THE TOP FOUR REASONS FOR POOR HITTING PRODUCTION

I recently read an article by Rob Ellis entitled “The Top Four Reasons for Poor Hitting Production”. Rob Ellis spent 12 years as a professional player, coached professionally with the Cubs, Giants, and Orioles and was the hitting coach for the Minnesota Twins in 1998 and 1999. He is also the author of five hitting videos, and co-author with Mike Schmidt on "The Mike Schmidt Hitting Study." So there is validity to his statement.

The following is a portion of that article:

“Given the necessary physical skills to get signed to a pro contract, these are the reasons for poor hitting production at every level of professional baseball:

• Poor bat (hand) speed. Major League pitchers throw over 90 mph. If the hitter does not have the hand speed to counter a Major League fastball, he won’t succeed.
• Poor swing plane. A flat swing plane takes away the pitcher’s fastball. This done, the hitter can begin making timing adjustments for other pitches. If the hitter has not neutralized the pitcher’s fastball, he is vulnerable to all pitches. Acquiring the proper swing plane requires a change over from amateur to professional mechanics. Most players and coaches don’t have the insight to see this, though Hank Aaron and Mike Schmidt insist on it.
• Inability to rotate the hips effectively. This is a result of poor swing plane. Without quick, full rotation of the hips, the hitter is vulnerable to the inside half of the strike zone. With this vulnerability, he is not free to look “away,” where most pitches are thrown.
• Poor thinking. This means inability to think along with the game situation, and pitcher-catcher-pitching coach combination. This also means a hitter whose philosophy of hitting consists of .…misinformation.

“If these four areas are faulty, the hitter is fighting the tide. He can hit, but he will not be as effective as he could be. Usually, faults in these areas pick up weight and gradually wear down the hitter until he is eliminated from the game. “

And it’s probably safe to also say that these four reasons would hold true at the college and high school level as well.

So if these are the four reasons for poor results, then logically, doing the opposite would have good results. So you could say the Top Four Reasons for Good Hitting Production is good bat speed, good swing plane, having the ability to effectively rotate your hips and have good thinking.

Now let’s take a look at the four reasons mentioned – whether it’s for poor hitting production or good hitting production. Notice that there is a difference concerning one of the four. Three have a common characteristic and one does not. Know which one it is? The first three have to do with the physical aspects of the game and one – poor thinking – is part of the mental part of the game.

So if 25% of what it takes to have good hitting production is thinking, the question that begs to be asked is; “How much thought or time do you spend on the mental part of your game?” Don’t spend too much time thinking about it because we know what the answer is - None!! I have seen it thousands of times. At each and every practice, players do soft toss, hit off of tees, take swings in the cage and take batting practice until their arms are ready to fall off. During the game, when they aren’t up, they are off to the side working their swing. In the on deck circle all of that time is spent on getting loose. All the physical parts of the game

So when do you work on the mental part? First, there’s during the game - sitting on the bench. I’m sure you have heard the expression; ‘you heard me but you didn’t listen’? Well the same type statement can be made about watching a baseball game. You can watch the game but did you see the game? Yeah, you saw the ground ball to the second baseman for the second out in the third inning but did you see how the pitcher pitched to him? How did he work his pitches? Did he throw inside or out, up or down? You saw the strike out that ended the fifth inning but do you know what the pitch count was when the pitcher threw his curve ball? You watched the team go down 1,2,3 in the sixth inning but did you see the high fastball that he threw to each batter when he had them behind in the count? Do you know that in the first inning the pitcher got three outs throwing only nine pitches?

I could go on but I’m not. Successful players do the little things, like watch the opposing pitcher warm up before a game or to watch his between inning pitches. They “stay in the game” – the entire game. They are mentally alert to what is going on. However there are those that spend too much time on non-game issues. Complaining about the umpire, tonight’s home work assignment, last nights date with the girl friend, the error they made

My point is that , after every game, when you go home, you will tell your parents that you got up 3 or 4 times but the reality is, that at a minimum you should be saying 21 times. And why 21? Because there are 21 outs in the game and you should be watching and working the pitch count even when you are not physically up at the plate. See the game – play the entire game. Know the pitchers pitch tendencies. What pitch does he always throw on the 1-2 count? Can he throw his breaking ball over for a strike or is it usually down and away in the dirt? What did the batter do right to get the hit and what did he do wrong when he struck out?

