HITTING Site Map Bad Advice Skills & Instructions BASIC ADVANCED BASICS In General The Bat Grip Stance Load & Stride Swing Special Situations Bunting Illustrated Step by Step   ADVANCED Stance versus Swing Bat Angle  Bat Selection  Aluminum or wood Bat Size Bat Sizes and Age Getting Ready HITTING APPROACH  KNOW YOURSELF How do you step in the box? KNOW YOUR OPPONENT STRATEGY KNOW THE SITUATION BE A TOUGH OUT GRIP LOOSEN UP PICK IT UP LIKE AN AX KEEP LOOSE STANCE  DIG IN WEIGHT AND HANDS LOCATION IN THE BOX DEPTH Proper Hitting Goals On-Deck Preparation Stance versus Swing Bat Angle COIL STRIDE COMMON PROBLEM Keep the Front Toe Closed During the Stride Perfecting the Stride Hitting Off Your Front Leg "Squishing the Bug" Flat-Snap Hitting Finishing the Swing Seeing the Ball Plate Coverage and Forward Extension  Poor Timing Correcting a Weak Swing Lunging and Over Striding Lunging forward during stride Over Striding Staying Closed Before the Swing  Stepping Out on the Pitch The Level Swing Bunting The K Factor (The Strike factor) Trouble Shooting Your Hitting   Click Here!   Report Broken Links

BATTING: Precision, concentration, speed & power Keep your eye on the ball? NOT! It's impossible.    The batter swings at where he thinks the ball will be when it crosses the plate. A 100 mph pitch gets to home plate in .4 seconds, and when it's halfway there, the batter must already be swinging. He loses sight of the ball when it's about 10 feet away from him. POW! The bat must be moving 76 mph to hit the ball 400 feet. If the swing is even one-hundredth of a second early or late, the ball will be foul. When well hit, the baseball is smashed by 8,000 pounds of force, which compresses the ball to about one half of its original diameter. Where the bat hits the ball determines where the ball will go. A squarely hit ball results in a line drive. If a batter hits the ball 3/4-inch above center, a grounder; 3/4-inch below center, likely a home run. Another 1/4-inch down, a routine fly; 1 inch lower, a foul straight back. Edgar Martinez's 3 Tips 1. Hit off a tee. You can keep your eye on the ball all the time, and you have to make a level swing to hit it. 2. Don't have too much movement before you swing. Lots of kids - and even some major leaguers - overhitch in their swing and go up and down, then back. It's better to go back and through. 3. Keep it simple. For now, just think about hitting the ball. When you're 15 or 16, start being more specific about technique.   Have fun and enjoy the game.   Click the button above to go back to the web page or web site you were at before coming to this page [Official Little League Rules & Regulations]   [Parents]   [Players/Kids] Learn How to: [Hit]  [Pitching]  [Infield]  [Outfield]  [Catcher]  [Baserunning]  [Coach] [Baseball Humor]  [Baseball Terminology]  [Site Map] [Sign Our Guestbook] [Privacy Statement/Disclaimer]  [Terms] Copyright © 2000 Brookside Little League, Inc. All rights reserved Brookside Little League, Inc. Indianapolis, In   Do you like what you see,  got a gripe,  would you like to see something added to this site? We would love to hear from you! jontanderson@juno.com