How To Play Baseball: Hitters Game Plan

(Music Playing) A major part of a hitter’s game plan is to know his strengths and weaknesses and the strike zone. Successful hitters are patiently aggressive. By that, I mean, they are looking for a certain pitch in a specific area of the strike zone, but they are expecting that pitch everytime they step into the batter’s box. The hitter is thinking hit, hit, hit. Then off the pitch, is out of the strike zone or not where he wanted it. He is going to hold up his swing. If a hitter is ready to swing, every pitch, when he gets the one he wants, he will swing at it. A hitter without this preparedness will find himself lighting pitches go by that are in the most productive hitting zones and later in the out bat, possibly having the hit pitches he does not handle well. Ted Williams use the picture of his strike zone which was seven ball wide and 11 balls high, to help him to visually understand his strike zone and identify the productive and unproductive hitting areas inside that zone. He drew balls in the strike zone rectangle and put his batting average for each pitch location. Therefore, he identify his most successful areas, some what successful areas, His hitting approach was to look for a pitch in a highly successful area initially. And leave pitches alone in his weakest area until he had two strikes. All hitters must be aware of his strike zone. It is 17 inches wide, which is the width of the plate and extends from the armpits to the top of the knees. I always suggest the players draw their zone, life size and put it up in their bedroom or tape it to a full-length mirror. They can then stand beside it to get a feel for the actual measurements and the area they must cover with the bat. Drawing on the zone with baseballs is William did is also a great idea. A hitter has to know his strengths and weaknesses and part of that is understanding what pitches and then what areas of the strike zone he hits well. It is then equally important for him to know those pitches and areas in which he is a fare hitter and of course, the same applies for the least effective areas. Williams also makes the point in his book that Science of Hitting that a hitter who offers at pitches two inches out of strike zone increases the strike zone by 37%. If an experienced pitcher knows the hitter will swing at those types of pitches, the hitter will not likely see any pitches in his effective hitting area. Therefore, the hitter games and advantage if he knows the strike zone and his hitting zones. He is moving the right direction to get a good pitch hit. Like Williams, a hitter with no strikes wants to look for a ball in his most productive area. With one strike, looking at his most productive and include the area in which he is in above average to average hitter. And finally with two strikes cover the entire strike zone.