Baseball Hitting: How To Hit To The Opposite Field
If a player is serious about hitting for a higher batting average, he really should learn some of these beneficial tips for hitting to the opposite field. Players, coaches and baseball parents who want to help their son improve will benefit tremendously. Very seldom will a baseball hitter hit for a high batting average without making good use of hitting the baseball to the opposite field. By now, we’ve all heard the expression, “hit it where it’s pitched.” It’s very frustrating for a baseball pitcher when he throws a perfect low and away strike and the batter hits the ball to the opposite field for a hit. Most baseball pitchers will realize immediately how well schooled in baseball this particular hitter is.
Low and away strikes are almost always a pitcher’s bread and butter and the very smart hitters will learn how to take away some of the effectiveness of that pitch. It’s pretty much a baseball fact of life that if a hitter tries to pull everything, his batting average will suffer. It’s also a baseball fact of life that hitters who hit effectively to the opposite field have a strong tendency to hit for higher batting averages.
The first order of the day and one of the better baseball tips on hitting to the opposite field is to avoid the common baseball hitting mistake of letting up on your swing. Many baseball hitters will not swing as hard when hitting to the opposite field. Letting up on their swing is a very common problem. They should attack the ball in the same manner as if they were trying to hit the pitch up the middle or trying to pull the pitch. When you are trying to hit the ball to the opposite field, preferably you want the pitch over the outside part of the plate. The angle of the bat should be facing toward the opposite field.
One of the better baseball tips for hitting to the opposite field is that you make contact with the ball deeper in the hitting zone, using the same exact swing that you always use. The only difference is you hit the ball when it is closer to the catcher. Younger players sometimes have a difficult time with this because sometimes they struggle just to make any contact at all and to ask them to let the baseball get a little closer to the catcher is difficult. What it comes down to is that it must be practiced. Hitting is not easy and this is something that must be practiced. Real good hitters are not real good hitters by accident. And hitting well to the opposite field is a form of art. You are not going to wake up one morning and be very efficient at hitting to the opposite field. It simply does not work that way and requires practice and hard work.
In summary, just remember three things. Attack the ball with the same aggressiveness, have your bat angled toward the opposite field and let the pitch travel and get a little closer to the catcher. One of the better baseball tips on hitting to remember is that there is a serious link between baseball hitters who can hit to the opposite field and higher batting averages. This is not a coincidence! Baseball parents, players and youth coaches, I post a new FREE baseball article on hitting, pitching or fielding every Monday at LarryBaseball.com that you can add to your favorites now. I’m quite sure that you and other baseball people you share them with will benefit. Please feel free to use the links for your website, blog or newsletter to get more visitors or to keep your current visitors returning. I promise…you will be raising some eyebrows!
