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Online now: 2 members: Bump29, TABLE SETTER 11; 69 anonymousDiscussion: Staying back on the ball
| Posted | Discussion |
| June 12, 2007 griz Men's 50 7 posts | Staying back on the ball What's the best way to prevent swinging to soon and getting way ahead of the ball? |
| June 12, 2007 Fred Scerra Men's 80 542 posts | If you can come up with the answer to that one you can make millions and we pitchers would be out of business. It takes total concentration. As a pitcher I depend on the batter not waiting for the ball so I should know better and I still do it except in tournaments. I seem to be able to have that total concentration in a tournament but not in my leagues. |
| June 12, 2007 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | Wow Gary, you and I agree on this one!! |
| June 12, 2007 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | You know, your reputation and all :) |
| June 12, 2007 kookieman 43 posts | This is what help me, Monday and Fridays I hit about100 balls off a tee. It keep me staying behind the ball. Rick |
| June 12, 2007 4x4 Men's 65 601 posts | Hitting off the Tee is a great answer. If you are trying to make the adjustment on the fly and are a right handed batter hold your swing a little longer going toward right center when you get a pitch on the middle to outer portion of the plate. It will make you hold your hands back a little longer + give you a longer look at the ball before contact. Don't swing at those damn inside pitches and maybe move forward on the plate some. Don't swing at a pitch just because it's a "strike" it may not be in your own personal swing zone. I personally like to take one strike when batting it ratchets up my resolve. I've found when I go up "free swinging" my obp and avg suffer accordingly. I'd rather try and hit a pitch that's in my hot zone than flail at the first thing offered. |
| June 12, 2007 audieh Men's 60 249 posts | Griz, although not a great hitter, I have recently started waiting till the ball reaches the highest part of the arch before I begin any motion to hit the ball. The end result is that I am not early on the ball as I had been prone to in the past. This approach has also helped to quicken my swing and has resulted in better bat speed and hence distance. Before this approach, I would stride forward, open my hips and then have to wait on the ball and basically use just arms to power the ball. The hitting up the middle will also work as that forces you to focus on the ball and not start early. We always do a little of that in practice. |
| June 12, 2007 Enviro-Vac Men's 65 489 posts | I try and hit the ball to RC to fix the early swing |
| June 13, 2007 griz Men's 50 7 posts | I've certainly tried the middle and going to right and right center as a means of holding back on the swing and it works for singles but my power stroke is to left and left center. Audie's tip on waiting until the ball has reached it's highest arc sounds interesting and I will try that approach. I don't get a chance to hit bp all that often and I'm sure that would help tremendously. Thanks all for the tips and suggestins. |
| June 13, 2007 geezer#6 Men's 70 58 posts | The first strike may just be the best one you see, so be prepared, your zone or not. Now with all these great pitchers around, they know this and always want to get ahead in the count. |
| June 13, 2007 RDSinNEOHIO Men's 70 31 posts | Sometimes I think we all think too much. In the words of the great Yogi Berra, you can't think and hit at the same time. Muscle memory and automatic trained reactions on what to do where the ball is pitched without having to think about it is what we as athletes should be. A golfer doesn't think about his golf swing while he's swinging. He's already trained to know what to do. Same thing/concept in our softball swings. |
| June 13, 2007 TexasTransplant Men's 70 516 posts | My muscles seem to have memorized the wrong leason? |
| June 13, 2007 crusher Men's 75 524 posts | To really hit the ball hard I need to wait until the ball is almost to the plate, meaning it has been coming downward for about 25 to 30 feet. At that instant rotate from the ground up with a small left foot slide step (right handed) and a complete follow through. This will result in a high bat speed after striking the ball. You will like the results. C |
