How to hit the curveball

Let the ball travel and take it opposite field. Learn to "read it". Better yet, don't miss the fastball.

Thanks. I will try that tomorrow.

I'll take any other advice as well.

I am assuming you are RH trying to hit a rightie curve ball. Natural tendency for most hitters, especially young hitters is to duck which gives you no chance at the pitch once you determine it is a curveball. The key is to learn to not duck your head, but instead learn to avoid an inside pitch by turning your front shoulder inside towards the plate (I know, it sounds backwards). By turning inside, you remain "locked and loaded" and in a position to let the ball travel and explode at the last second to slap or drive the ball to right field. Otherwise, your head ducks, your knees buckle and you are toast. Good luck...it takes hard work and practice to make this adjustment. Just ask all the guys who left the game because they can't hit the curve ball.

Wait longer, focus, swing faster.

In case the terminology may be foreign to you, "wait longer" and "let the ball travel" means let the ball get deeper into the swing zone. Then go with the pitch. You will be more successful driving curves the other way. If you try to pull them you'll hit into a double play. However, if you see a hanging curve (flat break/mostly spin) jump on it, pull it and crush it. A friend's son played at Oklahoma State when they were known as Hitter's U. They were told not to swing at curves until two strikes. At high school and below chances are you're not going to see two high quality curves in the same at bat.

What you have absorbed from the posts above the other key is practice---practice---practice---it may sound trite but it is not---there is nothing like taking long BP against a solid CB pitcher

quote:

They were told not to swing at curves until two strikes.

Surely they weren't serious. It would be nice to start every hitter off 0-2, 4 pitches to get the 3rd strike or make them swing at garbage. Meat is meat, IMO, whether it's breaking or not. Would I swing at a curve on the black on the 1st strike? No! Would I swing at a fastball on the black on the 1st strike? No!

Best advice Ted Williams ever got..."get a good pitch to hit!" It was good advice and he didn't say, "get a good fastball to hit"!

Also, if you are going to try to hit every curveball oppo, I'm going to saw you off on curves coming into you on the inside all night. Hit the ball where it's pitched, period!

Lastly, yeah, I got the terminology down pretty well. I gave 3 suggestions, not one. Even on pitches coming in, if you think in your head, wait longer, you won't get out in front of it and you will stay with the ball. You should pull a curve coming in if it's middle in and you should pull a curve going away from you inside 3rd in. On a pitch going away inside 3rd to middle should be hit up the middle and middle out should be hit oppo.

Don't swing at them until you get two stikes unless it's a high hanger, then park that one in the leftfield bleachers. If it is down and away go with it hard to the right side.

quote:

Surely they weren't serious.

The coach probably didn't know what he was talking about.....

On July 4th, 2008 former Oklahoma State and New Mexico State head coach and current New Mexico State assistant head coach Gary Ward was inducted into the 2008 College Baseball Foundation Hall of Fame. Gary coached at Oklahoma State from 1978 to 1996. He led OSU to 16 straight conference titles, 17 NCAA regional appearances and 10 trips to the College World Series. He compiled a record of 953-313-1 in 19 seasons in Stillwater.

Thanks for all the information. This is really gonna help me a lot.

Thanks for all of your help!!!

You need to develop a trigger phase in your swing. Until you have develop a good trigger, you will be a guess hitter. The trigger is after your stride, when your back heel lifts up of the ground and twists slightly inwards to create tork.

I’m with RJM. Both of my sons played college baseball and both were advised to let curve balls go until they had 2 strikes. The good thing is, I was lucky enough to learn this from dozens of college coaches 10 years prior (camps, clinics, conversations). Even though I have been eaten alive on the Internet for repeating this approach, I still believe it is the best advice you can give a teenage hitter. I always thought mine had an advantage throughout middle and high school using this approach. As a side note, both got many hits in college off of curve balls too.

The Internet is great but sometimes I think it allows us to slow things down a bit too much. There is next to zero time in the batters box to distinguish between a fastball and curve vs. days and weeks on the Internet.

