Baseball Tips on Hitting - The Directness of the Swing

By Larry Cicchiello

Along with keeping the front side closed when hitting, this should be at the top of your list as a baseball hitter who is striving to be successful. The front elbow should be pointed DOWNWARD when you start the swing and NOT toward the pitcher. Many young baseball players were brought up constantly hearing to keep their swing level. This is only partially true. Too many players have heard this too many times and they erroneously level out their swing at the very beginning. This is not the proper baseball hitting concept. Yes, you should strive to have a level swing. But it should level out ONLY at the point of contact!

Not being direct to the ball, is a very common problem for the majority of weak hitters. If the front elbow is pointing toward the pitcher when you START your swing, it will create a slight loop making you a fraction of a second later to the ball. If a fast ball takes less than a full second to get to the plate, you simply cannot afford to lose a valuable fraction of a second. A fraction of a second is an eternity when it comes to successful hitting. This fraction of a second can very well be the difference between hitting a "seed" or being late and missing the pitch entirely.

The distance between two points is a straight line and this applies perfectly to the baseball swing. Let's call these two points point A and B. When hitting, you cannot go from to go from point A, where you are "loaded up," to point B, the point where you make contact, unless you do it in a straight line. The ONLY way this is possible is if you have the front elbow pointing downward at the start of the swing. If the front elbow is pointing toward the pitcher at the start of the swing, you are NOT going from A to B in a straight line.

The palms of the hands should be one up and one down ONLY at the point of contact and not sooner! If you are not being direct to the ball, start now as it is one of the best baseball tips on hitting you will ever receive. You will be "short to the ball" and your hitting will improve immediately. Please keep the front elbow pointing down at the very beginning of your swing and you will benefit tremendously!

Larry Cicchiello is the author of several very informative baseball coaching books. All of his editions are included in "Excellent Baseball Coaching: 30 Seconds Away." Larry is unique in that his site offers visitors several FREE TIPS that are straight from his books. Baseball tips on hitting, baseball pitching tips, baseball fielding tips, baseball base running tips, baseball coaching drills and more. Your baseball coaching "help desk" will be open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Larry invites you to check out his FREE TIPS. You will be FULLY EQUIPPED as a manager, coach, player at any level or a parent who wants to help their child improve or overcome any baseball struggles.

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

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