Tips on How to Hit

[packermatt]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

Learn to recognize a fastball right out of a pitchers hand.

I've never figured out how to do this. How can you tell fastball vs change vs slider out of the pitchers hand? I'm usually late in recognizing the pitch -- any suggestions?

[TheBigTicket205]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

What camera do you suggest?

I would love to know this as well... I've tried a few suggestions from other threads but I just cant find one I love enough to stick with it.

[cusefan74]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

I would love to know this as well... I've tried a few suggestions from other threads but I just cant find one I love enough to stick with it.

It doesn't matter what camera someone suggest, you need to find the one that is good for you. I tried 2 or 3 different ones this year that people suggested and they would work for a day or two for me but then I would start having trouble again. So I finally just went through different cameras until I found one I liked the best.

[GreekGod]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

Great tips! Thank you for sharing. I have a few observations to add myself...

* I use a custom camera where I zoom right in to basically line up the where the ball crosses the plate and don't see much of the hitter. At first it feels a little close but it feels a lot like actually hitting in baseball. The strike zone becomes huge but I get a great read out of the pitcher's hand.

* With the first pitch I am not a take it all the time guy. I use the first pitch to get a read on the pitcher's wind up and release point. I find this helps also to identify what it looks like when he throws a strike or offspeed. I zero in on the middle of the zone but will try and hammer a first pitch meatball if it's there.

* Once I get a read on the pitcher, I try and make him throw his pitches so I see them all in the first at bat. That's the game plan to make it easier since you'll get to see what it look likes and can expect 2-3 at bats with the starter. Again, this is the game plan but will not pass up on a pitch I can drive. This is not protect this is attack mode.

* When the count's in my favor I get selective and look for a pitch or zone where I can blast. When I get 2 strikes I use contact and try to spoil pitcher's pitches until he makes a mistake in the zone or I walk. I have also hit home runs on contact when my power was in the 50s so it is possible too.

* I also switch hit with my toon on RTTS sometimes. I find it makes me better to identify pitches and the different perspective helps. I am a lefty in real life so I try to avoid taking all my at bats left handed in practice to give me a better look and feel for the zone.

* I play on HOF but I made it to Legend on Dynamic. I just found it too much and sometimes when I have a buzz it's easier and more fun to go down a level but still have a challenge. This is a game and if I'm getting too frustrated what's the point? This is escapism for me. Life is hard enough

* I have no issues turning up or down the human timing and pitch speed until I get a feel. I did this to start and as I moved up a level on dynamic I would adjust the sliders back to default.

* Finally, the biggest thing that helped me was already said by a few successful players. The objective is to hit and score not minimize how many strikes you have. We are all competitive but passing on a strike that is a pitcher's pitch is okay.

[dvazquez190]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

The above poster posted some great points.

As for the pitch recognition question as much as I hate to say this because I know it isn't the answer you guys are looking for it's kind of a feel type of thing. You should be able to tell, once the pitcher throws the ball, if there is any sort of break to it. If there is than obviously it's a breaking ball lol. The break should start early. The only pitch that should confuse you when it comes to discerning whether the pitch is a FB or not (By Fastball i'm including the different variations, 2 Seam, Cutter, etc) is a changeup. The break for a changeup is often late and difficult to tell. The more pitches you see from a pitcher the easier it should become to tell which pitch he is throwing at any given time. That's why it is important to make pitchers throw pitches. Just to give you a sense of speed and break.

Now that I think about it a Splitter is also hard to see. It has good speed and the bottom falls out late. Though a great splitter fools even the best hitters (Just like a great change) so I wouldn't worry if you're having trouble seeing Splitter vs FB out of a pitchers hand.

[dvazquez190]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

I also forgot to mention the camera question. I think someone mentioned it already but it really all comes down to what makes you comfortable. What helps you see pitches. Personally I always play with the default camera. But I know quite a few people that have used a custom camera and have had a great deal of success with it. If you don't like any of the preset cameras than play around with a custom set. Tune it to your liking. Zoom in if you like a closer feel or kill the zoom if you're looking for more of a far away feel.

[NKRDIBL]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

Lots of good tips on here. First off, I think finding a Camera that works for you is key. I played years on default, and this year was the first year I changed my camera (made a customer one to replicate TNKs) I have noticed a huge difference. Different people see things at different angles. Now I have a lower camera, I can recognize the lower portion of the strike zone alot easier.

Also, Take guess pitch off, and learn to use your own guess pitch approach. No matter the count, I always set my PCI to the bottom 3rd of the zone, and keep it perfectly centred. Learn to wait for pitches that are only in your zone, when you are looking in one spot, and ignoring the rest of the zone, you will avoid hitting alot more pop ups and swing and misses, when you see the ball close to your zone, be aggressive and attack. The more you ignore the count, and focus on just hitting, the better numbers you will see. I personally do not worry about a high average, and focus more on just producing runs, and hitting extra base hits when needed.