If your son wants to play college baseball my advice is to find the common denominators that all college coaches teach. And “let curve balls go until you have 2 strikes” is certainly one of them (in my opinion).

THop
www.baseball-excellence.com

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:

quote:

Surely they weren't serious.

The coach probably didn't know what he was talking about.....

On July 4th, 2008 former Oklahoma State and New Mexico State head coach and current New Mexico State assistant head coach Gary Ward was inducted into the 2008 College Baseball Foundation Hall of Fame. Gary coached at Oklahoma State from 1978 to 1996. He led OSU to 16 straight conference titles, 17 NCAA regional appearances and 10 trips to the College World Series. He compiled a record of 953-313-1 in 19 seasons in Stillwater.

The sad thing, is that either no one on an opposing team ever figured out his philosophy or they faced Pitchers that couldn't throw their curve for strikes. If you can't throw a strike with your curve when the hitter has his bat on his shoulder, should you really be pitching in College???

quote:

The sad thing, is that either no one on an opposing team ever figured out his philosophy or they faced Pitchers that couldn't throw their curve for strikes. If you can't throw a strike with your curve when the hitter has his bat on his shoulder, should you really be pitching in College???

It must be the Big Eight/Big 12 stunk.

Colorado
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Missouri
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State

Baylor University
University of Texas
Texas A&M University
Texas Tech University

It’s common practice in the SEC & ACC as well. Use the Hanson Principle. Watch some games on TV and chart it for yourself. I’ve done it numerous times and it was always over 90%.

quote:

Originally posted by THop:
It’s common practice in the SEC & ACC as well. Use the Hanson Principle. Watch some games on TV and chart it for yourself. I’ve done it numerous times and it was always over 90%.

Are you talking about borderline curves or meat? No one is suggesting swinging at tough to handle curves, but to let two perfectly good pitches go by, just because you are scared of the curve is just crazy. Why not learn to hit it instead?

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:

quote:

Surely they weren't serious.

The coach probably didn't know what he was talking about.....

On July 4th, 2008 former Oklahoma State and New Mexico State head coach and current New Mexico State assistant head coach Gary Ward was inducted into the 2008 College Baseball Foundation Hall of Fame. Gary coached at Oklahoma State from 1978 to 1996. He led OSU to 16 straight conference titles, 17 NCAA regional appearances and 10 trips to the College World Series. He compiled a record of 953-313-1 in 19 seasons in Stillwater.

How many CWS CHAMPIONSHIPS did he win? Answer 0! Maybe they should have been swinging at good pitches early in the count?

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:

quote:

The sad thing, is that either no one on an opposing team ever figured out his philosophy or they faced Pitchers that couldn't throw their curve for strikes. If you can't throw a strike with your curve when the hitter has his bat on his shoulder, should you really be pitching in College???

It must be the Big Eight/Big 12 stunk.

Colorado
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Missouri
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State

Baylor University
University of Texas
Texas A&M University
Texas Tech University

Do you know of any Professional teams that share this philosophy?

I have a suggestion. Go to the main board and question Gary Ward's ability to coach college baseball and teach hitting to see what kind of response you get. He put a lot of hitters in pro ball. That's why it was called Hitters U.

A famous MLB hitter (cant remember who right now) once said:

quote:

The best way to hit the curve is to hit the fastball first

Good hooks dont get hit much....on the flip side good hooks dont get thrown for strikes much either.

I'm no expert, but I agree with Deemax. How to hit the curve? Look for a bad one.

Especially at the high school level. Lots of hittable curve balls. Good curves either let them go (with less than 2 strikes) or try to spoil them (with 2 strikes.)

But when that juicy hanger comes floating in there, no matter what the count - punish it!

I think the key to hitting curves is to know you aren't going to get a lot of good wood on the good curve, so don't try to. Just try to spoil the good 2 strike curve.

