How To Be Successful Against Power Pitchers!

By Larry Cicchiello
Updated: July 17, 2013

Against some of the harder throwers, many very good hitters cut down on their stride or even omit it completely. For those hitters who have trouble against “flame throwers,” they should remember that it’s not necessary to take any stride at all or to swing the bat that hard. Some baseball hitters, especially young hitters, do not get this message. They quite often over swing and take this long, looping swing that is very late on the pitch and they have very little if any chance at all. Unfortunately, this often happens over and over again and is quite frustrating for a hitter of any age, whether it is a younger player or an older player. Younger players will not have fun on the baseball field if this continues to happen. If a young player continues to strike out three times a game, in no time at all he will lose interest in playing baseball.

The name of this game, from a baseball hitter’s point of view is to get the “sweet” part of the bat on the ball. If you swing the bat so easy that it won’t crush a grape, but can somehow manage to get the sweet part of the bat on the ball, you will get your share of hits. If you do the same thing against a power pitcher, you will get more than your share of hits! It’s one of the first baseball tips on hitting a coach should teach to a young player. It’s not important how weak a swing you had at the pitch and the weakness of your swing will go totally unnoticed.

What will be very well noticed is how the batter hit the ball extremely hard against a flame thrower who has been striking out a lot of batters. Leading bat manufacturers spend millions of dollars on research to have batted balls jump off the sweet part of the bats they manufacture. The hitter’s chore is to just get that sweet spot on the pitched baseball. Baseball hitters should let the speed of the pitch do 90% of the work for them.

Against the flame thrower, any baseball hitter who has trouble should keep it as simple as possible. Keeping it simple is one of the best baseball tips on hitting for any hitter that’s swinging late and having a difficult time at the plate. Start the baseball swing early and there is no need to stride at all. Throw the barrel of the bat down at the pitch.

Baseball tips on hitting require clever use of the mind and not just the body. You must know yourself as a hitter and what your strengths and weaknesses are. Not all hitters possess great bat speed and if you are having a hard time catching up to the fast ball, you may have to make a few adjustments and there is nothing negative about that at all. In fact, it shows everyone how well schooled and intelligent you are. Not to mention you will get much better results!

Remember, even if a baseball hitter’s swing is so weak that it could not crush a grape, the sweet spot of the bat and the velocity of the fast ball pitcher will do 90% of the work for them. It will definitely increase the batter’s chances for a successful at bat!