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advice needed for struggling hitter


cheathamfan09
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here's the situation, during bp no problems(one of my summer coaches says i am one of the best cage hitters he has ever had) but during games i seem to be hitting everything either off the handle or the end of my bat. i know it must be something small i am doing i hit in the upper .300's during regular season. any advice would be awsome.

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here's the situation, during bp no problems(one of my summer coaches says i am one of the best cage hitters he has ever had) but during games i seem to be hitting everything either off the handle or the end of my bat. i know it must be something small i am doing i hit in the upper .300's during regular season. any advice would be awsome.

 

 

You sound like the classic 5:00 hitter - LOL!!!

 

Advice is pretty simple but most high school kids don't get it.

 

A) TRUST YOUR HANDS

 

/cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="B)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" /> Let the ball travel

 

You are either jamming yourself or hitting the ball before it gets to you. You are jamming yourself by 'lunging' at the ball, not keeping your weight back (i.e. not trusting your hands). Keep your weight back, hit the ball back where it comes from by letting it get deep, and above all else, did I mention TRUST YOUR HANDS!!!

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As the other guy said you are probably not waiting for it. During BP there is no pressure and you are relaxed. During the game you tense and get too anxious, trying to do too much. Just relax and hit as if it is BP. This will let you be able to wait for the ball(let it travel) and hit it with the barrel of the bat.

 

You can't hit it til it gets there.

 

 

 

here's the situation, during bp no problems(one of my summer coaches says i am one of the best cage hitters he has ever had) but during games i seem to be hitting everything either off the handle or the end of my bat. i know it must be something small i am doing i hit in the upper .300's during regular season. any advice would be awsome.

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here's the situation, during bp no problems(one of my summer coaches says i am one of the best cage hitters he has ever had) but during games i seem to be hitting everything either off the handle or the end of my bat. i know it must be something small i am doing i hit in the upper .300's during regular season. any advice would be awsome.

 

hitting off the end of the bat might be caused by you trying to pull off of the ball instead of staying closed and staying on the ball in which you lose plate coverage(hence hitting the ball off of the end cap)... try to shoot everything right back at the pitcher(at least for the time being while you are struggling) and think about keeping the bat on the ball a foot past contact.(extension).. getting jammed is just late timing... work on quicker more active and aggressive hands with a loose grip....

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hitting off the end of the bat might be caused by you trying to pull off of the ball instead of staying closed and staying on the ball in which you lose plate coverage(hence hitting the ball off of the end cap)... try to shoot everything right back at the pitcher(at least for the time being while you are struggling) and think about keeping the bat on the ball a foot past contact.(extension).. getting jammed is just late timing... work on quicker more active and aggressive hands with a loose grip....

 

 

 

Classic case of not keeping your hands "inside the ball". If you keep your hands in close to your body and rotate your hips, you'll keep the "fat part" of the bat over the plate longer and thus contact will be made there instead of off the handle or end. Practice keeping your hands in more in your practice swings.

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dont think about changing anything... trust yourself and have some confidence(almost cockiness) when you walk up to the plate. take the same approach you do in the cage whatever that is....if you try to fix your swing when your at the plate in a game it will only cause more problems. if something is wrong with your swing(getting long or pulling off) you'll have to fix it in the cage.

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here's the situation, during bp no problems(one of my summer coaches says i am one of the best cage hitters he has ever had) but during games i seem to be hitting everything either off the handle or the end of my bat. i know it must be something small i am doing i hit in the upper .300's during regular season. any advice would be awsome.

 

Quite often, I have found kids are swinging too hard. They think the harder they swing, the further the ball will go. Swinging too hard actually slows the bat down, not to mention causing the head to come off. I learned a long time ago to take a real hard swing before I stepped in the batter's box and then back off just a little. My batting average soared.

 

Like one of the other responders mentioned. Try bunting. Bunting forces you to keep your eye on the ball. Encourage the coach to let hit and run. That takes part of the mental out of the swing and forces to try to make contact.

 

The other advice is to be patient and swing at those pitches you can pound. I watch a lot of kids swing at pitches that are 3 inches outside or in the dirt when they are up in the count. The only strike you've got swing at is the third strike.

 

The object is to hit the ball on the sweet spot.

 

It took me three years to convince my son of that. Then he hit over 0.800 in little league, 0.565 in the eight grade, and over 0.400 in the ninth grade. In traveling ball, he often goes 2 for 3 and 3 for 4.

 

So be patient and tone your swing down a bit. I think you will be surprised at the results.

 

Good luck!

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  • 3 weeks later...

here's the situation, during bp no problems(one of my summer coaches says i am one of the best cage hitters he has ever had) but during games i seem to be hitting everything either off the handle or the end of my bat. i know it must be something small i am doing i hit in the upper .300's during regular season. any advice would be awsome.

 

 

 

 

Hitting is not simple. It's very mental. Step early then allow your hands and the velocity of the ball to do the work. Stepping early is important. It will help you hit off speed pitching. If your foot is down early then the rest is all hands.

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