But recognize the mistake and make the pitcher pay for throwing it.

quote:

Originally posted by powertoallfields:
Do you know of any Professional teams that share this philosophy?

I've never discussed this with the pro contacts I have/had. However, the discussion originated regarding hitting the high school curve. There are very few high school pitchers who will throw two or three quality curves in an at bat. Some can't throw one.

Note: I've emailed a friend whose son played in to MLB organizations and now plays in the Japanese majors.

I think you can get into trouble when you say never swing at a certain type of pitch until you get to two strikes. It can't be that absolute, in my opinion.

A better approach, which I stole from a clinic where ECU's Billy Godwin spoke, was that there are basically two counts- counts with two strikes, and every other count. Until you get to two strikes mentally you're in a 3-1 count looking for something to hit into next week. It doesn't matter what the pitch is....meat fastball, curve ball that just spins, or whatever. But it has to be a pitch you can drive. Of course, you have to have some confidence in your ability to hit with two strikes, but I like the approach in general.

And I would agree with Deemax....nobody hits the good curves. Just tip your cap and hope he can't throw it consistently.

quote:

Note: I've emailed a friend whose son played in two MLB organizations and now plays in the Japanese majors.

Response:

In the pros they are supposed to be able to hit all pitches equally but of course they can't. Pro hitting coaches encourage guessing based on previous pitching patterns. When my son started hitting well is when he tuned them out and reverted back to his high school approach. Sit on the fastball in a certain location and react to offspeed. With two strikes think middle away. So far because many Japanese pitchers don't throw hard he sometimes will look offspeed and react to the fastball.

"I followed asking specifically if any pro coaches taught taking the curve unless a hanger until two strikes."

Response:

I don't know. He never mentioned any. They mostly stressed "thinking along with the pitcher". Which is guessing. The first year in AA he tried this and performed poorly. I asked him if he knew the pitcher was going to throw a change down and away at the knees and he did. Did he think he would be able to hit it hard? No! And how many times did he get a fat fast ball while looking change down and away and take it? Plenty. I** convinced him that he made his living hitting pitcher's mistakes until two strikes. He then started raking.

** the dad used to be a big time 18U travel coach

I am not a professional coach. I never played after HS. But how is a kid going to learn to hit a curveball if he never swings at one? I always told my son to swing away if he liked it regardless of the count(not 3-0 of course). It was pretty ugly at 9, but now, he drives them. Obviously a great curve is a tough pitch to hit. But there are a heck of a lot more good/average/bad curves out there and a kid needs to learn to drive it IMO.

No one is saying don't tee off on the hanger. But a good curve is a pitcher's strike. I hope you teach your son not to swing at pitcher's strikes (tough pitches to hit with success) until two strikes. Swinging at quality curves with less than two strikes is a great way to lead the league in hitting into doubleplays.

Tee off on it or not to tee off on it that is not the question---how you learn to hit the curve?

When he was younger he swung at all of them. That is how he learned which ones to lay off on. Everyone knows that an outside corner, good breaking ball that you pull is a two hopper to short. But if it is up or gets too much of the plate, it may be the best pitch you get to hit in an at bat. Good hitters will drive those. I just don't agree with the philosophy of waiting until you get two strikes to swing at a breaking ball. The advantage is all with the pitcher, especially if he has 2-4 different ones to throw to you. If you get a pitch you can drive, then drive it. The best way to learn how to hit it is to recognize it and hit it. Why wouldn't a player want to learn how to adjust and hit different pitches with authority?

TR,
I believe it is by seeing as many as you can and taking your hacks. Learn by doing. Just like every other baseball skill.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Tee off on it or not to tee off on it that is not the question---how you learn to hit the curve?

My first post:

*** In case the terminology may be foreign to you, "wait longer" and "let the ball travel" means let the ball get deeper into the swing zone. Then go with the pitch. You will be more successful driving curves the other way. If you try to pull them you'll hit into a double play. However, if you see a hanging curve (flat break/mostly spin) jump on it, pull it and crush it. ***

The addition of the strategy of not chasing curves unless necessary became the rest of the debate.

quote:

I just don't agree with the philosophy of waiting until you get two strikes to swing at a breaking ball.

