How to Hit a Baseball for Both Contact and Power

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A great hitter once said that if you succeed 3 out of 10 times in hitting, you are a great hitter. It must be simple, right, to only have to hit 3 out of every 10 to be good? Wrong. Hitting is both a skill and an art, characterized by the many who have made it their life. In baseball, hitting will make or break a players value (though fielding ability is becoming more and more important). This article will analyze the 5 mistakes a hitter will make when attempting to hit the baseball with contact and power.

Steps

1. Find a batting stance that suits you. You can watch a game of baseball to see your favorite players batting stance, and use that, but it would be better to start with a generic stance and make tweaks based on your comfort level.
2. As the pitch comes in, get ready to hit by "loading up", or stepping with your front foot (left foot if youre a right-handed batter, right foot if youre a left-handed batter) straight towards the pitching mound. A common mistake hitters will make is that they will "step out", or step behind them. This leads to either totally missing the ball or barely making contact.
3. Watch. The pitch is now coming towards the plate - time to make a decision. The strike zone is the length of the front of home plate and from the batters shoulders to his or her knees. If the ball seems like it wont pass through that area, take the pitch; even if it ends up a strike, you have two more strikes before youre called out.
• If the ball is probably going to be a strike, follow it with your eyes and turn your head to see it fully as it comes closer to home plate, not taking your eyes off of it.
4. Some hitters will commonly drop their hands, meaning that instead of going in a diagonal path to the ball with your hands and bat like you should, the hitter will let his hands drop and swing in a straight line, resulting in either a swing and miss or a pop-up. With your bat, practice going diagonally to the ball until you have it perfect.
5. As you swing, your head may naturally turn away before the point of contact, ready to see where the ball went. That would be great, except you havent hit the ball yet. It is imperative that you make a conscious effort as you go to hit the ball that you keep your head looking at the ball. Bringing your head out results in foul tips/swings and misses.
6. If you have followed all of these directions, you have probably made good contact with the ball on the sweet spot of the bat and you are now in a great position to do some damage to the other team. As you swing, make sure to continue just as fast as you were going when you went to hit the ball even after you have felt contact. Keep your hands steady and level the whole way through, and end with them above your front shoulder. Your hips should naturally have made a quick, powerful twist that has transferred the power of your swing to the ball.
7. As you end your swing, make sure you do not feel like your back foot has to move immediately. If you do, it means youre probably off-balance and thus your swing wont have much power to it. The way to fix balance in your swing is to become more familiar with it and even adjust if necessary.
8. Done. If all steps were followed, youve probably driven the ball a long way and you can start running to first base. Good luck.

SHDAB Method SHDAB: If all of those long steps are too much to remember in the batters box, just remember SHDAB (the five things you must make sure to do right in order)-

·          

• S for Step: Keep in mind that you must step ahead, not out, when preparing to hit an incoming pitch.
• H for Head: Keep your head and eyes following the ball the whole way through, and do not pull out your head at the last second.
• D for Diagonal: Remember to make a diagonal beeline to the ball with your hands and bat
• A for Above: At the end of your swing, make sure your hands are above your front shoulder for power
• B for Balance: Keep balance at the end of your swing and youll be fine!

Tips

• A slump is when no matter what you do, you just cant hit well. This happens to all hitters and you shouldnt worry about it. Do not get down on yourself and always look forward to doing better next at-bat.

Warnings

• If you are starting to get blisters on your hands from hitting, its time to either get batting gloves or replace the ones you have.
• If you are feeling tired or dizzy, take a break and go grab a drink - you wouldnt want dehydration slowing you down.

Things You Will Need

• Bat
• Pitcher/Batting Cage
• Batting Helmet
• Baseball/Softball
• Batting Gloves (optional)

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