Two Basics of Hitting All Coaches Should Know - 365 Days to Better Baseball

Tuesday Tips to Tattoo the Ball

Basics of hitting that solve most youth batting problems

One of my favorite saying to baseball hitters is, "If you know the correct starting, hitting position and the correct ending position, everything in between takes care of itself. Of course, there is more to the basics of hitting a baseball than that, but just those two hitting tips help a majority of youth players.

Knob down, hands back and loaded

No one expects youth baseball coaches to be experts, especially when it comes to analyzing the many intricacies that go into the basics of hitting. However, youth baseball coaches should know these two basics of hitting and they will find that many players' hitting fundamentals begin to improve with these hitting tips and their batting problems disappear.

Basics of hitting a baseball tip number one

Regardless of a hitters set up and stance, teaching the correct bat angle and bat positioning as they go to swing goes a long way to guaranteeing batting success.

Bat position hands at shoulder level two inches back of rear shoulder and three to four inches towards home plate with the knob of the bat pointing towards the catcher's feet and the barrel of the bat running directly above the shoulder, bisecting the batter's ear.

This initial bat position gives players a chance at getting the bat correctly to any pitched ball and is an absolute of good hitting mechanics.

Basics of hitting tip number two

Ending Position on every swing, batters should be able to finish their swing to a position where they see the bat barrel on the home plate side at the end of their swing. This position guarantees the head stays on the ball and a complete rotation of the hips, two necessary ingredients for the basics of hitting.

Basics of hitting - finish position

Once again, simply coaching baseball players to start correctly and end correctly helps turn them into fine hitters.