In baseball, batting is the act of trying to get on base and score runs for one’s team. The main goals of a batter are to get on base and score a run, and they use various techniques to do so. Hitting is also unique because it uses a rotating motion. Therefore, before you can attempt scoring at an inning in baseball, you need to learn how to hit a baseball. Here are five essential tips to help you out in that regard.
5 Tips to Help You Hit a Baseball
1 - The Power is in the Legs, Not the Arms
You’ll probably never hit the ball as hard as you used to if you use your arms and hands instead of your core while swinging. Your lower half should be active in the swing. It should feel like you can defend a shot or a kick from a distance.
It requires practice, frequent training, and physical fitness form to achieve great balance while swinging. While doing the motion, you should be able to stay inside your legs while moving back and forth.
Here’s the order of the swing to help give you an idea of what the right hit should feel like:
- Wide feet with the knees bent slightly
- Focus on your core to remain balanced
- Put your weight to your back foot right before the pitch
- Shift your weight to your forward foot when the pitcher throws the ball
- The front heel hits the ground while the front leg stiffens to stop the sudden weight shift
- Both your core and hips rotate
- The arms and hands will follow the motion with little to no power
- The bat whips across the body and should hit the ball
2 - Improve Leg Strength
As mentioned in the previous tip, swinging a bat and hitting the baseball requires power from the legs. Therefore, it should be no question that you’ll need to train your legs for an increase in explosiveness in hitting baseballs with bats. Do exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, leg presses, and leg curls to help you improve in this criteria.
3 - Enhance Your Core
Your core is the next part that you want to be active in. It helps keep your body balanced and aligned as you move. Your arms and hands will follow your core rotation as you swing. Instead of thinking of the baseball swing as something that requires all your strength with your hands, it should be viewed as something that happens with your core. Your hands only play a secondary role in this regard.
4 - Feel the Bat
It might sound cliché, but you should feel like the bat is an extension of your arm instead of nothing but a tool for hitting baseballs. The bat should feel ‘alive’ in your hands. Don’t wrap the bat at the back of your head or dump it down behind you.
As a baseball player, you’d want to hit the ball where it’s supposed to be hit. Therefore, you don’t want it to be hit so hard that it hits us in the back of the bat. The bat should be in a solid rhythm and should go with your flow.
5 - Use a Big Bat
A good bat is good for hitting balls, but it doesn’t do as much if it’s too light or too small. The mass of the bat is vital for you to handle and control it well. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the barrel, the bigger the sweet spot. You should feel the sweet spot as this area is where most of the hitting power originates.
Extra Tip: It’s Not Always About Power
Even though hitting the ball with power is important, it’s also important to understand that many of the pitches that you get will not allow you to hit with power. The key is to learn how to hit every pitch close to the strike zone and then get a few pitches to work with before hitting for real power. If your goal is to hit home runs with great power, then you’ll over-swing on a lot of pitches that could have given you a base hit.
Final Words
Hitting baseballs with a bat might seem easy at first glance. However, beginners soon find out the intricacy of the move when they step up to the plate to bat. The motion requires balance, flow, and the right use of the baseball bat to hit home runs. Without the elements mentioned in this article, it’s going to be difficult, and sometimes frustrating, to try and hit baseballs.