I think you should make your advise available to all the major college coaches who think otherwise. Maybe their teams will become more successful.

And once again, no one said not to jump all over the hanger.

"Why wouldn't a player want to learn how to adjust and hit different pitches with authority?"

No one said not to learn how to hit a curve. But since a good curve is a low success situation for a hitter, the advise is not to swing at them unless necessary.

I am well aware that my opinion is in the minority. But how else are you going to learn to hit a good curve? Watching it go by? Give up when it comes and go back to the dugout? If you learn how to hit it, the success rate would go up. I have always believed that hitting a curve ball is a skill just like hitting a fastball. Kids need to work on it and waiting until you have two strikes and then hoping it is a bad one just doesn't make sense to me. If you swing at one and you miss it or foul it off, I would think it would be easier to hit it the second time. I certainly could be wrong but it makes sense to me.

Oh well.

quote:

... waiting until you have two strikes and then hoping it is a bad one just doesn't make sense to me.

Where did anyone post this?

The more reps you get in BP seeing and hitting curveballs the quicker you will learn to hit them and then when you get to college you learn how to hit a slider

Well what else are you waiting for, a great one? And for every coach out there that wants you to wait there is a coach out there that doesn't want you to wait for two strikes. Poll a couple of hundred hitters and you will get different opinions. Tell David Ortiz not to swing at a 1-1 curveball inside and see what he says. LOL.

quote:

Tell David Ortiz not to swing at a 1-1 curveball inside and see what he says. LOL.

When did David Ortiz get demoted to high school or college ball? Last time I checked MLB was six levels above college ball.

The original post was by a high school player on how it the curve. After the advice was provided he was told through college hitters are taught to be very selective about swinging at curves. If a hitter is attacking a curve that doesn't hang he's playing into the pitcher's hands.

RJM,
The pitching is six levels better also. If a MLB hitter should swing at a MLB curveball, then why shouldn't a HS hitter be able to hit/swing at a HS curveball?

I'm going to conclude this conversation with a suggestion. Never compare anything about the level of play in high school ball to the level of play in MLB.

I am with you RJM. With less than 2 strikes why would a hitter who knows how to play the game swing at a pitchers pitch (a quality curveball) A hanging curveball is a pitchers mistake and he should pay dearly for it.

With 2 strikes and a quality curveball a productive approach for a hitter is to let the ball travel a bit more, read the trajectory and drive the ball opposite field.

If that does not work than foul them off until you get another fastball.

The technique requires a thinking disciplined hitter that approaches each at bat, each pitch, deliberately, and constantly making adjustments.

Think about this one minute: at the HS level how many good curveballs will players see ???

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Think about this one minute: at the HS level how many good curveballs will players see ???

Exactly, much less two or three in one at bat.

quote:

They were told not to swing at curves until two strikes.

RJM,

This is the quote from your original post. Had you said, don't swing at quality borderline curves, I'd be right there with you. The thing is, that's not what you said.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob Kremer:
I'm no expert, but I agree with Deemax. How to hit the curve? Look for a bad one.

Especially at the high school level. Lots of hittable curve balls. Good curves either let them go (with less than 2 strikes) or try to spoil them (with 2 strikes.)

But when that juicy hanger comes floating in there, no matter what the count - punish it!

I think the key to hitting curves is to know you aren't going to get a lot of good wood on the good curve, so don't try to. Just try to spoil the good 2 strike curve.

But recognize the mistake and make the pitcher pay for throwing it.

quote:

Originally posted by Emanski's Heroes:
I think you can get into trouble when you say never swing at a certain type of pitch until you get to two strikes. It can't be that absolute, in my opinion.

