As high schools and colleges roll into winter ball alot of young hitters are going through the process of getting back into the rhythm of practicing and playing ball again after a long break. A common theme will be players struggling to get their cage work to translate into their at-bats. More times than not this is simply a matter of players getting enough reps for their timing to calibrate. That being said for those that are fighting for a spot or an expanded role on their team the time this process takes is of the essence. Outside of doing the work to develop the swing and other physical aspects of hitting, here are some simple tips on what you can focus on to improve your experience of hitting in the game and speed up the often frustrating part of the journey that is finding your timing.
Improve your information gathering process leading up to your at-bat
Your plan, your approach play quite the substantial role in your performance at the plate. The quality of that plan oftentimes is determined by what kind of information you – the hitter – are able to gather and process. Knowing this it makes sense that the first place you should look to develop – especially if you’re just getting back to game hitting – is your process for gathering and processing the information the game has to offer.
You may also want to consider exactly what type of information is most useful to you. Just like different drills make sense differently to different hitters. Different pieces of information will be more or less useful to different hitters. On teams that offer scouting reports on opposing pitchers you’ll find some hitters want to know everything about the guy on the mound, others want to know very little. Some want to know which pitches get thrown in certain counts, some just want to know what the “out” pitch is, some (like myself) only want to know what pitches are in the pitcher’s arsenal. It is entirely possible that you are better off with no information about the pitcher except for seeing his delivery for timing purposes. Hypothetically if that was the case it wouldn’t make much sense to be in the dugout flipping through the scouting report binder while the pitcher warms up. On the other hand, if you like to sit pitches in counts, it’d make a lot of sense for you to utilize that same time gathering as much information as the book has to offer. Whether you need more information or to better filter the information you’re getting now simply reflecting on exactly what types of information will help you feel best prepared going into your at-bats is a great way to start designing and refining your information gathering system.
Whether your team has scouting reports or not it’s generally a good idea to find a hitter on your team who has a similar profile – is likely to be pitched to similarly to yourself. This will be someone who’s at-bats you can watch to develop ideas and perspective on how you are/will be pitched to. Start developing a rapport with such hitters, being able to discuss your shared experiences at the plate will open lines of communication that will likely continue to provide useful information over the course of the season.
Improve your pitch-to-pitch routine
The same way your information gathering process needs to be sharp before your at-bat in order to develop an effective approach, your pitch-to-pitch process needs to be sharp in order to digest information effectively enough to make adjustments as the at-bat progresses while maintaining present mindedness enough to compete.
Each pitch changes the complexion of the at-bat both from a strategy standpoint and in how you – the hitter – will see and react to the next pitch. Your pitch-to-pitch routine should allow the hitter space to reflect on these implications and adjust their approach accordingly. This does not necessarily mean you need to step out every pitch and do a complicated math problem, playing chess trying to perfectly predict the next pitch or recall which mechanical fix your hitting coach suggested to fix that last crappy swing. Given the right objective and the understanding of all that goes into a pitch sequence and making the appropriate adjustments as a hitter over the course of the at-bat your subconscious is perfectly capable of handling all of these tasks. Your job is simply to put your body and mind in the right position, give yourself the time and space necessary for this process to unfold.
Lastly, before you – the hitter – get back in the box and look at the pitcher you need some mechanism to clear any mental clutter and re-focus on the simple task of seeing and reacting, swinging. There are many simple yet very effective visualization, breathing, self talk, movement prepping techniques at your disposal to achieve this. For example I would pick a small spot somewhere near the left field (opposite field) foul pole to focus on before I stepped in the box. This had the dual benefit of practicing narrowing my visual focus down to the size of a baseball while also giving the third base coach the impression that I was paying attention to his signs. Whatever your chosen mechanism, the goal is an uncluttered mind with a clear objective.
Improve your perspective
Nobody has to tell you to enjoy your at-bats when you’re hitting well. Catching barrels is fun, and when recent history suggests your chances of catching a barrel are high(er) you relish every opportunity to do so. Hitting is fun because you are hitting well. That statement generally rings true. However, the statement also works in reverse : You are hitting well because hitting is fun. When we look at it from this perspective your feelings towards hitting are no longer simply a result of your performance. It is important to understand not only that your emotional state has a profound impact on your ability to perform at a high level but that you can dissociate feelings of gratitude, enjoyment, and confidence from past results. The key to doing this lies in becoming aware of and setting goals for yourself based on what you enjoy or appreciate about hitting that has little or nothing to do with “getting a hit”. If you can successfully associate your own perceived competency with an aspect of hitting that is highly achievable and very much under your own control (example : how many quality swings did you take today?) you can set yourself up in a feedback loop where you cultivate just as much confidence, get all the same good vibes from an 0-4 performance that you would from going 4-4. This is ultimately what consistency looks like in hitting. Showing up as the same guy, maintaining the same high level of self-belief regardless of what the results say.
So the next time you notice your results (or lack thereof) at the plate are getting you down, take it as a reminder to re-evaluate your perspective, set some new goals, find a way to enjoy the process again.
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