Discussion in the forum tends toward the mechanical side of hitting. But no matter how technically perfect a kid's swing is, if he doesn't have a good approach at the plate, he will be less effective as a batter than he could be.
Watching high school baseball I see it all the time: kids swinging at pitches that are either out of the zone, or when they are ahead in the count swinging at a pitch that might be in the zone but that cannot be hit anywhere productive.
In my opinion coaches don't spend anywhere near enough time teaching approach. And at the high school level, I think choosing when to swing and what to swing at might very well be the most important factor in batting success.
How many times have you seen a kid swing at a good curveball on a 0-0 count? That tells me he doesn't have good pitch recognition, and perhaps that he isn't thinking clearly about what he is looking to hit.
Or the kid who swings at a chin high fastball. At the high school level, it seems to me, that batters help the pitchers so darn much by either swinging at balls, or swinging at the "pitcher's pitch" and getting down in the count so now all they will see is the "pitcher's pitch."
So, here are my questions:
1) do you agree that approach is as important as swing mechanics?
2) what things do you do to improve your batters' approach?
It is so very common to see high school hitters swing at pitches that simply cannot be hit anywhere hard, and conversely, to take pitches that CAN be hit hard.
IMO, this is the most important, yet least focused on, aspect of hitting.
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