Sensible Thoughts: See The Ball

EPR

Early pitch recognition, seeing the ball is the single most Important aspect of successful hitting. Certainly, good hitting involves many peripheral thoughts/actions other than seeing the ball but none is more important. Pitch by pitch hitters sift through their libraries of personal history vs individual pitchers as they are in the dugout, on deck circle and batter’s box in between pitches. However, once the pitcher is ready to deliver the ball all attention is on how to see/recognize each pitch.

With this thought in mind it makes sense for the hitter to keep his head/eyes as stable as possible throughout all moves from the start of the swing through the finish. The idea of the hitters first move being a big move back as a means of loading requires excessive head movement back most likely followed by a big move forward all while trying to recognize pitch type, location and make a swing or no swing decision.

It makes more sense to limit preswing moves as much as possible by loading the hips close to in place rather doing so by going back. A bigger moves back do not ensure power but it does add up to more inconsistency in recognizing the ball as well as gaining a solid hitting position.