Hitting can be taught.
This page is based on the recent on-field experience of two of WebBall's coaches. It's not the typical quick tips page which we offer elsewhere on the site. But based on recent surveys and feedback, there is a segment of our visitors that appreciates the broader picture of the skills of baseball. This is for them - and, we hope, you.


To look at his swings in the on-deck circle you would expect great things at the plate. He had a very upright, balanced stance. He kept his head steady, and he had a powerful, and level, practice swing between the letters and the belt. When he stepped into the batter's box he got settled in well - good distance off the plate, hands and bat well placed in the launch position. The only concern might be that his legs were stiff, not much knee flex.

Unfortunately, it was all a little too well disciplined, too practiced, too methodical. And ultimately too selective. The only pitch he would swing at was the one he was prepared to hit... belt-to-letters high over the middle of the plate. He would routinely miss anything low or slightly too high, and if a pitch was across the outside black, or even slightly off the plate (but still close enough to be likely called a strike), well he would just let it go. More called third strikes than anyone, even though we were told - repeatedly - that he was a good power hitter who had never had this problem in past years.

To complicate the situation, he was an excellent bunter, but without running speed (his running style was as stiff-legged as his batting stance) any bunt would be a sacrifice. After a while sac-bunts get tiresome - for both the coaches and the batter.


The objective was to tap into the power potential, and to do that we needed to expand his swing zone to the full strike zone, without destroying his essential and powerful swing mechanics.

By setting up the front tee ahead of the inside black and the back tee just off the outside black, we showed him that he could reach any pitch and hit a powerful line shot to any field. We also worked with soft toss and whiffleball batting practice, being careful to place the balls in and out, up and down.

In the batting cage against the machine he had no problem adjusting, but the range of movement off machines without a lot of tweaking the controls is limited and we sometime wonder if it is a poor in-season training tool.

We also tried to work on the knee flex not just for his hitting, but for baserunning and fielding. (He also plays first and while he has an apparently good reach, the legs stay stiff there too.) The best we had come up with were lunges pre-game, just to remind him he has knees.


Unfortunately because of the stiff-legged running style, they are, for him, only long singles. But the contact is there and the power is what we expected all along. There are still some hittable pitches he won't go after, but he is working on it.

As for the knees, we think working him in a square with cones at the corners on laterals and backpedaling might help (hard to go backwards on stiff legs). We will use other reaction fielding drills as well, both to improve the lower body mobility and to help him read and react quicker to breaking pitches. We see great potential here.