A better approach, which I stole from a clinic where ECU's Billy Godwin spoke, was that there are basically two counts- counts with two strikes, and every other count. Until you get to two strikes mentally you're in a 3-1 count looking for something to hit into next week. It doesn't matter what the pitch is....meat fastball, curve ball that just spins, or whatever. But it has to be a pitch you can drive. Of course, you have to have some confidence in your ability to hit with two strikes, but I like the approach in general.

And I would agree with Deemax....nobody hits the good curves. Just tip your cap and hope he can't throw it consistently.

quote:

Originally posted by Doughnutman:
I am well aware that my opinion is in the minority. But how else are you going to learn to hit a good curve? Watching it go by? Give up when it comes and go back to the dugout? If you learn how to hit it, the success rate would go up. I have always believed that hitting a curve ball is a skill just like hitting a fastball. Kids need to work on it and waiting until you have two strikes and then hoping it is a bad one just doesn't make sense to me. If you swing at one and you miss it or foul it off, I would think it would be easier to hit it the second time. I certainly could be wrong but it makes sense to me.

Oh well.

This is exactly what I've been saying. I think you are exactly right!

So basically the concensus is to practice and learn how to hit a good curve in bp,but in games,let good curves go by with less than 2 strikes.If it hangs,crush it regardless of the count.

Use bp practice so that you will be able to hit it when you get a good curve with 2 strikes.

If I am the hitter and the pitcher hangs a fat curveball on the first or second pitch I will be hammering it

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
If I am the hitter and the pitcher hangs a fat curveball on the first or second pitch I will be hammering it

I'm with you TR!

quote:

Originally posted by powertoallfields:

quote:

They were told not to swing at curves until two strikes.

RJM,

This is the quote from your original post. Had you said, don't swing at quality borderline curves, I'd be right there with you. The thing is, that's not what you said.

You're getting picky. I thought everyone knows you're supposed to hammer the hanger, which I stated nine hours ago. I guess I was wrong about everyone understanding this. By curve I meant good curve.

quote:

Originally posted by tfox:
So basically the concensus is to practice and learn how to hit a good curve in bp,but in games,let good curves go by with less than 2 strikes.If it hangs,crush it regardless of the count.

Use bp practice so that you will be able to hit it when you get a good curve with 2 strikes.

That's what is taught by good coaches through college ball.

You don't hear a hitter say he wants a pitcher to challenge him with his best breaking stuff so he can hit it out of the park. You will hear a hitter say this about fastballs.

REMINDER: are we not talking HS hitters here?

One step at a time

Through college ball would include high school. Wouldn't you tell a high school hitter to take the quality curve until two strikes, hammer the hanger if he gets one, otherwise sit on the fastball? A good curve is a pitcher's strike. I don't know any coaches who say give in to the pitcher's strike until two strikes.

Chances are in high school most pitchers will hang one before throwing three quality (curve) strikes in an at bat. But given that skill level he probably won't throw three in an at bat. I don't recollect ever seeing three curves in an at bat in high school unless the AB was extended by fouling off a bunch of two strike pitches.

Let's turn this around. Why would anyone swing at a tough curve with less than two strikes?

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
Let's turn this around. Why would anyone swing at a tough curve with less than two strikes?

If they are are REALLY good at hitting good curves,but I digress.

Just having a little fun.

Because the pitcher has a great fastball and a great change up and it may be the best chance you have to do some damage. Maybe he got you out last time on an inside/outside curve and you are looking for it. Maybe you need to move the runner over and it is the only pitch he throws you outside and you know you can hit a grounder to the second baseman at the very least. Maybe you aren't comfortable batting with two strikes. Maybe you can't catch up to the fastball and it is the only chance you have to contribute. Maybe you are a location hitter and the curveball is in that location. Maybe you hate the coach and want to irritate him.

Who knows, there are probably many, many more reasons.

