Htting EVERYWHERE but Game

Do you usually take the first pitch? Most of the kids I see with this issue have trouble pulling the trigger early in the count. Next thing you know they are down in the count and then swing at bad pitches for fear of striking out.

If you can hit everywhere but in the game the polite response is it’s all in your head. On the field you might want to try going up to the plate attacking every pitch near the strike zone. Off the field you might want to try a sports psychologist. You might want to purchase The Mental Game of Baseball by HA Dorfmann.

Rippen

what is your dominant eye? Do you bat with open or closed stance?

Bob

Find a sports psychologist.  They can help you greatly.  A lot of Baseball is mental

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Do you usually take the first pitch? Most of the kids I see with this issue have trouble pulling the trigger early in the count. Next thing you know they are down in the count and then swing at bad pitches for fear of striking out.

This is such an awesome idea, thank you! It makes sense, my club ball coach trained us to always "take" the first pitch and I think it's something I do out of habit without even realizing it.

And you're exactly right, I always wind up with a full count and then either strike out looking or swing at a bad pitch near the end.

I am going to try swinging more aggressively on the first pitch to see what happens.

@RJM posted:

If you can hit everywhere but in the game the polite response is it’s all in your head. On the field you might want to try going up to the plate attacking every pitch near the strike zone. Off the field you might want to try a sports psychologist. You might want to purchase The Mental Game of Baseball by HA Dorfmann.

Awesome advice, thank you. I'm purchasing the book right now.

@3and2Fastball posted:

Find a sports psychologist.  They can help you greatly.  A lot of Baseball is mental

Thank you, I'm going to try "The Mental Game of Baseball" and "The Science of Hitting" books and see if they help. Then look into a sports psychologist if those can't get me through this.

What is the role of the hitter? Check your dominant eye, back off the plate
“See the 🏀 “

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> On Sep 11, 2022, at 7:24 PM, HS Baseball Web <alerts@crowdstack.com> wrote:
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Steve Springer used to be active on this site!

https://qualityatbats.com/

I bought the audio tapes (CD?) for my son when he was in high school.

Good luck!

@RippinDingers posted:

This is such an awesome idea, thank you! It makes sense, my club ball coach trained us to always "take" the first pitch and I think it's something I do out of habit without even realizing it.

And you're exactly right, I always wind up with a full count and then either strike out looking or swing at a bad pitch near the end.

I am going to try swinging more aggressively on the first pitch to see what happens.

My son had a coach who told them to take the first pitch and they couldn’t swing at a curveball until they had 2 strikes. Finally got both of these habits broken and he’s been a good hitter ever since. He tries to barrel the first strike he sees. His OBP is down a bit because he doesn’t walk as much but he also doesn’t strike out.

Lots of good advice here. My comment is about preparation. You should discuss a hitting approach plan with your instructor and practice it. You should have a plan of attach for each pitcher you face. I assume you are not at the top of the lineup so you should be analyzing all the pitches at both warm up and beside judging if you can time the FB and how much the break is in the strike zone, you should be looking for a "tell" or a pattern to take advantage of.   

Agree with 2022NYC.  Do you feel like you have a solid plan of ATTACK for every pitch situation?  There isn't necessarily one right or wrong approach but you have to have one for yourself that you can commit to fully.  If you are looking at strike threes a lot, that's an indication that you don't have a good two-strike approach.  With two strikes, get closer to the plate (taking away the outside corner), get your foot down early and be 1000% committed to getting the barrel on the ball any way possible for any pitch within a clearly defined expanded strike zone.  Once you gain confidence in your two-strike approach, you can get more comfortable attacking more hitter's pitches earlier in counts and have more success overall.

Whenever possible, cage work should include a progression of straight, off-speed/curve, mixed knowing and then mixed not knowing.  You have to simulate game AB's as much as possible and develop that mindset.  Finish with straight for confidence.

Older son hit great in travel and struggled in HS.  Coach would not allow him to swing at the first strike and not swing at the first curve.  After two pitches, he was down 0-2.  When the coach finally took the training wheels of and let him hit, he hit over .400.

I always thought his first swing was a timing swing.  He would foul it off but would time up the pitcher. The second swing was the aggressive swing to do damage.  The third strike is just survival.

look up the batting average on each pitch count. It sucks at 0-2, 1-2,  any-2. You have to attack early.

Life is too short to lay off a fastball up the middle.

