Anticipating-the-Pitch-Batting-Practice-2

Polyball Batting Practice

The most practical way to improve your hitting skill. Serious batting practice - at home. (indoors or outdoors.) Fast balls, curve balls and sliders. Don't waste another coin at a commercial batting cage. Great for all ages and skill levels.

"If you are not doing Polyball Batting Practice -You are probably not taking enough batting practice"

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Anticipatory Hitting Practice

traing effectively for baseball using the wiffle ball

Hitting with less than two strikes

part 2

Click here to start with part 1

Anticipatory Hitting Practice Protocols (con't)

One Pitch / One Swing

One pitch / one swing" is based a bit on Ted Williams famous quote which basically stated "when you get your pitch don't miss it and don't foul it off". It is also based a bit on the old adage that "the best way to hit a pitcher's curve ball is to hit his fast ball first - early in the count".

The pitcher will throw only fast balls - one at a time ("one pitch / one swing), and the results are recorded after each swing. The reason for this batting practice protocol is to try to get the hitter to hit the fast ball when they get it and not miss it or foul it off. One Pitch / One Swing might really be considered a test rather than batting practice. Chart your results and improvement over time, come up with percentages of 1) hits 2) outs 3) misses/foul balls. This teaches the hitter to focus on their pitch (in this case the fast ball), and hit it when they get it.

Pick out your pitch

A variation to the "one pitch / one swing is where the pitcher throws any pitch: fast ball , curve ball , and change up (mixing these pitches up well) and the batter will hit his pitch and take any other pitch. The batter will for this type of batting practice look "fast" (fast ball. cutter) for the first 1/2 of this batting practice and then look "slow" (either change up or curve ball ) for the last 1/2 of this batting practice. When the batter is looking "fast" he is "geared" for the fast ball and letting all slow stuff (curve and change up) go - this will narrow his focus to hard stuff and improve his timing on the fast ball. When the batter is looking "slow" he is "geared" down for off speed stuff (change up and slow curve) and letting the hard stuff go - this will narrow his focus to improve his timing of the off speed pitches. This type of batting practice will teach the hitter to look fast or slow and to pick out his pitch and jump on it when he gets it.

Improving Your Bat Speed

Anticipatory hitting is about driving the ball with authority. If you want to hit with power you must work on bat speed. Hitting with power is all about bat speed. There are no "just the right spots" on the bat that if you hit it there the ball will magically go an extra 100 feet. While the pitcher's speed does add some distance to the batted ball the difference in energy supplied by the pitcher throwing a 70 mph fast ball and one throwing a 90 mph fast ball is not significant. Don't rely on the pitcher's speed or a secret spot on the bat to create distance in your hitting, work on bat speed instead.

Click here to learn about bat speed development

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