Posted by: The Hitting Guru () on Sun Jul 11 18:26:43 2004

I have been told by many i have great batspeed. On many hard throwers, I'll hit the bat hard. Yet, sometimes all ill do is foul the ball way off on the left side. I'm a 19 year old left hander playing in a wood bat league. Any follow ups would b greatly appreciated! thank you!
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> > on what basis was you told you have great batspeed? do these people use an objective bat speed measuring device of some sort to measure your bat speed as well as the bat speed of others? in terms of mph, what is your batspeed?



Even the best major league hitters swing late. This does not necessarily mean your batspeed is slower. It could just mean that you are either picking the ball up late or your timing approach may be a little bit late. This appears to be what was happening to Derek Jeter, but know he is one of the hottest hitters in either league. As long as you have not undergone some type of physical injury your batspeed should be consistent as long as you are still picking up the ball in time. I am assuming that on the occassions that you are late, the pitching is not significantly faster than when you are doin well. When you are doing well, try to get in the zone with what it feels like. See if you can notice the difference when you are not quite in sink. In any event if you are fouling the ball off hard to the left, you are not that far away from continued success. Good Luck!
> >>I cannot tell if your fouling it to pull or late,if you pull the ball foul alot,you may be taking a long extension of the arms swing,hitting around the ball.Let the ball get deeper,keep your hands in a little closer to make a tighter turn as I call it.The term staying inside the ball which can be confusing to some may help you stay back and think of hitting the back of ball instead of the outside of the ball.