Hitting ability is among the most difficult skills to scout and teach. So what should you look for in young players, and what can you expect of them as they develop.

Note: Until players are at least 12 years old, we encourage coaches and leagues to operate with 'everybody bats' rule - no matter who is on the field. This give everyone an equal opportunity.

For more advanced hitter scouting, click here.

1Quick & Quiet

• The ability to wait and jump on a pitch, not swing too early
  
• Holding the bat lightly, not all tensed up, not twitching
  
• Have a nice short stroke, no wasted movement
  
• Explosiveness when the pitch is a good one
  

2 Physicality

• Power, strength and grace (some players just look like hitters)
• Refined sense of athleticism - balanced while in mid-swing
• Flexibility & Torque - ability to create upper/lower body separation
• Propioception - a big word basically meaning the body's sense of space
• Speed on the base paths, too

3 Eyesight

• The hard truth: it takes good eyes to have good hand-eye coordination
  
• Player's own knowledge of dominant eye and what it means (the earlier this is known the better)
• Sight angle - keeping the head towards pitcher and pitch path as the body turns
• Tracking - ability to read pitch early and track it as deep as possible
  

4Mental Acuity

• Intelligent, willing learner
• Baseball sense - awareness of the game situation beyond the batter's box
  
• Ready on every pitch, wants to hit, gets into load position confidently
  
• Knows the pitch he is looking for
  
• Presence and communications skills - understand the signs, what's expected
• Ability to 'model' (meaning learn) from previous pitch movement and location

5Emotional Approach

• High self esteem - believes in his ability to get a hit
  
• Positive attitude - not discouraged from bad results, learns from them
  
• Decisiveness - willing to jump on every good pitch
  
• HIgh level of self motivation = early to practice, ready for each pitch (and everything in between)