Best "Phrases" for teaching good hitting?

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One of my DD's previous coaches always used the tried and true

"Come on, be a hitter!"

Apparently he thought that they didn't really know what they were standing at the plate with a bat for, unless he told them. This was 14U, btw.
 
Jan 15, 2009
585
0
#1 phrase I use

"Relax, be loose."

IMO more batters rob themselves of good swings by coming to the plate with tension and anxiety. Relaxed and loose muscle are quick, tension interferes with natural motion.

#2
"see the ball from her hip to the bat"

Remind them to not get distracted or focus on her setup or windup but just watch for the ball coming in from where it has to. Younger batters get away with picking up the ball early then swinging for the fence usually with their head flying out way too early. The problem is that they were successful with this early on when the pitchers had little or no movement and need to relearn how to make adjustments to make better contact on pitches that move. Pitching machines make these kids look like rock stars because the ball moves little or in a very predictable manner, but they can't hit live pitching.

Those two keys (relaxing, vision) lead to contact. The type of contact they make (grounders, line drives, pop-ups, with powere, dribblers, etc) was determined by their mechanics coming into the game and IMO it's a bad idea to try to change mechanics at game time. Maybe if you've been practicing one specific change in mechanics you can call that out as a reminder, but overthinking leads to tension which leads to failure IMO.

BTW - Tone is everything, when I say the above to a batter I do it in a relaxed tone of voice trying to pass my calm onto the kid. If your out of control of your tone your probably better off not saying anything.
 
Oct 14, 2008
667
16
Pick it up off the hip
Head down
Hands above plane of pitch
Hit it like you have a butt load of bricks
Finish high


Tim
 
May 12, 2008
20
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Relax, attack is what I use with my DD. I do not like her thinking mechanics during an AB. She gets too mechanical and starts thinking.
 
Jan 12, 2009
23
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I like what ken has said about the fat part of the bat! Most people are all concerned about Linear or Rotational and don't focus on that one point. It does not matter how hard you swing the bat if you cannot get to the sweet part of the bat.

Hitting is adjusting and this is one very important point. If my players are over thinking "slumping" I have them focus on this one point and they come out of it quickly.

I think we put too much into the minds of these athletes and they over think the game instead of Just reacting!

Yes they need to think the game as well!
 

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