Batting Basics

A good stance

Feet together.
Knees slightly bent.
Belly button facing the plate.
Head facing the pitcher (chin on the front shoulder).
Front foot opposite the middle of the plate.
Bat held in the fingers.
Able to reach both sides of the plate.

A good swing

Keep eyes on the ball.
Stride, then rotate your hips.
Back foot 'squishes the bug'(heel comes up, toes turn but stay down).
Belly button faces the pitcher at the end of the swing.
Head stays level.
Fingernails facing up at contact.
Flat swing.
Finish with chin on back shoulder.
Hit through the ball.
Top hand releases the bat on contact.
Big follow through so the bat finishes behind the body.

A note on women's hips

Hip rotation is a vital part of generating power when batting. This is especially true for women. A recent army survey of male and female recruits found that the females had 59% of the upper body strength of the males but 72% of the lower body strength, which means women get a higher percentage of their body strength from their hips and legs.

The contact point

Hitting it where it's pitched

is good advice for a batter but what does it mean ? It means hit a pitch down the middle back over the pitcher, an outside pitch is hit to opposite field, an inside pitch down the line closest to the batter. The diagram shows how a right handed batter should look to hit the ball. The closer the ball is to the batter the earlier, further in front of the plate the batter should hit the ball.

Common errors

Place the cursor over an image to find out what the batter is doing wrong (or see the list below).........

Opening up, causes pop ups, front foot should stay closed

Crowding the plate, can't hit inside pitches

Weight too far forward, will lose power and balance

Legs too close together, will lose power and balance

5 Looping swing, no power, tendency to pop up 6 Turned too far round, no power on inside pitches 7 Bat wrapped round the head, long swing, less power and control

List of faults:

1. Opening up, causes pop ups, front foot should stay closed
2. Crowding the plate, can't hit inside pitches
3. Weight too far forward, will lose power and balance
4. Legs too close together, will lose power and balance
5. Looping swing, no power, tendency to pop up
6. Turned too far round, no power on inside pitches
7. Bat wrapped round the head, long swing, less power and control

A warning for coaches:

As a coach when you are watching a batter don't get too prescrptive, don't just watch the swing, watch the results. Some players naturally stand closed or very open and this may suit them, don't just make them change to make them "look" right, watch them hit and if you can see a problem look for the fault that may be the cause, and only then do something to help

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