Coach calls a hit and run, pitcher tips his pitch, various bunt scenarios, you spent your time on the bench watching the pitcher and decided that you can hit it, he threw 4 of them to you last time because the scouting report says you can't hit them, because you want to move on in baseball and you better know how to hit one, the defense is much weaker on the right side and you want to go oppo, you like to extend your arms and they keep busting you inside, the pitcher got the last 4 guys on curves and you better do something with it, and the last one I can think of, you have spent the last 5-10 years working on and hitting a curve so you have a lot of confidence in your ability to do it.

Doughnutman,

In my opinion, and with all due respect,

When the “Coach calls a hit and run”, the rest of the paragraph (above) doesn’t matter. At 60/90 anyhow.

http://hsbaseballweb.com/eve/f...591072852#6591072852

quote:

Because the pitcher has a great fastball and a great change up and it may be the best chance you have to do some damage

If you are facing a pitcher with a good fastball and good change then you swing at good curves then that kid is throwing a no no that day.

He's got a good fastball and good change he's not throwing a curve unless he gets bored.

I just threw out some reasons to hit the curveball with less than 2 strikes. Some(a lot) are far fetched. But they may come up over the course of a season. I just don't like waiting for two strikes to swing at a curve. It gives the pitcher too much of an advantage IMO and takes away a hitters agressiveness. I would rather have my son up to bat thinking that he can drive any pitch that is thrown for a strike. Not, its a curve, don't swing.

Thop, I meant for everthing to be a different scenario. Each comma represents a different situation. Hit and run is probably the number one reason to hit a curveball with less than two strikes.

Sorry Doughnutman. Just trying to help. Good luck to you and your son.

THop

A hitter also must develop an approach that is not fazed by having 2 strikes and still staying with his plan.

It is important to be able to foul off pitchers pitches until he gives you a pitch to hit.

A good hitter should not be overly concerned with having two strikes.

FF

The problem is that with todays kids they do not know how to foul off pitches and protect the strike zone

That was my point TR as an additional piece to what it takes to hit, or in this case hit a hanging curveball. The longer the at bat the more likely a batsman will see a pitcher's mistake.

Everyone (who loves hitters) loves to see a 9 pitch at bat that results in a base hit.

Thanks for all the help. I waited on the curveball and hit a line drive. THanks for all the help.

Power-

I have had a number of players play at OSU over the years... and none were told to leave curve balls alone... that is silly...

RJM-do you know how long it would take the scouting of another D1 school to figure that philosophy out and utilize it... less than one game that is for sure... talk about a tendency....

quote:

Originally posted by Diablo con Huevos:
Power-

I have had a number of players play at OSU over the years... and none were told to leave curve balls alone... that is silly...

RJM-do you know how long it would take the scouting of another D1 school to figure that philosophy out and utilize it... less than one game that is for sure... talk about a tendency....

Thank you! Some folks still have some sanity!

quote:

Originally posted by Diablo con Huevos:
Power-

I have had a number of players play at OSU over the years... and none were told to leave curve balls alone... that is silly...

RJM-do you know how long it would take the scouting of another D1 school to figure that philosophy out and utilize it... less than one game that is for sure... talk about a tendency....

The information came from the father of a player back when Ward was coaching.

Interesting thoughts. Mosts of the posts have some thread of truth to it. For me, the key is recognition of the pitch. Hitting a curveball is not difficult (unless it's just a Hammer that is nasty - not many of those) if you recognize that it is a curveball.

Seeing the ball out of the pitchers hand is key. I am a former college coach and have taught players to soft focus/fine center on the pitchers release point. Also, a curve ball tends to go "up" out of the pitchers hand while a fast ball is more "down" out of the pitchers hand, particularly the average high school pitcher. By recognizing the curveball, it is easier for the hitter to stay back and let the ball travel...and just put the head of the bat on it. I don't thing you "try to go with the pitch" or "wait and swing faster" as others have said -- simply let the ball travel and take a normal, aggressive swing.

Well now I have a question. Is there a good video that will show in slow motion the release of the fast ball versus the curve ball.

Thanks,


Bill

quote:

"wait and swing faster" as others have said -- simply let the ball travel and take a normal, aggressive swing.