I actually find hitting with a smaller PCI helps also, so either using guys with lower visions, or hitting on a higher difficulty, seems to be easy to centre up a smaller PCI than a large one, which helps me hit alot more home runs.

Last tip I haven't seen on here. If you are a lefty, and facing a righty, sit on the breaking pitches, you will hit for alot more power, and if you are a righty, sit on a lefty's breaking pitches. Back in the day, you used to get a contact and power bonus, and the reticle would actually slightly get bigger when a breaking pitch came towards you, I am sure this still applies, the reticle may not increase, but those have always been the best pitches to drive. And still seem to be on this years version.

[haskellasbill]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

I have a question for you all. I've looked for a forum to post this on and I think you can help me. I bought this game for my 6 year old son and he cant hit the ball at all. What do I need to change in the sliders or settings to help him out. Basically I want him to be able to push a button and hit the ball. Any help will be greatly appreciated...

[dvazquez190]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

I have a question for you all. I've looked for a forum to post this on and I think you can help me. I bought this game for my 6 year old son and he cant hit the ball at all. What do I need to change in the sliders or settings to help him out. Basically I want him to be able to push a button and hit the ball. Any help will be greatly appreciated...

Ok bare with me because i'm trying to go off memory. In older games there was a style of hitting called timing. That way you can just swing the bat and with good timing you will hit the ball. I know they introduced directional hitting in this years game but i'm not sure if they took out timing. Maybe someone can confirm. As for sliders you could basically bump up all hitting sliders for you (Contact, Power, Timing, Solid Hits) while lowering pitch speed for the computer. You could also increase the amount of strikes and meat pitches the PC throws in sliders. That way he could pretty much swing away. Last but not least you will probably want to lower the difficulty to Rookie. With time all of these things can be changed back, but for now that will probably give him the easiest experience.

[haskellasbill]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

Thanks for the quick response I will try that when I get home.

[cusefan74]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

Ok bare with me because i'm trying to go off memory. In older games there was a style of hitting called timing. That way you can just swing the bat and with good timing you will hit the ball. I know they introduced directional hitting in this years game but i'm not sure if they took out timing. Maybe someone can confirm. As for sliders you could basically bump up all hitting sliders for you (Contact, Power, Timing, Solid Hits) while lowering pitch speed for the computer. You could also increase the amount of strikes and meat pitches the PC throws in sliders. That way he could pretty much swing away. Last but not least you will probably want to lower the difficulty to Rookie. With time all of these things can be changed back, but for now that will probably give him the easiest experience.

From what I understand timing is directional hitting. To use the timing just don't pick a direction, just leave it alone and swing away. At least that is the way I understand it.

[vinny_77]

Tips on How to Hit

I use zone hitting and like to look at a pitcher's repertoire. If the pitcher's most confident pitch is a changeup or sinker, I'll try to aim the PCI just below where I see the ball. If it is a slider, I try to move the PCI just to the right of where I see the ball. I'm always looking fastball and reacting to the offspeed stuff. This helps me stay alive on some nasty pitches.
As far as strategy, I take until I get a strike if nobody is in scoring position. If I have a runner on second or third, I'm looking for a pitch up, or middle in. Don't swing at anything else with less than 2 strikes unless I'm bunting.
For my camera, I start with catcher zoom 3, then zoom all the way in with R2. Use the right stick to change the angle as high as possible. This makes the field appear level and really helps me see the ball drop out of the pitcher's hand on breaking balls. I also move the camera with the left stick so the bottom of the strike zone is barely visible. As an added bonus, this camera really makes the beautiful skylines stand out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[GreekGod]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

Ok bare with me because i'm trying to go off memory. In older games there was a style of hitting called timing. That way you can just swing the bat and with good timing you will hit the ball. I know they introduced directional hitting in this years game but i'm not sure if they took out timing. Maybe someone can confirm. As for sliders you could basically bump up all hitting sliders for you (Contact, Power, Timing, Solid Hits) while lowering pitch speed for the computer. You could also increase the amount of strikes and meat pitches the PC throws in sliders. That way he could pretty much swing away. Last but not least you will probably want to lower the difficulty to Rookie. With time all of these things can be changed back, but for now that will probably give him the easiest experience.

Absolutely agree with all these tips. They will help for sure. The other thing is maybe get him to play the Home Run contest mode or practice. Something where he can play with the same batter and get many swings in the same session. Sometimes, when you're just starting out, you don't get a good enough feel because the pitching half inning takes longer then the batting half inning. Play against him in these modes help him build up confidence (even throw a few of the mini games too if you have to).

[dvazquez190]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

As a poster mentioned Directional hitting has replaced Timing. Of course leaving the left stick alone and just pressing the hit button on the directional setting is basically timing lol.

[HouseKeepinItReal]

Re: Tips on How to Hit

Close your eyes when swinging. Trust me. Surely you won't get any worse after that!