Bat Speed Often Determines Success
by Larry Cicchiello
Let's keep this very basic and simple. Forget all other baseball tips on hitting. Very simply, the faster the head of the bat is going when it hits the ball - the harder a baseball hitter will hit the baseball. There are hundreds of baseball tips on hitting, but when it's all said and done... don't the hitters with the quickest bat speed hit the baseball the hardest?
You can talk about many things that are required to be a successful hitter and right near the top of your list should be Bat Speed.
I thoroughly enjoy watching a very big, strong hitter clobber the baseball. It's equally enjoyable watching a smaller hitter, who is not exceptionally strong, clobber the baseball. The only way for the smaller player to be competitive with the bigger and stronger baseball hitters is with his very quick bat speed.
Below are several things you can do to Improve Your Bat Speed!
-
Practice your swing every day. Some professionals will take as many as 500 swings a day in the off season. That's very possibly one of the reasons why they are now professional hitters. I'm not saying it's feasible to take that many swings every day but practice your swing as often as possible.
-
Remember to take your practice swings exactly like you are swinging the bat in a game. You're cheating yourself if you do otherwise. If you are willing to spend the time practicing your swing, you deserve to benefit from the time you are putting in. What can possibly be better to improve your strength and quickness as a baseball hitter than practicing the swing itself?
-
Avoid gripping the bat too tightly. This is a common baseball hitting problem, especially with younger players. They often have the mind set that "I'm going to grip this bat real tight and really clobber this ball." Nothing could be further from the truth. It actually will slow down the speed of your bat. It'sidentical to a pitcher who holds the ball tighter to slow down a pitch and a baseball hitter gripping the bat tightly will slow down his bat speed also.
-
Make sure you swing directly to the ball. The very beginning of the swing is NOT level at all. It is a DOWNWARD movement and only levels out at the point of contact! You absolutely must be "quick to the ball." Short and quick to the ball is far better than long and strong.
