How To Play Baseball: No-Strike Zone

Ted Williams “No Strike Zone” was 5 ½ balls wide by 3 ½ balls high. He did not offer at pitches that were outside of that zone until he got one or two strikes on him This is Ted Williams’s strike zone with only one strike. It includes all but 12 balls on the low and outside part of the plate. The 12 ball shown in this diagram would not be swung at until Ted Williams had two strikes on him. It is an area where he was the least productive. Some hitters achieve success but putting the width of the strike zone in half with no strikes because they are successful against inside or outside pitches. In this case, a left-hand hitter would be working on a 8 ½ inches on the inside part of the plate. The advantage being the hitter only looks for pitches in an 8 ½ inch-wide area as suppose to covering all 17 inches of the plate. The plan that a hitter has success with must be adhered to in a consistent manner. Constantly changing on just hitting playing can be counter productive. It brings in too much thinking and can cause Paralysis by Analysis. A player in this category outthinks himself and makes hitting more difficult which affects his physical performance. A simply hitting plan that is adheres to consistently as often the best plan. There are times however when a hitter changes his plan to fit a game situation. The coach wants the hitter to take a strike because the pitcher is tiring or is loosing his control. A hit and run play or the infielder’s plat with the runner on third base and less than two outs. Both of these situations require the hitter to hit the ground ball. These and other situations may cause a variance in a hitter’s plan. But do not affect every at bat in the game. Coaches: For hitters to become proficient in situational hitting and making in a part of their game plan, it must be a part of your practice plan. How often depends upon the abilities of your hitters and the frequency in which your game plan calls for the hitting techniques required by the situation. Most hitters should have a two strike-approach that differs from his know or one-strike plan. The two-strike hitter wants to use the three ups. 1. Choke up on the bat. 2. Move up to the plate. 3. Shorten up on the swing. The hitter moves up on the plate to protect the outer half of the plate. And, the handle the braking ball moving away from him. He must protect that area where his greatest weakness is. For many hitters, that area is the zone down and away. The two strike swing is in controlled, protective, put it in plate type swing. Making fielders handle the ball gives the hitter an opportunity to reach base and occasionally, he would get clean hit as well. (Music Playing) The type of pitch to hit depends upon the hitter and his plan. Most successful hitters go up looking for fast balls. They can time them and hopefully adjust to the breaking ball or change up. However, hitter looking for an off-speed pitch and the pitcher sneaks in the fast ball finds it extremely difficult to have the timing to hit it solidly or make contact at all. Most pitchers cannot affectively throw two or three breaking balls per strikes during one at bat. It is not a precision pitch. They are effective with breaking balls when they are head in the count against the impatient hitter who swings at an early in the count, or the hitter that swings when it is out of the strike zone. An experienced pitcher who knows the hitters will swing at the breaking ball early in the count. Without success, may only throw one fast ball each at bat and most likely, it would be off the plate where the hitter has to chase it. The experienced hitter either knows which counts the pitcher likes to throw the breaking ball or leaves it alone unless he has two strikes. Hitting instructors like the statement “The best way to hit a curve ball is not to miss the fast ball”. Of course, a hitter who is looking for fast ball but gets a hand of breaking ball in his productive hitting area would usually hit it solidly. An inexperienced hitter may have a problem with this thinking if they do not adjust to the speed differential and get out on their front foot causing them to hit it weakly. Knowing the pitcher and its tendencies is a huge advantage for the hitter. If he is an excellent hitter, and knows when the breaking ball is coming, then he can look for. Pitchers are creatures of habit and they throw pitches in situations and knowing counts that give them success. Studying a pitcher’s tendencies leave to an understanding of what pitch he is going to throw. For example, with an O2 count, the pitcher throws a fast ball up in the end and then comes with a breaking ball away. A hitter who recognizes that the pitcher has followed that patterned the whole game can be looking for a breaking ball with one ball in two strike count. Ted Williams said he did not guess which pitch was being thrown but anticipated. He also knew the pitchers and the counts in which they threw certain pitches. Guessing and knowing what is coming are entirely different. Guessing has no background knowledge to fall back on or any solid facts to gain confidence from. Good hitting requires “Leaning what the pitcher has”. 1. What is curve ball does? 2. When he will throw its change up? 3. How he throws as each one of those pitches? Knowledge is information the hitter can trust. Guessing is merely scattered brain-thinking that leads to distrust and lack of success.