Baseball Tips on Hitting – Problem Swinging Late at Pitches

When looking to solve a baseball hitting problem, always look for the easiest “fix” first. Here is a list of some very useful baseball tips on hitting and possible solutions if you are swinging late and not catching up to the pitch:

• Make sure you are not using a bat that is too heavy for you. That’s the easiest fix of all.
• Make sure you are loading up early enough and giving yourself enough time to get the bat into the hitting zone. You never want to load up late so if needed, load up earlier. I’ve seen many 10 to 12 year olds going back toward the catcher when the pitch is already on its way. This makes hitting the ball impossible. Watch for this with younger players. I’ve seen it many times.
• Many youngsters in particular, have the bad habit of loading up twice. You go back once, not twice. They load up once and then they make the common mistake of loading up a little bit more. You can’t be going back toward the catcher when the pitch is on its way.
• You are possibly taking too long a route to the ball. Be more direct when going from point A, where you are “loaded up,” to point B, where you make contact.
• The first movement after you are loaded up should be down toward the ball and the bat should level out only at the point of contact. Many weak hitters have the bat parallel to the ground at the very beginning of the swing and this is wrong and will present many baseball hitting problems for you.
• Another possibility for being late is the bottom of the knob of bat is facing too far back toward the catcher. This will cause the bat to have to travel a much greater distance to get to the ball and make you late on your swing.
• Possibly the bat is wrapped too far around your head. Again, the bat will have to travel too far and you will be late on the pitch.
• You don’t want to have your hands too far away from the body, which causes the front arm to straighten out too soon. This will cause a longer and indirect swing, causing you to be late on the pitch.
• Maybe the bat is being held too much straight up and down. If you are doing this, try a compromise of half way between straight up and down and parallel to the ground.
• Maybe you are gripping the bat too tightly. It’s a known fact that you can swing the bat more efficiently and quicker by not gripping it too tightly. It’s the same exact principle as a pitcher gripping the ball tighter to slow down the speed of the pitch to fool the hitter. Gripping the bat too tightly will actually slow down your bat speed just like it slows down a pitch from the pitcher.

Remember, one of the best baseball tips on hitting you will ever hear is to keep the front elbow pointing down at the very start of your swing and the swing levels out only at the point of contact. If you are not doing this, start now and your hitting will improve immediately!