Hitting Tips

I recently got a great gift for Christmas; it was a book, The Science of Hitting written by Ted Williams. I haven’t posted about hitting for a while and I am not going to write a lot now, but I will say that Ted’s book has a ton in it and is a very in depth analysis of the most perfect swing, or at least the one that got Williams to hit .400. Interestingly enough the book is not so much about the physical aspect of hitting as it is mental. And it’s true hitting is all up in your head, it’s about being smart in the batter’s box and taking notes on the bench. Here’s a story, in the summer I watched the pitcher and saw that he could throw some heat! But he also always threw a first pitch fastball, always, so what did I do? I told my teammates and coach (I doubt they really listened) but when I stood up at bat I was geared up for his fastball and I hit a hot grounder up the middle – right to the shortstop. But the point is I noticed a pattern in the game and was ready. Ted calls this guessing and while many coaches tell you “DON’T GUESS!” You need to, that’s what I did and I was actually too ready for it. I’ll elaborate on this later and write a ton more about working on my swing and the adjustments I made in between the summer and fall seasons that blew my productivity through the roof.