When you first start playing amateur baseball, if you're inexperienced, you're naturally inexperienced.
However, everyone improves through practice and actual competition.
This time, I'll be writing about the growth process of how beginners improve, based almost entirely on my own opinions and biases.
This will include my own experiences, as well as drawing on the batters I've encountered so far.
If you're a beginner, I hope this will help you understand what stage you're at and what you should do next to level up.
A collection of articles on batting, fielding, and base running tips for beginners in amateur baseball.
Level 1: The bat hits the ball.
This person is at the level of someone who has never swung a baseball bat before.
I feel that people with sports experience, even if they have no baseball experience, are relatively more likely to be able to guess correctly.
However, people who have difficulty getting it right often have a few things in common.
Regarding this,
"Tips for even beginners at batting cages to hit the ball."I wrote about it in more detail there.
If you read this and put it into practice, I think you'll be able to clear almost all of Level 1.
In terms of content,
- Don't charge straight ahead.
- The face does not shake up and down.
Get ready early
Try to swing parallel to the ball's trajectory.
That's what it says.
Level 2: Almost never misses.
Now, let's move on to the next step.
It's at a level where you almost never miss the target.
This phrase means that "it's almost impossible to swing and miss at a ball that's thrown at the same speed repeatedly."
This isn't about high-level techniques like varying the ball speed or not swinging and missing at curveballs.
At this stage, the reason for swinging and missing is almost always due to being late in swinging the bat.
Swinging and missing at a ball coming straight at you means that your swing is still too slow and you don't have enough time to anticipate it.
In this regard, if your swing speed itself increases, you'll have more time to spare.
If you're swinging and missing repeatedly, have someone check things like whether the bat weight is appropriate and whether your swing is starting too late.
If you have a solid grasp of the content from Level 1, you should be able to clear this stage naturally as well.
Level 3: The ball rolls forward.
If the ball rolls forward, it means the ball is flying into fair territory.
In other words, it all comes down to the accuracy of your contact and the strength of your swing to get a hit.
A common characteristic of golfers who struggle to get the ball into the fair zone is that there's a problem with their swing path.
A batted ball becomes a foul ball because the direction of the force from which the ball is coming and the direction of the force from the swing do not match.
For example, there are cases where the ball is coming almost straight, but the golfer's extreme downswing causes them to just graze the lower half of the ball.
In addition, a common mistake is hitting the ball with the tip of the bat, resulting in a foul ball due to lack of power.
In both cases, the important thing is to keep the club head upright at impact.
This doesn't mean the club head isn't physically tilted; it means "hitting the ball with the correct wrist angle for maximum power."
Try swinging the bat slowly, and then pause at the moment of impact where you can generate the most power.
In that state, even if someone presses down on the bat from above, it shouldn't drop because you're holding it with force.
If your swing is dropping, it might indicate that your form at impact isn't correct.
It would be a good idea to have someone else check it.
Level 4: Can hit the ball to the outfield.
Being able to hit the ball to the outfield is generally not a bad batting technique.
Whether it becomes a hit or not depends on where the ball lands and the fielder's position, so the first important thing is to be able to hit the ball to the outfield.
Now, there are two types of batted balls that go to the outfield.
One is a strong, fast line drive, and the other is a ball that is more likely to fly out.
This difference depends on the angle of the bat when making contact with the ball.
To put it very simply, it's the difference between hitting the ball with a slightly upward swing or with a level swing.
However, the important thing that applies to both is whether you are able to make a strong swing.
By focusing on a lower body-driven swing, using your hips, you can achieve a swing that is incomparably better than one that relies solely on the hands.
The image I have in mind is that the swing starts with the rotation of the hips, and the upper body swing begins as if following that twist.
The training methods I used to focus on hip rotation are as follows:
First, relax your hands and let them hang loosely without holding anything.
If you swing your hips while maintaining that position, your dangling arms will be pulled along by the rotation and spin around.
The idea is to directly add that rotational force to the power of your swing.
I always do this before hitting to make sure I don't forget to be conscious of rotating my hips.
Level 5: If you don't miss, it's a hit.
Even for professionals, "not missing a shot" is a difficult thing to do.
That being said, we must still make efforts to reduce the number of missed shots.
Specifically, it's important to develop your own batting form.
When practicing your swing, make sure to check all the key points as you swing to create your ideal swing.
And the important thing is to keep that image in mind when you step up to the plate and swing.
If you can do this, you'll be able to hit the ball exactly as you envisioned, as long as an unexpected ball doesn't come your way.
The practice method I use is extremely slow swing practice.
Before performing a normal swing, I practice a very slow swing to check the movement.
Moving slowly is surprisingly difficult, and it makes for a good warm-up.
Level 6: You can aim and hit the ball into the fair zone in the opposite direction.
This is the stage where you have to decide whether or not you can do what's called "hitting to the opposite field."
For right-handed hitters, hitting towards right field offers several advantages.
This allows runners to advance, makes it easier to hit through the gap between first and second base in a double play shift, makes it easier to hit outside pitches, and allows you to watch the ball for longer.
The ideal hit is one that flies towards center field, but when you tense up while batting, you tend to pull the ball instead.
If you have the skill to hit the ball in different directions, rather than just accidentally sending it in the opposite direction, you'll have more options at the plate.
Specifically, the method for hitting to the opposite field is:
- Swing with the image of throwing the bat towards right field.
- The hitting point is slightly closer to the catcher.
- Do not open your body
- Do not turn your wrist.
These are some possible methods.
Level 7: Allows for hitting practice on different courses.
At this level, there's less and less I can talk about.
Nevertheless, I'll try to explain it.
Generally speaking, it's said that you should pull inside pitches, hit down the middle towards center field, and hit outside pitches to the opposite field.
However, it's difficult to react instantly once the ball is coming, so you need to practice different shots on a regular basis.
Former Chunichi Dragons manager Ochiai says he always aims to hit the ball towards center field.
The ideal batting technique involves aligning the spread of your hit ball with the fair zone as much as possible.
In terms of his batting style, if he tries to hit outside pitches to center field, he tends to pull the ball slightly.
Furthermore, if you want to hit the ball towards the center, it will involve a slight drift, which is the opposite of what is considered normal.
Make sure you understand which courses you are good at and which you struggle with.
If you understand the course, you can anticipate what might happen and respond accordingly.
Level 8: Able to handle curveballs.
While you don't encounter them much in amateur baseball, as the level of play increases, you have to consider how to handle curveballs.
Especially after being down to two strikes, the pitcher is more likely to throw a pitch with a significant break in order to get a swing and a miss.
A ball that breaks so much that it results in a swing and a miss rarely becomes a strike, so it's important to judge it carefully.
Basically, time your shots to match the fastest ball, and then adjust if it changes direction.
It's difficult to practice, but the key is to use your knees flexibly and to know how to swing the bat.
Let's persevere, thinking that we'll win if we can get a cut.
In conclusion
I've written a lot of pretentious things, but everything written here is just my own opinion.
Asking someone you consider skilled on your team is the quickest way to improve.
Observe the movements of skilled players closely, as if you were licking them, and practice by watching them.
A collection of articles on batting, fielding, and base running tips for beginners in amateur baseball.
