Baseball Hitting Mechanics: Experimentation and Adjustments

Why hitting mechanics are more important than being comfortable

I often hear this sentiment from my batting students, when referring to their hitting mechanics, "But that doesn't feel comfortable." My response, "Maybe not but it works for you. Do you want to have comfort or do you want to be successful; your choice?"

Great athletes strive to get better, always experimenting and tweaking things, and the same goes with ballplayers with their baseball hitting mechanics. Comfort is not always the result, but success should override comfort. Successful players look for little hitting mechanics adjustments during the season to repair problems with their swings, and they are willing to experiment to see if a slight variation to those hitting mechanics proves better for batting success, with comfort not the main criteria for change.

Baseball hitting is a funny thing, as what works one day seems to fail the next, and what works one season may not the next. Thus, the reason continual batting adjustments and experimentation are necessary and even for successful players.

The Best Time for Baseball Hitting Mechanics Experimentation

Preseason is the time of year when most experimentation occurs, a time when hitters must find out what stance they are comfortable with, along with their bat position etc.. These little experimental hitting mechanics lead to the possible in season adjustments to make it all work. Following is a list of hitting mechanics that players should experiment with before the season to see what finds the most comfort, and the fundamental changes that they can adjust during the season, when things are not going as planned.

As a major league player, but certainly not in the great athlete category, I often did the same experimenting and adjusting, hoping to get it just right. I experimented with the following baseball hitting-mechanics adjustments and now teach those tips to young players.

It is important to note that these batting tips are not major changes but little tweaks, an inch here or there, that make the difference between success and failure. Also important, every player is slightly different, so no "one method fits all" applies, when it comes to hitting mechanics, which is why constant experimentation and adjustment is necessary.

The Baseball Hitting Mechanics that need Adjustments

1. The height of their hands shoulder height is usually best, but an inch or two lower or higher than that may work for that particular player.
2. Hands closer or further from the body - back towards catcher or closer or further from home plate are all considerations to figure out.
3. The same goes for the stance width wider or closer, as well as open or closed, are all little possible adjustments depending on which produces the best results for each individual player.
4. Starting bat angle best to start in perfect launch position or move the bat to the perfect position as they stride, is another of those batting fundamental changes that are considerations.

Of course, these are just some of the batting modifications that come into play and why finding batting success is such a long-term endeavor. Players should settle with what is working at the time, or over the long haul, but never get caught up in changing their baseball hitting mechanics just for the sake of change, but stay willing to adjust when needed.