As my grandfather use to say,   "just hit the dam ball"

As a hitter, I Never recognized  a 3 & 1 take sign. “Sorry coach, I missed it”

Remember there are 11 ways to score from 3rd base with less than 2 outs.
Pre game infield /outfield always told me the story of the opposing Coach and his team.

Bob

My knucklehead during HS and his recruiting phase took too many BBs. I felt it hurt his recruiting, since he took too many early FB strikes that were off the black (yes umps do call strikes way off the edge). When he asked for my feedback, I did not hold back and told him he lacked confidence on hitting the outside FB and talent evaluators expect you to mash those if you want to be recruited to their team.  Walking is not useful when trying to showcase, because they probably can't get past the two strikes that you took because it was outside. As expected it was a declaration of war for any teenager but we made peace. Anyway, he struggled and worked on hitting outside oppo a lot and even got comfortable with it. Of course he tells me his college coaches laud him on his plate patience when walking with 2 strikes, oh well.

My son is a picky batter with a big strike zone because of his size so he gets behind in the count a lot. His approach for a while in HS was to only swing at something he could drive and he struck out way more than he should have/wanted to. His minor league coaches have  encouraged him to be more aggressive earlier in the count which has helped a lot. Also make sure your approach is to all fields. If you are only looking for something you can turn on you might miss the pitch you can take opposite field. Finally, trust the work you are putting in. Step in the box with confidence. Good luck!

PT

great advice. Confidence is the key. When Bob Gibson pitched, survival was my goal. My confidence was the winner. I belong in the moment.

Bob

What kind of outs do you make in games? Weak contact? Strikeout? On what type of pitches? Do you have weaknesses in certain locations?

Maybe you can ask your coach if you can write an at bat journal during the games.

Make some notes like took first pitch down the pipe and then chased a slider slightly off the plate, rolled over a sinker into weak pull side grounder etc. Or maybe have someone on the stands do it for you.

That will give you an idea what you are doing wrong in games so you can specifically work on it.

Sometimes it is just nerves in the game. If it is maybe even visualize that you are in the batting cage during a game.

But it could also be a flaw, mechanical or just lack of practice that only shows up at game intensity, some stuff works in practice at low pitch Quality (or even at a high velo machine if it is consistent) but not in games.

You could also post a video here or send me a direct message with one if you don't want to post it publicly as have worked with some hs and college hitters.

BP and cage hitting isn't really hitting, it's swinging.  Most hitting coaches coach swinging.  Learning to swing a bat isn't easy, but it's only part of the picture.  It's easy to forget that when you get in a game the pitcher is trying to get you out.  He does this by changing speeds and location.  A good cage swing only gets you so far.  You have to be able to adjust and adapt to the pitch in order to make solid contact.

I think PT gave excellent advice to look for pitches you can hit to the opposite field.  This helps you stay back on pitches which is key to adjusting to the pitcher's timing.  You can build on this as you have some success and gain confidence.  Take a look at video Freddie Freeman did on how he trains with a tee, it's an excellent example of how to practice using the whole field.

@RippinDingers posted:

This is such an awesome idea, thank you! It makes sense, my club ball coach trained us to always "take" the first pitch and I think it's something I do out of habit without even realizing it.

And you're exactly right, I always wind up with a full count and then either strike out looking or swing at a bad pitch near the end.

I am going to try swinging more aggressively on the first pitch to see what happens.

I would like to add to this great advice, as long as your coach doesn't get on your case for not taking the first pitch or making an example out of you.  With no strikes you should only swing if that is "your pitch", you are looking for location and type of pitch, something you can barrel and drive.  If it's a strike but not what you are looking for then take.  I've seen players be aggressive and swing at a strike that is marginal (but still a strike).  Often if they put it in play it results in a weak out.  While sitting in the dugout watch the pitcher, see if he tips the pitch off, what he throws first pitch to batters, what he throws when behind/ahead in the count.  Ask your pitcher and catcher how the blue is behind the plate and watch for yourself if low inside are being called strikes.  During the game your mind has to be focused, this isn't the time on the bench to be thinking of the weekend parties.  Every level you go up it gets much more difficult with teams/pitchers exploiting your weakness thus if you start early it will become easier.  Best of luck.

Try this book:   The mental keys to hitting, H.A. Dorfman

Kid has found it to be a great reference throughout his struggles. Yes, baseball is a struggle.

Hi all, just an update.

Since this thread I've been hitting more homeruns in practice. I also had a game over the weekend and was able to put the ball in play every time up to bat.

The advice in this thread really helped me, especially the part about swinging hard on the first pitch and being more aggressive. Thank you!