How to Swing a Baseball Bat & Best BBCOR Bats Review
When learning to play baseball, there are many key points on various positions you will play, but nevertheless, everyone (and we do mean every single player, even those who are normally benched) will get their turn at bat. So in this article, we’re going to cover how to properly swing your baseball bat for maximum effectiveness, and hopefully increase that big home run count you want to achieve. If not, using some of these techniques from The Baseball Reviews, you can become a power hitter in no time at all with practice.
Picking Your Bat
When it comes to choosing the right bat for you, you need to go with a bat that’s not too light, and not too heavy. You don’t want to have to use too much force to swing the bat, but you don’t want the bat so light that you are swinging too fast for your own good, or “over-swinging”. Make sure you ask your coach to help you find the right bat for you, and he or she can assist you in finding a bat that matches your strength, flexibility, and comfort level.
Grip Your Bat Properly
When it comes to gripping your bat, it depends on what hand you are batting with. As a general practice, your dominant hand (the side you are batting on), should be above the other hand. So if you’re batting right-handed, then your grip should be right above left, and vice versa if you’re left-handed. Also, be sure that you are facing the right side. When choosing what hand you will bat with, that side of your body has to be towards the rear (right-handed will have their right side towards the catcher, and vice versa).
Proper Stance for Batting Well
When you’re batting, you stand so your body is facing the home plate, and you will look out your “opposite” side from what you are batting with your hand to watch the pitcher and the ball. Your dominant side should face the catcher, and the other, towards the pitcher. Put your elbows at approximately a 45-degree elbow, and raise your arms so they are just about level with your shoulders, with the bat raised up like you’re getting ready to swing a sword or axe. As a matter of fact, the motion and stance you use to swing an axe to straight-chop a tree is almost identical (minus the angle of the axe) to the way you should stand and swing your bat.
Always Follow Through
Make sure you always follow through. This applies to many sports. Have you ever seen how golfers follow through with their swings or football quarterbacks always follow through with their throwing arm? The same applies to swinging a bat. Even if you connect and hit the ball, this helps to keep you from hurting yourself, as well as gives you better momentum in your swing.
Practice Makes Perfect
You can use other balls to practice. There are plenty of alternatives out there, from tee balls to whiffle balls, and even forms of “tether baseballs”. You can also visit batting cages to practice. The more you practice, the more your muscle memory continues to get better and more adapted to perfect your swing.