For others, we’ve just begun. Either way, that first outside practice is exhilarating. The sound and feel of being cooped up in a cage for seemingly weeks on end hitting into nets, off tees and from coaches throwing from 25’ is over and the world has now opened up. For us Midwesterners, the world is now in equilibrium. Before we begin, it is important to understand a few things to make the transition seemless.

If major league hitters are one thing, they are meticulous. Watch them get their stance in the box. This process can seem to take hours. They tighten their batting gloves, they dig their back foot in, step back out of the box, they put their hand up to the umpire for time, take their stance again, and then they tap the plate and check their alignment. Okay, I’m ready. This tells me one thing, your set up matters. A lot. Take the time to get it right and put your body in a strong starting position.

Here is a question I got recently from the parent of one of my students: How can I get my son to translate the success he has in the batting practice cage into the game?

To answer this question, I will make some assumptions. One, in batting practice, the coach is closer than normal. Two, he is not throwing as hard. Three, it's practice. No pressure. And four, the fear factor.

While not all swings are exactly alike, the most successful hitters all exhibit relatively the same traits at each point in their swing. As a hitting instructor or just a dad teaching his son or daughter to hit, here are a few key points to look for when instructing.

It is always said that every hitter has their own different style. Another common phrase is it’s not where you start, but where you finish. Both of those statements are true. But there are some starting points that can’t be overcome and will inhibit the hitter’s swing before it even starts. If you look closely at major league hitters, the vast majority of them possess the same basic fundamentals at each and every key point in their swing. Their stance is no different.

As we approach the mid-summer classic, a few words to the wise: watch and learn. The games best hitters will be taking center stage and the fundamentals that got them there will be on display for all to see, for free, especially the home run hitting contest. Their mechanics are impeccable. Don’t watch the pitch or how far the ball goes, watch what they do. How do they stride? What do their hands do? Watch their hip drive. Watch their follow through. How is their balance?

Here we are in the middle of the travel season and now you feel like you are wearing down when you should just be hitting your stride. Tired, slow, dragging, no energy, no bat speed, no fastball? There may be some reasons why.