I don't think it is a good idea to "wait and swing faster" either. However, if you have quick hands and a quick swing, you have the luxury of allowing the ball to travel and read the pitch. Your "normal, agressive swing" should be "quick" or "fast" at all times. The difference is "when" do you pull the trigger!

quote:

Originally posted by floridafan:

quote:

"wait and swing faster" as others have said -- simply let the ball travel and take a normal, aggressive swing.

I don't think it is a good idea to "wait and swing faster" either. However, if you have quick hands and a quick swing, you have the luxury of allowing the ball to travel and read the pitch. Your "normal, agressive swing" should be "quick" or "fast" at all times. The difference is "when" do you pull the trigger!

Floridafan,

The reason I made the quote above, is that many of the kids I see having a problem hitting the curve ball is because they try to match swing speed with ball speed. When you keep the swing the same as on the fastball, you have a better chance of squaring it up. Focus, swing hard, and think oppo. You may not actually hit oppo, depending on pitch location and timing, but staying on the ball that split second longer does wonders.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill L.:
Well now I have a question. Is there a good video that will show in slow motion the release of the fast ball versus the curve ball.

Thanks,


Bill

If done correctly, the release will be the same, just the position of the hand will change, behind the ball on fastball, on the side on curve ball. It may also appear to go up out of the hand and you should be able to see the spin.

Okay I'm not sure my take on this will go considering I bat left handed and you probably bat right handed, assuming it's a same side curve you have to be ready for a fastball all the time but once you see that red dot on the ball wait, wait, wait, let it get to you and then be quick through it the opposite way if it's an opposite side curve you still have to wait but odds are it's coming into you so the point of contact should be further out in front of the plate so you will swing earlier and try to pull it (unless it's breaking to the outside corner then go oppo).
This is just how I do it, other people may have other takes on it.

Works for me CitrusZilla, I am left-handed.

I believe in the simple approach. Read it, and let it go if it is outside your zone. If it is up, hit it across the street. Low let it go, high let it fly. Knock it out. On all breaking balls.

In the last 2 days my son saw 23 curve balls in 5 at bats. Ouch.

my son's team saw 14 cb's in one inning ...10u
yuck.

Today he hit a curve ball 370 feet. It needed to go 380 feet. He needs to do more push ups.

Jon Doyle has an article on it

i tell my hitters to not miss the fastball.

quote:

Originally posted by hp75:
i tell my hitters to not miss the fastball.

that seems to be the consensus since all these hitting gurus with super slo mo video cant figure out how to swing a bat

Johnny Damon was saying the other night that when he was up he was "looking" for a slider. That's good advice in my opinion is to "look" for CB's in certain situations.
Now, how do you hit it?
I was taught to "wait till it breaks". In other words let it get deep and you'll recognize whether it's a hanger or if it's gonna snap off.Even if it snaps, with 2 strikes you can stay down on it and "drive it up the middle or away". My son did it all summer in 13u travel ball.He lets it get deep, it'll break and as it's dropping he slaps it over 2nd base or up the middle.
Also, he seems to read it out of the pitchers hand really well. He tells me that a "good 12-6" is obvious because it appears to "go up" out of the pitchers hand. Keep in mind, that with 2 strikes he's "looking" for this pitch. He looks for a cb and slaps a fb into the 1st base dugout.
He works from behind MOST of the time because he usually takes the 1st pitch(not my advice) and seems to just miss or foul off "his pitch" to wind up 0-2, so he sees a lot of cb's. And as far as taking the 1st pitch, I will say that most pitchers are trying for the outside and low pitch to start, and that is a "pitchers pitch" and not the one a good hitter is looking for.

I know this is a HS question, but I wanted to share my view on the differences on HS/College vs. pro ball regarding the curve ball. HS/College games aren't scouted/charted as heavily as pro ball. Usually, the best scouting report you'll have in HS is what you see that day or what the pitcher did last year. Pro hitters have much more info/data to work with, so "looking for a pitch" is really an educated guess and not a flat out guess.

