Posted by: Joe Hernandez (coach2hit@yahoo.com) on Thu Jun 8 21:12:27 2006

> my coaches always tell me to "hit the ball where it is pitched" meaning pull an inside pitch and go opposite on an outside pitch. i have a habit of trying to pull everything, even outside pitches and that makes for an easy grounder. any suggestions or tips?

John,

Why not follow your coaches advise? Learn to hit on the "impact line"...as a general rule, this is usually your best point of contact. That is not to say that you must always hit the outside pitch to the opposite field. There are many situations and conditions that will allow you to hit the outside pitch up the middle or even pull it. Much will depend on your swing and your timing. If your approach is "sound" and your swing is equally sound, then doing so is possible and can be quite effective. However, I beleive your approach should be the same for every pitch. Make sure you are seeing the ball with both eyes, stay on top of the baseball with your front shoulder and focused on hitting the ball as hard as you can while maintaing bat control.

Joe Hernandez