Posted by: hank king () on Fri Feb 14 12:45:49 2003

We spend all day talking about mechanics but very rarely talk about the mental side of hitting. Why the the most feared hitters in the game over the age of 30? Are they in peak contition of their life? No not according to muscle mass or tone (usually about 25). Have they finally perfected their swing? IMHO no this probably happened about 3-5 years earlier. Have they finally entered the hitters mental Utopia? IMHO Yes. It has taken them this long to understand the mental side of hitting.
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> I welcome any comment on this subject.
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> I mentioned many of my ideas below under Pitching Strategy vs. Certain Hitters.
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>dave, i will have to read your writing on pitching.
this might be the best subject yet.
approach at the plate comes with many factors. if a batter is going to truely become a hitter there are several factors that he/she must have full knowledge off and confidence in. first, the hitter must have complete command of the strike zone.a hitter must know his/her strengths and weaknesses and know what they are looking for based on the situation in the game and/or the count. they must understand counts at the plate and know the pitchers strengths and weaknesses. a hitter must maintain an agressive confident approach to hitting in the face of all the failures.
i don't care what your terminology or mech approach, if a hitter doesn't understand the mental approach to hitting they will be limited. true approach to hitting is what will seperate, alot of this comes with maturity and the luck of being guided by someone who teachs mental approach agressively. being able to teach this side of the game also seperates developers.