Pitch recognition is critical with all pitches. If you can't see it, you can't hit it. Spin is usually the best indicator for the CB, but some will also come out of the hand higher than a fastball, as others have already mentioned. The better pitchers will have consistent deliveries and hide their pitches well.

After pitch recognition, the curve ball presents two specific issues a hitter must deal with - timing and movement.

Curve balls are slower than fastballs, so you'll have to practice hitting balls coming in at various speeds. Set up an L-screen 15-20 ft from home plate and have the ball flipped the ball underhand inside/outside at various speeds. Take a lot of swings (think thousands, not hundreds) specifically letting the ball travel/get deep and staying inside the ball. Don't allow yourself to roll over more than a couple times in a row - change your mental approach if you do.

The movement aspect of a curve ball can make it difficult to know if the pitch will be a ball or strike. A curve will often start as a ball and finish as a strike, or start as a strike and finish as a ball. You need reps to develop the discipline swings at strikes and taking balls. A two-wheel pitching machine can simulate a curveball if you don't have somebody to throw them to you consistently.

You often hear coaches saying, "Hit it the other way," but you still have to hit the ball where it is pitched. The verbal cue to hit it the other way speaks more to the timing aspect (letting the ball get deep, staying inside the ball) than it does to the movement. If its inside, stay inside the ball and pull it. If its outside, stay inside the ball and drive it the other way. If you've worked hard to establish your timing, you can just focus on seeing the ball and hitting it where its pitched, just as you would any other pitch.

One last thing... you can't bail out! If a curveball is thrown at you (righty vs righty, lefty vs lefty), it should break back toward the plate. When I was a sophomore in HS, a senior told me to "stick my front shoulder on it" which helped at the time. If you see a pitch coming at your head and you think its a fastball, why wouldn't you move?! This just takes some getting used to and is a pitch recognition issue, and even a great curve ball can freeze you up. You'll see MLB hitters lock up on Baseball Tonight's "That's Nasty" segment all summer long.


And a video for fun - walk-off home run I caught on video this summer. Hanging 1-2 slider that stayed up and over the middle. Whoops. For the timing aspect, watch when and how (soft/quiet) he gets his front foot down. (Maybe he should have hit that the other way?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0r1vRM0kts

A question... The "good" curveball. Who practices hitting against the "good" curveball? It's not normal to see a good one thrown in BP. Truth is, the only time you practice against the "good" curveball is when you get to see one (and other than pitching simulators using a machine that can throw good curveballs with real baseballs) the only time you will see one is in a game. That is one of the major reasons why many players can't hit the curveball.IMO

Maybe a poor analogy, but you could say it is the same principle as hitting Rivera's cut fastball. The only time you see it (like he throws it) is when you're facing Rivera. It's hard to prepare for something like that.

Tewks, good post. The outside pitch is hit the other way, not off-speed. You work with players hitting offspeed the other way because it is usually an outside pitch.

A strong player can pull the outside pitch with good results but not many. Some players crowd the plate and the outside pitch becomes a middle pitch, they don't have to hit it the other way.

A couple of keys I teach...
1. Don't go to the curve ball, let the barrel feed to it.
2. Don't match the bat speed with the ball speed, explode on it.
3. Run hard to first when you skim the top of the ball to the infield.

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:
A question... The "good" curveball. Who practices hitting against the "good" curveball? It's not normal to see a good one thrown in BP. Truth is, the only time you practice against the "good" curveball is when you get to see one (and other than pitching simulators using a machine that can throw good curveballs with real baseballs) the only time you will see one is in a game. That is one of the major reasons why many players can't hit the curveball.IMO

Maybe a poor analogy, but you could say it is the same principle as hitting Rivera's cut fastball. The only time you see it (like he throws it) is when you're facing Rivera. It's hard to prepare for something like that.

PG, well put. I agree 100%.