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The directness of the baseball swing should be right near the top of your list of baseball tips on hitting if you are seriously trying to be a very successful baseball hitter or if you are coaching baseball hitters.
You must swing directly to the baseball and the front elbow should be pointed downward when you start the swing and not toward the pitcher. Many young baseball players were brought up constantly hearing to keep their swing level. This is only partially true. Too many players have heard this too many times and they erroneously level out their swing at the very beginning. This is not the proper baseball hitting concept. Yes, you should strive to have a level swing. But one of the best baseball tips on hitting you will ever hear is that it should level out only at the point of contact!
Not being direct to the ball is a very common problem for the majority of the weak hitters. If the front elbow is pointing toward the pitcher when you start your swing, it will create a slight loop making you a fraction of a second later to the ball. If a fast ball takes about a half second to get to the plate, you simply cannot afford to lose a valuable fraction of a second. A fraction of a second is an eternity when it comes to successful baseball hitting. This fraction of a second can very well be the difference between hitting a “seed” or being late and missing the pitch entirely.
The distance between two points is a straight line and this applies perfectly to the baseball swing. Let’s call these two points A and B. When it comes to baseball hitting, you cannot go from to go from point A, where you are “loaded up,” to point B, the point where you make contact, unless you do it in a straight line. The only way this is possible is if you have the front elbow pointing downward at the start of the baseball swing. If the front elbow is pointing toward the pitcher at the start of the swing, you are not going from A to B in a straight line and this will present problems.
The palms of the hands should be one up and one down only at the point of contact and not sooner! If you are not being direct to the ball, start now as it is one of the best baseball hitting tips you will ever receive. You will be “short to the ball” and your baseball hitting will improve immediately. Not being short and direct to the baseball is a very common hitting problem, especially with younger players. They feel that a very long swing will encourage hitting the ball harder. Nothing could be further from the truth. As you advance to higher levels of play, the pitchers get smarter and smarter. They will notice immediately if you are not short to the ball and they will exploit this weakness in a heartbeat. You will have a very difficult time, especially with pitchers who have a good, live fast ball. Once again, a fraction of a second is an eternity in baseball.
If you are not doing it already, keep the front elbow pointing downward at the very beginning of your baseball swing and your hitting will improve immediately!
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