Posted by: Joe Hernandez (coach2hit@yahoo.com) on Mon Jun 12 22:22:39 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
>
> "There are many situations and conditions that will allow you to hit the outside pitch up the middle or even pull it."
>
> I understand if you’re talking about a LF hitter, but what are the situations where a righty should come around a middle away FB?
>
> "I believe your approach should be the same for every pitch."
>
> As far as seeing it and hitting it yes, as far as situational hitting, absolutely not. What approach do you take when you have a runner at 3rd less then 2 out with the middle inf back vs the middle inf's in? What approach do you take with a runner at 2nd and no outs? How about nobody on, bottom of 9 down by a run?
>
> The truly great hitters will have an at bat that is warranted by the game...there are a variety of situations and modes that good hitters will need to adapt to. Get on base mode, move a runner over mode, a drive them in mode…just to name a few..

John,

First you need to read carefully what I wrote and in the context that I wrote it. Secondly, your concern was with pulling every pitch, so why are you now in some other area that was never discussed by me?

"There are many situations and conditions that will allow you to hit the outside pitch up the middle or even pull it. NOT ONLY LF, AS YOU STATED, BUT RH AS WELL...THAT"S THE SITUATION I WROTE ABOUT IN RESPOND TO YOUR QUESTION. I ASSUMED YOU ARE RH OTHERWISE YOU WOULD HAVE STATED THAT YOU WERE LH.

"I believe your approach should be the same for every pitch." I NEVER WROTE WITH REGARDS TO SITUATION...ONLY TO THE APPROACH ON EVERY PITCH.

You have "read more" into what I have written and written more about what I did not say. All we are discussing is your inability to follow your coaches advise.

If you feel you have all the answers then why are you asking(?) At the very least try reading the responses correctly and do not put words that were never said. Folks in this discussion board are trying to help guys like yourself that have questions. If you are not "clear" with a response then say so.

The bottom line is that understanding the "impact line" should address most of your concern. You can read the works of Lau, Ripken, Williams, Rose, Carew, Schimdt, etc. and they all say the same thing. Even the great Hank Aaron wrote, "...early in my professional career I was a dead pull hitter, but with a lot of practice I learned to hit to all fields, and that certainly helped me stay in the big leagues"..."Hitting The Aaron Way", Prentice Hall 1974, page 58)

So listen to your coaches advise and learn to hit the ball where it is pitched.

A pitch on the inside corner is hit quite a distance in front of the plate. This will vary depending on where you stand at the plate. Go to the library and just take out a book on hitting...most will show you this. A ball down the middle is hit further back, and a ball away is hit still further back. If you were to draw a line between the inside pitch and the outside pitch you then have established the "impact line". When hitting the inside pitch you then need to hit the ball sooner, before it reaches the plate. Envision the ball as a clock, you want to hit the inside pitch at 3 o'clock. An outside pitch is hit deeper in the zone and at 9 o'clock. Between these two points of the impact line you can hit the ball in an infinite number of locations.

If this does not help you or you feel that it is wrong then there is nothing else to discuss. Do appreciate when someone goes out of there way to help you, especially a stranger!

Joe Hernandez