Baseball Hitting: Why It’s Critical To Be Ahead In The Count!
Baseball parents, coaches and players, I really hope you realize that hitting ahead in the count will increase your chance for a successful at bat tremendously. There is a SERIOUS link between hitting ahead in the count and higher batting averages. Read some baseball tips on hitting that show the many benefits of hitting ahead in the count and what your exact approach should be.
The ability of a baseball hitter to get the count in his favor will very often determine how much success he has. With counts of 2-0 or 3-1, there isn’t any such thing as a mediocre swing, late swing, weak swing or check swing at a pitch. The batter should have the buttons on his uniform shirt popping off because the swing should be aggressive or he should not be swinging at all and should simply take the pitch! No big deal if you take a tough strike and the count becomes 2-1 or 3-2. That is SMART hitting!
You will definitely see many better pitches to hit when hitting ahead in the count. You can be much more selective and decide if it’s the type of pitch that you want to hit and it’s located where you want it to be located or you don’t swing at all and take the pitch.
I truly wish that baseball parents and youth baseball coaches emphasize that working and getting the count in their favor is one of the most important baseball hitting tips. Hitting ahead in the count or hitting behind in the count is like night and day for a baseball hitter.
If a baseball hitter’s favorite pitch to hit is a fastball that’s belt high and out over the plate and the count is 2-0 or 3-1, if he doesn’t get the fastball out over the plate and belt high he simply takes the pitch. If you are a “pull hitter,” you can look for a certain pitch that’s over the middle of the plate or a little bit inside, where you like it. If you are an opposite field hitter, you can look for a pitch that’s over the middle of the plate or slightly away, where you like it. You can also position yourself in the batter’s box to hit a ball in a certain part of the strike zone, because that’s the only pitch you are going to swing at anyway.
Most baseball people agree that on average, you get one real good pitch to hit per at bat. There is a much better chance that you will see that one real good pitch if you are hitting ahead in the count and not even in the count or worse yet, behind in the count.
The main point here is that when you are hitting ahead in the count you should only swing at one type of pitch that’s located exactly where you want it to be located. You can afford to be very selective and you are in the driver’s seat and not the pitcher!
Although 2-0 and 3-1 are both very good hitter’s counts, in my opinion the better of the two counts is the 2-0 count. At 3-1, if a hitter takes strike two because it’s not “his pitch,” he’s one pitch away from a walk but is also one pitch away from strike three. At 2-0, even if the hitter takes strike one, the count is still favorable for the hitter at 2-1 and he still has plenty of breathing room.
Remember, one of the baseball tips on hitting to always remember is that there is no such thing as a weak or a mediocre swing when you are hitting ahead in the count and it’s 2-0 or 3-1. The buttons on your shirt should be popping off because of your aggressiveness or you should be taking the pitch and not swinging at all. There is nothing in between here!
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