Posted by: Scott (stwinton@netzero.net) on Mon Apr 11 21:52:13 2005

> Hey,
>
> Im on my senior year of baseball for high school. Ive noticed ive done a lot better in batting by concentrating more. My only flaw is that i still hate curveballs, my first reaction is that im gonna get hit in the head and i duck and look like a complete moron. What can i do to watch for the curveball and not look so stupid if i watch it go by?
>
> Dustin Smith

The best advice on hitting a curveball is to not miss the fastball when you get it...understand when you need to look for it and when you can sit dead red.

You should try soft and fine focusing, pick up the "Mental Game of Baseball” could be the best investment in you game you can ever make. Understand what you see and what you need to look for when seeing a breaking ball out of the pitchers hand...see if there is a change in arm slot, see the ball 'hop' upward out of his hand, notice the pitcher release, a pitchers fingers will be in front on a curve (to the side on slider and behind on fastball) and attempt to pick up the tumbling spin early...more so then any other pitch you must think about staying 'inside the ball' as long as you can, early leakage will make you pull off the pitch on the outer half...if your inside and it hangs its a very easy adjustment to spin on it and hit a lindrive to LF.