How do you hold your bat?

[LowerWolf]

I use timing hitting and always press X when I swing. And in all the years I've been playing this series, I've always held my controller like I do any other game - each thumb on a stick.

My reflexes aren't what they used to be and even with pitch speed at 0, I'm usually late on any decent fastball. And for some reason tonight it hit me that that split second where I have to move my thumb from the stick to the X button isn't helping.

So tonight I tried holding my thumb directly over the X button. It felt really really strange, but it made a huge difference. I guess I've been doing it wrong all these years.

[Syce]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

I use timing hitting and always press X when I swing. And in all the years I've been playing this series, I've always held my controller like I do any other game - each thumb on a stick.

My reflexes aren't what they used to be and even with pitch speed at 0, I'm usually late on any decent fastball. And for some reason tonight it hit me that that split second where I have to move my thumb from the stick to the X button isn't helping.

So tonight I tried holding my thumb directly over the X button. It felt really really strange, but it made a huge difference. I guess I've been doing it wrong all these years.

nice that you were able to figure out your issue. but i was just going to say, if you do hold your thumbs over the thumbs sticks i would recommend maybe attempting to learn analog hitting. since you use your thumb sticks to swing it may have been easier for you to learn if you are so use to keeping your thumbs on the thumb sticks.

[Jv160]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

Right thumb flat over X, the end of my left thumb on the analog(not flat). I like the title btw

[esham313]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

Right thumb flat over X, the end of my left thumb on the analog(not flat). I like the title btw

What he said

[MLBUFC]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

Just from experience...being late on everything might NOT be about your timing. As soon as I changed the TV setting to gaming mode it was like playing a entirely new game. I began pulling fastballs that I was sitting on. Just a thought

[TheWarmWind]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

I hover my thumb well above whatever my planned button press is (depends on the count/other factors). That way, instinct takes over and I'm tempted to swing at dumb pitches, my mind has a chance to react and pull back before I press the button.

[bcruise]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

Being a zone swinger, I usually tilt and hold the analog slightly upward (but still in the zone) until the pitch comes in. I react slow to the high fastball, so starting higher up gives me a better chance to catch up to it. Conversely I react much faster to anything that starts low and stays there, so I can make up the distance gap on reaction to the pitch.

Basically I usually try to "catch" the ball with the bat. Oh HOF batting, it works pretty well in terms of the statistics I put out. On ahead counts I will sometimes sit on a zone and only swing if the ball goes there.

[LowerWolf]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

Analog probably makes sense for me. I tried it once, but was terrible at it. Maybe I'll give it another go in the cage.

Two games since I started holding the controller with my thumb over the X and I definitely can handle fastballs better. Now I've got to adjust to being early on the off speed stuff.

[decga]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

I always keep my left thumb over the left analog stick. Now my right thumb is free lancing between the kinda swing input I like to implement. That's why I have only played Madden 16 one time since September. We don't have used the whole controller while on offense.

[Shadak]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

Just from experience...being late on everything might NOT be about your timing. As soon as I changed the TV setting to gaming mode it was like playing a entirely new game. I began pulling fastballs that I was sitting on. Just a thought

Its not just a thought its a real thing. My TV has only 30ms input lag, I consider that great but I tried connecting my PS3 to my gaming PC LCD monitor and man what a difference. I suddenly starting hitting SO much better, night and day difference, baseball video games are extremely sensitive about the delay from your controller.

With games like NBA2k, you can get used to the timing and just release the button a bit early... with baseball, you cant start seeing the ball earlier so any delay is a handicap.

[Blzer]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

Door-knocking knuckles lined up, handled pretty loosely in fingers (palms close in thereafter). Seriously, all ya'll gotta be coached more on this!

A little extra pine tar is always nice too.

Spoiler

Nah, same as Jv160. Right thumb over X.

[Perfect Zero]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

I hold my left stick to where I think the pitch is going to be. This becomes my strike zone on non-2 strike counts. On most counts, I rest my thumb between the X and O buttons and watch when the ball comes out of the pitchers hand. If it is outside the PCI, then I let it go (sometimes even if it is a strike). I make my decision mid pitch if I press to the left for a normal swing or right to make contact. If it is a strong hitters count my thumb rests between the square and X.

[RecordBreakerCF]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

Right thumb over square button, sometimes mess around with the right stick with it.

[RunN1st]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

I know I'm the exception but I use my index finger with R1 to hit. (You can do this by editing your button assignments in the Accessibility menu.) Takes a little getting used to since you have to swap out X for R1 so throwing home becomes R1 vs. X.

[baseballsim]

Re: How do you hold your bat?

I'm by no means an awesome hitter but lately I've been trying to pay attention to my form. In my opinion, hitting is sort of like shooting a basketball. If you are able to concentrate on proper form you likely will have more success.

With the left stick I place my thumb in way so the knuckle covers the stick. This helps prevent the stick from moving too much. In zone hitting, you don't really need to move the PCI around too much to get good contact on the ball.

When holding the controller as a whole I've been trying to keep my arms sort of close to my body while I'm waiting for the pitch to come in. I'm thinking this may help prevent the PCI from going off on a tangent when I'm ready to hit the ball.

I also try to lock my whole body in so it's a bit tense but not too tense. This seems to help make my swinging a little more accurate as well. Also, while my body is in a tense state I still try to handle the controller loosely sort of like I'm holding an 'egg'. All this is easier said than done - especially for a whole 9 innings.