A Guide to Increasing Your Batting Average from an Experienced Hitter

It has been said time and time again that hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in all of sports and it is. However, I am here to tell you that with lots of practice on some fundamental skills and patience, you can do it. This is my basic guide to hitting a baseball. Throughout my 22 years of playing and coaching baseball I have learned, and am still learning, many things about hitting. In this article I am simply revealing some of the things I have learned from personally attending camps, playing against and talking to former professional minor and major league players, personal experience, and practice. Practicing and perfecting these principles will make you a .300 plus hitter.

The first thing you should do when learning to hit is choose a stance. If you watch a major league baseball game you will see several different stances throughout the course of the game. Some will be open (front foot towards third base for righties and first base for lefties) and some will be closed, but most will be squared up evenly with the plate. Some batters will have their hands low and others will have them high, their hands may be moving or still. All of this is good and proper, but everything doesn't work for everyone.

When choosing a stance it is important to select one that you feel comfortable with and feels natural. It is good to start with a solid base, feet shoulder with (or slightly wider) apart and hands high around your back shoulder and close to your body. It is important to keep your hands close to your body because it gives you maximum power, the further your hands are away from your body, the less power you have.

You can see the importance of keeping your hands close by making a fist with your hands and placing one on top of the other and holding them away from your body, then have someone try to push them down. Then bring your hands in close to your body and have them try to push your hands down now. Keeping your hands in close is one of the keys that help you drive the ball.

Now that you have your stance, it is time to work on your hitting. Hitting is broken down into three steps that are: step, turn your hips, and throw your hands. This is practiced with someone counting one, two, three, as you do each step. When watching someone hit it looks like everything happens all at once but this is not true, the three steps happen a split second apart.

Step one involves moving your front foot, which serves as your timing. Timing is very important when hitting. As a hitter you don't want to be too far out in front of a pitch or too late. Most hitters take a small step to get their swing started, while some just pick their front foot up and down in the same spot. Both are correct and it again depends on which you feel more comfortable with. Whichever you decide, you will lift your front foot as the pitcher lifts his front foot.

This is also where you will take your hands back to the hitting position. This is what I like to call getting your hands ready to hit. No matter where your hands are as you stand at the plate waiting for the pitcher to begin his motion, once that pitcher lifts his front foot and you do the same, your hands will go up to your back shoulder and get ready as your foot hits the ground. This is done to get your hands high so you can stay over top of the ball and chop down on it. This type of swing produces line drives and ground balls and keeps the ball from being popped up. If you can picture Eric Davis, former outfielder for the Reds and Dodgers, he used to keep his hands around his waist as he stood at the plate. But once the pitcher began his motion, his hands would go up around his shoulders and get ready to hit. Had he not lifted his hands before swinging he would have popped up every time he swung at a pitch at the numbers.

The time between steps one and two is a little drawn out, but steps two and three are almost simultaneous. In the split second after you turn your hips, you will decide if you are going to swing or not. Once you have decided to swing at the pitch, throw your hands at the ball and make contact. This process may sound difficult but with much practice can become easy. The basics of hitting are as easy as 1-2-3.

The swing is fairly basic as well and can be perfected with much practice and patience. The key to a good swing is throwing the knob of the bat (your hands) straight down to the ball. Your hands will go down because once they are at your shoulders ready to hit, any pitch that comes on there level will not be a strike. This is where the phrase "look down for strikes" comes from. The knob of the bat should go directly to the ball as if you are trying to punch the ball with it. When you extend your arms the bat head will follow where the knob leads. This will keep you right on the ball and increase your contact and decrease strike outs. As you make contact with the ball remember to keep your head down on the ball. If your head flies out (which means looking down third base for righties and first base for lefties) so will your front shoulder and you will open up too far causing your hands to come off the ball. The perfect swing is hitting the ball of your front foot, hands thrown straight to the ball and arms extended as you make contact, and head down right on the ball. This swing will produce positive results anywhere between 3 to 4 times out of 10.