All hitters are after the same things. They want to hit the ball hard and they want to hit the ball squarely. We all know the old adage that hitting a softball is the hardest thing in sports because we are trying to hit a round ball with a round bat and hit it square. To make that happen we have to swing with power and accuracy.
There is one school of thought that you sacrifice accuracy when you create power. That somehow being a “Punch and Judy” hitter is going to make you a more accurate hitter. There Is another school of thought, — that I personally believe in — that we want to learn to swing the bat as hard and fast as we can and then learn to control that power.
My goal today is to convince you that I am right!
When we talk about accuracy in hitting we are trying to give our players the greatest chance for success. To create these opportunities, we need to create a much larger margin for error for our hitters. Hitting is just too hard to expect perfection and without a margin for error we are asking players to be perfect from swing to swing.
There are a couple things that really help create a larger margin for error. First, getting the bat to stay on plane with the flight of the pitch is job one. Understanding the flight of the ball allows us to train to get the bat to match that flight. Second we want the bat to be in the hitting zone for as long as possible when the ball arrives to the same zone. When we learn to do these things we have created the margin for error that great hitters take advantage of.
Now the next piece of the puzzle is learning to stay on plane and in the zone for as long as possible while making as much bat speed as possible. We could slow down and achieve the goals of being in the zone and in plane but we would never hit the ball hard. So we need to emphasize the skills that help us with accuracy while also creating power.
Accuracy and power can be achieved. Of course, you have to work hard to get there. But more importantly you have to work to accomplish both or you are going to be disappointed.
