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To serve you better, we have put all of our content in the blog "Youth Baseball Tips." With all of our great information in one location, we hope this makes it easier on you. 

Visit our complete online resource for instructional baseball videos and our free eBook at www.ToTheTopPerformance.com.

Get Your Feet Underneath of You

There is one simple mechanical issue you can make sure of to hit for more power. Be certain your front foot is planted on the ground before starting your swing. It may not sound like much, but you generate much of your power from your hips. 

Almost every hitter takes a small step towards the pitcher before starting the swing. You want to be certain your front foot is down before starting the rest of your swing. 

To maximize that power, your front foot has to be on the ground before your start to rotate your hips. You need to have two bases to rotate. 

Do me a favor and get out of your chair and stand up. 

Stand on one leg and try to rotate 90 degrees quickly. What happened? You probably didn’t go very fast, feel very powerful and you almost (or maybe did) lose your balance. Now stand on both legs and try the same thing. You felt quicker, more powerful and stayed in control. 

Try it two more times, but take a step laterally – to the side, not forward or backward. 

On the first try, rotate your hips before your foot hits the ground. You probably didn’t lose your balance because your foot landed and caught you. But I’m guessing you didn’t feel quick or powerful.

Take the same step, but this time, wait for your foot to hit the ground before rotating. You felt powerful, didn’t you? 

Your body had two bases to rotate on and you were able to generate more power because of that.

It is one of the easiest mechanical flaws to fix. And it is one that can lead to a big improvement.

Visit our complete online resource for instructional baseball videos and our free eBook at www.ToTheTopPerformance.com.

Hit the Ball Where It is Pitched

Let’s face it. Everyone that plays baseball want to hit home runs. Nike had a famous commercial in the 1990s that had Atlanta Braves’ pitchers Greg Maddox and Tom Glavine. It showed them training to become hitter after realizing that “chicks dig the long ball.”

And as a coach, it drives me crazy to watch guys only swing for the fence. Trying to hit home runs will mess up a swing. Your swing becomes one dimensional and pitches on the outer half of home plate or off-speed pitches become more difficult to hit. 

Once you have that reputation, you are less likely to see pitches on the inside part of the plate – where hitters can hit balls the farthest. You aren’t as productive and before you know it, you no longer help your team and may even find yourself on the bench. 

Or you can hit the ball where it is pitched, help your team, stay in the lineup and find yourself on base more often. 

Most coaches have the same philosophy, especially at the high school level and below – pitch to the outside part of the plate until a hitter can prove he can hit that pitch. Once a hitter proves he can hit the outside pitch, it is more likely he will see pitches on the inside part of the plate – the part he can hit for more power. 

Taking the approach of hitting where the ball is pitched also leads to more success with off-speed pitches. A hitter that is willing to hit the ball the other way is likely to stay more balanced. A more balanced hitter has a better chance of hitting a curveball or a changeup because he has kept his weight back. 

Hitters that are worried about hitting home runs allow their weight to move forward too soon, trying to time the pitch. But, in doing so, they leave themselves at risk of off-speed pitches. With their weight over their front foot, rather than balanced among both feet, they have no chance of hitting an off-speed pitch with any power.

Be prepared to hit pitches on the outside corner to the opposite field (a righty hitting to right field and a lefty hitting to left field). Stay balanced and hit the pitch where it is thrown. 

Home runs will happen, but only if you try to hit every ball hard, regardless of where it is pitched. Not if you try to hit every pitch over the fence.

Visit our complete online resource for instructional baseball videos and our free eBook at www.ToTheTopPerformance.com.