Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Thu Apr 14 22:25:40 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.
> >
> > Hi Dustin:
> >
> > I believe in pulling all pitches. This mindset makes the hitter more aggressive, as Coach C pointed out (note: this individual did not believe in my idea wholesale, but liked certain parts of it). Nevertheless, from reading your statements, it would not be too perilious to guess that you champion hitting to all fields.
> >
> > The best approach, then, would be to back off the plate. If you use proper mechanics, you can reach the outside pitch more effectively.
> >
> > Eventually, the pitcher will loop a pitch where your head used to be, and you will hit over the fence.
> >
> > Good luck on the journey of self-betterment.
> >
> > Best Wishes,
> > BHL
> > Knight1285@aol.com
> >
> > P.S. Do not forget to read the material here on this site.
>
>
> How many capped groundballs to the 1B/2B do you hit when you try and pull all pitches?
>
> I think your philosophy needs to cleared up...what is the best pitch and location for a hitter to pull and what pitch (and location) is the most difficult for a hitter to pull?

Hi Scott:

All analysts will say the outside pitch is more difficult than the inside pitch to pull; however, I disagree with them. On outside pitches, a batter has more time to pull the ball, and can take advantage of this opportunity by widening the hand path so, at contact, the wide arc will strike the ball more forcefully than a narrower arc (i.e., the hand path used to pull an inside pitch).

By contrast, the batter must be faster on inside pitches, and hit the ball with a tighter arc. The ball, when struck properly, will still travel well enough to clear the pull field fence, only not as far.

This is my opinion. However, Scott disagrees, so I respect his opinion.

One more thing. Scott, if my philosophy were "cleared up," I would just be reiterating trite aphorisms. My job here is to find a creative solution to problems.

Best Wishes,
BHL
Knight1285@aol.com

P.S. If on can pull the fastball to dead left, irrespective of location, all other pitches will just require "waiting slightly," before "pulling the trigger."