Swinging at Bad Pitches: Not Always Wrong

by Submitted by Ron
(Mudville, USA)

Think YES, YES I am Swinging at Every Pitch!

Our hitters often times are swinging at balls out of the strike zone, especially high pitches around their neck and eyes.

I can't seem to get them to only swing at good pitches.

What do you suggest?

Great question and often misunderstood. A great baseball problem to have because it is easier to tame an aggressive hitter than to have to make a batter aggressive. Not knowing the age of your players we will look at this in a general hitting tips veiwpoint.

The adults (baseball parents, baseball coaches) have to realize how easy hitting looks when you are NOT in the batters box. From the dugout, the bleachers, television and the baseball coaching box hitting looks very easy.

But, actual hitting against a good live pitcher is one of the hardest things to do in all of youth sports. The batter has less than a half second to recognize the pitch type and location, decide if they are going to swing and then complete the swing.

You better believe hitters are going to swing at bad pitches. Especially if the hitters are agressive which is a crucial must to be a good hitter.

As a youth league baseball coach, little league baseball coach or any baseball coach you WANT your hitters to swing at bad pitches at times. Otherwise, the batters may

Now, as players age and develop they should be able to recognize the strike zone a little better as they play more. The better ballplayers will adjust and get better as they play more.

Be careful not to over-scold or reprimand the players for swinging at bad pitches. This causes batters to be tentative and defensive at the plate. Then you have the makings of a poor frustrated hitter that will be on their way to drop out of baseball.

Take the batter aside the next inning, after the game, or the next day and talk with them about looking for good pitches to hit gently reminding them where the pitches should be that are the best to swing at.

Hitters will go as far as their bat takes them. When batters reach the ceiling and stop producing offense they are at the beginning of the end.

So, as a quality baseball coach you want your hitters to be agressive if you are going to develop their maximum hitting skills and baseball talents. Looking for walks may win you a game or two but you will destroy a hitters batting skills development.

Please read more of the baseball articles about how to teach hitting and help baseball players improve hitting technique, hitting mindset like the pros and more on our Hitting 101 tab.