Second, you can do it at home when you are watching a professional game. Watch the game differently. Instead of watching the game, the plays being made, focus on how the pitcher and catcher work the batters. Be aware of the pitch count. Mentally note what pitches were thrown, on what pitch count, when there were runners on base, when the score was tied late in the game. All of these things make a difference in the approach a pitcher and catcher take in their attempt to get the batter out. And the good thing about doing this while watching the game is that the announcer takes all the guess work out of it. Trust me these announcers and commentators are paid to talk and they will. After each pitch they will let you know what was thrown and the location.

Another way to work on your mental game is to know that pitch count can determine the probability of seeing a fast ball. And you need to know which counts are pitchers counts and which ones are hitters’ counts. To show you what I mean, I created the following ‘Pitch Count/Hitter Success Ranking’ chart that ranks the batting averages from highest to lowest. The batting averages are from data compiled by the Arizona State University Baseball team. To show the logic behind the varying degrees of success or failure hitters have when facing each pitch count, I included not only what hitters should be thinking on each pitch count but what pitchers are probably thinking. This information comes from “A Guide to College Baseball and Beyond”. This book was written by Bobby McKinney, a professional scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates with over 25 years of baseball experience. And logically, the type of pitch thrown would be a factor so I included a column entitled ‘The Probability of a Fastball on Next Pitch’. This information comes from a study conducted by the University of Delaware.

What the charts reveal is that if you work the pitch count:

• Odds are greatest that you will see a fast ball on 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 1-0, 0-0 and 3-0 counts – that’s 50% of the possible pitch counts – Hitters Counts
• Odds are greatest that you will see a breaking ball or something off the plate – a chaser – on a 2-2, 1-1 and 0-1 – that’s 25% of the possible pitch counts – Pitchers Counts
• There are three ‘Neutral’ counts – 2-2, 1-1 and 3-2 – that are pitch counts that don’t give the advantage to the hitter or the pitcher.

Look at it this way, if you know this chart like the back of your hand, pay attention during the game, you can eliminate a lot of the guessing up at the plate.

Think about it, you can work day after day on improving your swing but at game time - up at the plate - if you are unable to think along with the game situation – have not paid attention to the pitchers tendencies – know what pitches he throws on the different pitch counts – you probably won’t meet your potential. Thus, as Ellis stated, “ faults in these areas pick up weight and gradually wear down the hitter until he is eliminated from the game. “ He’s referring to a professional player. But for a high school player it usually means slumps or not playing. So you can make a decision – continue to spend no time working on the mental part of the game – spend all your time on the physical part. But don’t be surprised when you end up being the best batter that has the best looking swing when you strike out – a lot!!

In closing, just a couple of side notes:

First, notice that the chart also reveals that the 1-1 pitch count is critical to both the pitcher and the hitter. The batting average difference between a 2-1 count and a 1-2 count is over 200 points! So going back to what I stated earlier about paying attention through out the entire game has added meaning. If you pay attention and know what the pitchers pitch tendencies are on the 2-1 count and the 1-2 count you have a greater probability of having success.

Second, Rob Ellis, in stating that poor thinking is one of the four reasons for poor hitting production states that part of the problem is: “ This also means a hitter whose philosophy of hitting consists of .…misinformation. Let’s look at the philosophy misinformation of “swing at the first pitch” Look back at the chart. On the 0-0 pitch count the batting average is .186. Yes, while there is a 68% probability that the first pitch is going to be a fastball and yes, the pitchers are coached to throw first pitch strikes, I don’t think they are told to ‘grove’ the pitch. And yeas while the first pitch may be a strike is it a pitchers strike or a hitters strike. I don’t know a lot of players that handle that knee high outside corner fast ball consistently. This is a good example of the first strike you swing at is your pitch – not the first pitch you see.