Baseball Tips on Hitting - Problem Swinging Late at Pitches

By Larry Cicchiello

When looking to solve a baseball hitting problem, always look for the easiest "fix" first. Here is a list of some possible solutions if you are swinging late and not catching up to the pitch:


Make sure you are not using a bat that is too heavy for you. That's the easiest fix of all.
Make sure you are loading up early enough and giving yourself enough time to get the bat into the hitting zone. You never want to load up late so if needed, load up earlier. I've seen many 10 to 12 year olds going back toward the catcher when the pitch is already on its way. This makes hitting the ball impossible. Watch for this with younger players. I've seen it may times.
Many youngsters in particular, have the bad habit of loading up twice. You go back once, not twice. They load up once and then they make the common mistake of loading up a little bit more. You can't be going back toward the catcher when the pitch is on its way.
You are possibly taking too long a route to the ball. Be more direct when going from point A, where you are "loaded up," to point B, where you make contact.
The first movement after you are loaded up should be DOWN toward the ball and the bat should level out only at the point of contact. Many weak hitters have the bat parallel to the ground at the beginning of the swing and this is wrong.
Another possibility for being late is the bottom of the knob of bat is facing too far back toward the catcher. This will cause the bat to have to travel a much greater distance to get to the ball and make you late on your swing.
Possibly the bat is wrapped too far around your head. Again, the bat will have to travel too far and you will be late on the pitch.
You don't want to have your hands too far away from the body, which causes the front arm to straighten out too soon. This will cause a longer and indirect swing, causing you to be late on the pitch.
Maybe the bat is being held too much straight up and down. If you are doing this, try a compromise of half way in between straight up and down and parallel to the ground.
Maybe you are gripping the bat too tightly. It's a known fact that you can swing the bat more efficiently and quicker by NOT gripping it too tight. It's the same exact principle as a pitcher gripping a pitch tighter to slow down the speed of the pitch to fool the hitter. Gripping the bat too tightly will slow down your bat speed just like it slows down a pitch from the pitcher.
In summary, there are two things I would look for right off the bat, no pun intended.



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First, make sure you don't have "too much bat" and that you can handle the weight of the bat comfortably.

Second, make sure you are being direct to the ball. One of the best baseball tips on hitting is that you go from point A to point B in a straight line.

Remember, one of the best baseball hitting tips you will ever hear is to keep the front elbow pointing down at the very start of your swing and the swing levels out only at the point of contact!

Larry Cicchiello is the author of "Excellent Baseball Coaching: 30 Seconds Away." His site offers many FREE baseball tips on hitting, baseball pitching tips, baseball coaching drills, baseball fielding tips, etc. You will be FULLY EQUIPPED!

You can visit his website at http://www.larrybaseball.com.

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