Learning the long ball! Have questions.

[Ken07]

Good advice on this thread...Trying to focus on cutting thru the bottom third of the ball will help give a more level swing...Make your swing angle different than the angle of the pitch coming in..Sometimes on a chest high pitch the swing angle is slightly up, but it should be more radically flatter than the pitch angle (more level) and if you aim at the bottom third, your snap will cut thru the ball creating underspin. Thigh high pitches the hand/swing angle will be down, but a good snap will bring bat head flush into the ball...Aim at a hole in the outfield, at least if you miss the bottom and hit a pop up or weak fly, it might drop in. I watch alot of conference play and those guys are so damn good its scary...but you would be amazed, that even at the highest level of play in the world...there are a fair number of double plays and fly outs. Guys having bad games...Just like us mortals. lol. Guys like Brungardt and Yates will say to always cut loose with a full swing for basehitting or power...alot of rec guys don't swing with 90% effort...they are guiding the ball...should be too fast to analyze and trust your bp. jmo

 

[jhitman]

Good advice on this thread...Trying to focus on cutting thru the bottom third of the ball will help give a more level swing...Make your swing angle different than the angle of the pitch coming in..Sometimes on a chest high pitch the swing angle is slightly up, but it should be more radically flatter than the pitch angle (more level) and if you aim at the bottom third, your snap will cut thru the ball creating underspin. Thigh high pitches the hand/swing angle will be down, but a good snap will bring bat head flush into the ball...Aim at a hole in the outfield, at least if you miss the bottom and hit a pop up or weak fly, it might drop in. I watch alot of conference play and those guys are so damn good its scary...but you would be amazed, that even at the highest level of play in the world...there are a fair number of double plays and fly outs. Guys having bad games...Just like us mortals. lol. Guys like Brungardt and Yates will say to always cut loose with a full swing for basehitting or power...alot of rec guys don't swing with 90% effort...they are guiding the ball...should be too fast to analyze and trust your bp. jmo

I agree Ken. I try to swing at least 90% or a little bit more whether going for base hits or HR's. Hit the ball hard somewhere and good things will happen more often than not.

 

[dunkky]

I also realized the importance of looking at the ball in telescopic level, in slow motion(in your head) at the time of impact. My accuracy has gotten better in BP. I am starting with real basic now.