by Paul Niggebrugge, www.bethebestathlete.com

In a world of overload and misinformation, I am confident that you will find this practical information can give you a clear understanding of what all the successful hitters do regardless of age or level. Discover the 3 most important things preventing players today from becoming the Ultimate Hitter (UH). Too many players today are getting 'blindsided' by conventional wisdom, accepting verbal cues as absolutes, not having  established well-defined terminology, good intentions with incomplete information, following slam dunk/cookie cutter approach, instructors/coaches having hidden agendas and simply information overload.

There are as many theories on hitting as there are coaches. While theories differ, I do believe there are also many coaches like you with integrity that have the same goals & objectives of winning with productive hitters. Having trained hitters ranging from 6 years old to Major League veterans, I have learned through the school of hard knocks that before you prescribe you must accurately diagnose hitters, keeping in mind specific, unique, individual needs and limitations. Through my years of experience I have cracked the code and will reveal the secrets to becoming the UH.

Do you experience frustration with hitters not producing and improving? Do you have hitters that strike out too frequently, are too inconsistent, are "getting themselves out", weakly hit flares to the opposite field or top spin ground balls, or not producing in clutch situations when the game is on the line and it means the most?  If you answered 'yes', then read on and find out the 3 biggest problems and solutions to becoming the UH.


The UH is productive and successfully executes the game situations. As an illustration, the UH is confronted with 4 general and basic scenarios during the course of a game with 1 responsibility:

Situations...

1. No one on base...no outs...UH must 'Get'on'
2. Runner on 1B or 2B...no outs...UH must 'Get'em over'
3. Runner at 3B...less than 2 outs...UH must 'Get'em in'

The beauty and challenge of baseball is that it has an infinite number of possibilities that change constantly from pitch to pitch throughout the game. The UH has to adapt and adjust to all situations that the game presents. To simplify matters, the UH has to put a good swing on a good pitch with timing for the right situation.

The following are 3 critical 'blindspots', you must recognize that are preventing players from becoming the UH:

Blindspot  1(mechanical) 
*Mistimed & misaligned at toe touch prevents consistency & hard hit balls (launch position)...

Finding A Posture And Keeping It before or on impact sets the body/spine angle in a position to hit the ball hard consistently. The body, particularly the hips & shoulders provide the necessary power. Stay 'connected', don't disconnect by casting out or initiating the swing with the hands. The upper body leans slightly towards home plate where the buttock is up and back with a slight bend at the waist. The knees remain inside the feet before, during and after the swing.

• Attack Posture... Hitters must be in an 'athletic' and attacking posture with subtle movement while creating momentum. The movement & momentum must be continuous, smooth, controlled and accelerating up and through impact. The key is to convert momentum into rotational forces efficiently and effectively.
• Ready Position... Hitters must get to the proper ready position with timing & rhythm when stride foot toe contacts ground. Hands are about 4-6" away and slightly behind back knee/foot and across from armpit with bat barrel and top hand slightly angled forward towards the pitcher.
• The 'Connection Box'... of arms to shoulder and wrists must keep their angles as long as possible before being released right before or on impact. Creating a 'stretch reflex' will produce maximum bat speed.
• 'Joint Effort'... Energy absorption at the point of impact must have the lead elbow and front knee firm/locked up right at or on impact (must absorb the least amount of energy versus having bent arms and soft knee). 
• See Release Point... Make sure hitters see or get to release point of pitcher on time with soft, sweeping, scanning eyes, limit head movement forward and down (not more than 4"). Hitter must start his movement before ball is released and get to toe touch on time which is approximately 1/2 way to the plate.
• Back Elbow... Easily & often overlooked is the back elbow. Make sure that the back elbow does not go 'behind'(butt side) but rather stays back towards the catcher and naturally positions itself forward into the 'slot'(few inches away from rib cage). A major problem is when the back elbow leads excessively forward in front of hands creating excessive bat drag. The back elbow should stay slightly behind or even with hands during the approach to impact.
• Breathing... the natural tranquilizer! Use breathing for timing purposes as well. As the pitcher begins his windup the hitter will breathe in through his nose and exhale out through his mouth as he delivers the bat to ball contact.

Blindspot 2 (physical/mental)
*Unproductive habits, focus and purpose in practices and games...

• Practices Are Not Meeting The Demands Of A Game... Hitting is about timing and rhythm which includes vision, balance and power. Most hitting drills must incorporate vision, rhythm/timing, and pressure to simulate game like action.
• Mental Intensity Is As Important As Physical Intensity... Too many hitters just go through the motion. Typically when doing 'T' or soft toss drills players don't swing the bat as quick and fast as they do in a game...and we wonder why hitters don't significantly improve!? Disparity both in bat quickness/speeds and swing plane are not simulating game realities. Most players work on 1 location- down the middle when doing their hitting drills. While doing 'T' work for example, have hitters wear helmets and have a pitcher or player act as if he is delivering different type of pitches behind a screen or net while the hitter tracks the imaginary or actual incoming pitch and hits off the 'T' behind the net.
• No Hitting Game Plan... Hitters must take into account many things to be productive. Aware of their strengths and weaknesses, pitchers tendencies, the type of pitcher, the situation and count, umpires strike zone, etc. Pitchers often tip their pitches; for example, sometimes they wiggle glove, tilt head, have elbow out or separate hands higher when throwing a curveball.
• All Strikes Are Not Created Equal... Should a hitter anticipate or react? Hitters trying to cover all pitches in all parts of the strike zone is a big mistake; unless the hitter has 2 strikes. It is my strong believe that hitting is timing and rhythm and to be on time consistently you have to anticipate the type of pitch and ideally the location, to give yourself the greatest chance of hitting the ball hard & consistently and being productive. It certainly helps when you know the pitchers' tendencies and have done your 'homework' by observing how the pitcher threw to previous hitters, what his 'out' pitch is, what he does with runners in scoring position, etc.

Blindspot 3 (mental) 
*Inability to Control the controllables...

• Hitters Have Control over their attitude, effort, behavior, response to mistakes/situations, emotions and readiness. You have no guarantees over the outcome, the umpire, teammates, coaches, weather, etc.
• Must Play In The Present... Right now, right here. All energies must be channeled to things you have direct control over. Must have self- control to positively affect- game control.
• Control Your Mood Swings To Control Your Bat Swings.
• Pre-At Bat Routine... Do you have one and if so when does it begin? Need a routine to fall back on when things don't seem to go your way. The order of thoughts and actions has to be consistent, rehearsed and executed every single time.
• 'Downtime'... What to do with it! It takes roughly 6 minutes to leave your mark as a hitter assuming you bat 4 times in game where each at bat lasts 1 1/2 minutes. How you spend your 'down' time preparing is critical. Imagine performing passionately with precision and power under pressure. Much of what we do is necessary but insufficient by itself. Leaving out details will prevent mastery.

Recognize and master the 3 'blindspots' and you too will produce Ultimate Hitters and Ultimate experiences! Only those who have the patience to do the simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do the difficult things easily.

To your success!

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