I think the hardest part to understand is the 50-50 pitch, what is it? The umpire definitely plays a role in that. Lets say you can't tell what a 50-50 pitch is, then how would you know what a 55-45 pitch is? This is where understanding the strike zone becomes vital, which helps any hitter.
Of course, the hitter can foul off the pitch and possibly get a better pitch to hit. However most hitters don't make their living on two strike counts. The OBP goes down on nearly every hitter with two strikes and only has an advantage on a full count.
Foul balls don't usually happen by design. That foul ball has just as good a chance of being a weak ground ball or swing and miss.
Sure there is always the possibility of an extra base hit, but the main job of anyone leading off an inning is to get on base. To me it is a reason why every hitter has to understand how to be a lead off hitter. In other situations we would have our best hitter with a key runner in scoring position swing through a 3-0 count. He had to understand his swing was going to be right in his wheel house no matter where the pitch was. Theory being we would rather have him hitting with a 3-1 count in that situation rather than a weaker hitter with a 0-0 count. This takes some thinking as the natural thing is to make contact. We didn't want contact with a pitch out of the zone.
Anyway, none of what I'm talking about is set in stone. Every hitter, every situation is different. My point was, one of the biggest so called no no's is striking out with the bat on your shoulder. Kids hear about from when they start playing. Truth is in some situations it is being done because someone is thinking about more than themselves.
Let's just say for kicks the 50-50 pitch is truly called a strike 50% and a ball 50%. that means your hitter in those situations will be on base 50% of the time and called out on strikes 50% of the time. That is a .500 OBP vs. whatever might happen by swinging. Not to mention this approach will make him a better hitter if the pitch is a strike. To me the biggest risk is in swinging at that 50-50 pitch. I can go with a 60-40 pitch too, but to me that is just as hard to describe. As much as I like aggressive hitters I really appreciate disciplined hitters, too.