Directional Hitting Guide

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

I wouldn't change anything. everyone's terminology is bound to be slightly different. I don't think semantics is worth quibbling over, the OP is still easily one of the finest in all of OS.


looking forward to your thoughts on hitting in 20. good luck and happy baseball!

I appreciate this, I truly do, but I have a fundamental belief, one at the very core of my moral compass. Question everything.

That has to include myself, especially when evidence or information from an official source potentially conflicts with my own information. It's how I discovered that there is value in the no influence swing.

I don't want to be right. I want the truth.

I do, however, not want to edit this darn thing.

I'll be slow, methodical. I won't make rash changes without solid reason. What I'm hoping is that you can edit the feedback PCI in directional in 20. If that can be done, then it will make confirming/denying information from the guide super easy.

[jcar0725]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

I appreciate this, I truly do, but I have a fundamental belief, one at the very core of my moral compass. Question everything.

That has to include myself, especially when evidence or information from an official source potentially conflicts with my own information. It's how I discovered that there is value in the no influence swing.

I don't want to be right. I want the truth.

I do, however, not want to edit this darn thing.

I'll be slow, methodical. I won't make rash changes without solid reason. What I'm hoping is that you can edit the feedback PCI in directional in 20. If that can be done, then it will make confirming/denying information from the guide super easy.

I find myself using the influence less and less over time. I'm primarily using it only in certain "move the runner" situations. I'm having realistic results this way. I have hit some rocket shot home runs with R. Devers without touching the influence.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

I find myself using the influence less and less over time. I'm primarily using it only in certain "move the runner" situations. I'm having realistic results this way. I have hit some rocket shot home runs with R. Devers without touching the influence.

The edits I'm proposing have little to do with the no influence swing. I was more using that as an example of how I changed my mentality in the past. I would still recommend influencing on the majority of swings. I would really only recommend the no influence swing for low vision power hitters who are ahead in the count. This would be even more true if I find out I mixed up the effects of vision and contact like the perfect/perfect stream implies.

[Grey_Osprey]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Tried directional for the 1st time last yesterday and really liked it. Can't believe how much of a difference it made. I dont know if something got changed in my settings, but having the strike zone fade away made a huge difference, albeit for one game.

10 runs on 8 hits (1 HR) with 14 walks and 11 strikeouts. I always strike out a lot, but the 14 walks is a new experience. Lol

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[My993C2]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

I find myself using the influence less and less over time. I'm primarily using it only in certain "move the runner" situations. I'm having realistic results this way. I have hit some rocket shot home runs with R. Devers without touching the influence.

I hardly ever try and influence the direction. As a right handed batter in RTTS games, if I want the ball to be sent to left field I am better off trying to swing a tad early. Likewise if I want the ball to be put into right field, swinging a tad late can be successful. I guess the only time I try and influence the direction is if there is a base runner on 3rd and I am in a sacrifice position at the plate. Then I might press "up" on the controller to see if it induces a fly ball. Some times it works, often it doesn't. But I assume there is a lot going on in the background related to swing timing and player ratings that influence what happens to the ball when we use the directional hitting interface.

PS: I am slowly getting better (putting the emphasis on "slowly" more than "getting better") in regards to hitting off speed pitches at the MLB level. So really I am more concern about getting my timing right than I am about thinking I can control exactly where to hit the ball. In other words, I s##k when it comes to hitting at this game when you have the skill level turned up to a fairly competitive level. LOL

[Councilmann_Jamm]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

I started doing more "line drive" hits over past 4 games and my offense has woken up. My team is 5th in power so hits are coming off a lot better and more types of hits are occuring Getting lots of hits. Both with normal and contact hits.

Team is playing a lot better. I do admit I start to just only do line drive hits so gotta remember to move around my directional hitting so I do get stuck doing same thing!

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Directional or Zone is personal preference. As far as the main hitting engine goes, both interfaces are identical (Directional simulates your PCI placement for you and passes it to the engine). In Zone hitting you pick the timing and PCI location. In Directional you pick the timing and influence PCI location (or if you don't influence, it picks for you). For this reason it is better not to influence than to influence randomly and get it half right and half wrong (in that situation you are better off paying attention to location and taking pitches).

I would compare it to manual vs automatic shifting for driving. If you are below average in stick shifting, you are better off using automatic where it handles it for you. Your disadvantage is 'forgiven' though you gain nothing extra for it. If you are above average in stick shifting, you are better off using stick to 'earn' that advantage. This is why professional drivers have to use stick to compete at the highest levels because even a small edge adds up, but you can drive perfectly well either way. In fact automatic accelerates faster than manual and doesn't lose energy to shifts, losing out only because manual is smarter and more efficient in other ways.

For this reason, some players succeed more with Directional, others succeed more with Zone. As you approach Legend difficulty, it becomes more important to use Zone because you have 2 ways to outperform rather than 1 1/2. There is no inherent disadvantage to Directional but you miss out on 1/2 a way to shine. So Zone is not significantly more successful in general. For beginners, Directional is often more successful. To be precise, it depends on if you are above or below average in skill at PCI placement (compared to your 2 other skills - timing and take pitch).

So does this mean my Directional hitting guide is complete bunk?

https://forums.operationsports.com/f...ing-guide.html

I don't mind if it is, I would just like to know.

I looked through it and it's hard to say, I could make the case either way.

For example:
"No influence increases the impact of hot/cold zones for your hitter"

There is no mechanic that specifically does this. However, since you have 1 1/2 inputs (timing + '1/2' PCI) instead of 2 (timing + PCI), in a sense this makes timing worth more (it is now worth 2/3 of your success rather than 1/2). In the same way, you could argue that paying attention to hot and cold zones matters more. However, I would guess that there are more important things that come first. There is some general truth to the idea that 'less input means the inputs remaining matter more' but it is not dramatic.

It is definitely true that high pitches are more for power, versus low pitches, since flyballs care about power (HR versus an out) more than groundballs (single vs an out). But the relationship is not that you gain more power, just that power is more important for that strategy. So you could state 'going for flyballs / high pitches' is more viable with high power hitters than low power hitters. In an extreme example, pitchers are known for flying out all the time and don't necessarily want to go for flyballs or high pitches (but they should also swing well at whatever they can regardless). Important is that you do not gain significant power just for swinging at a high pitch or influencing up.

The same goes on for the rest of the guide. I didn't see anything that wasn't based on some truth, and it might be great for coaching someone at hitting. All I can speak of is how hitting works from input to output. And it is always very hard to use one to interpret the other.

Feel free to use or quote anything I've said. I'm only providing information and I'll even be putting some summary of this into the next strategy guide. I like to think that knowledge should always be free and doesn't belong to anyone.

Quoted from another thread. My interpretation is that the guide is not an accurate representation of what is happening, but manages to touch on elements of truth throughout. I can hear the animals and smell the pine, but I can't see the trees, so to speak.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

So far I've noticed the up influence has been buffed and the down influence has been nerfed, especially on low pitches. I reached this observation independently but it does coincide with the information given by Brian above.

This change allows for much more situational hitting. Up + contact swing is a great way to produce sac flys, or stay out of the double play at all costs. Even Up + Normal swing is much more viable now. I think part of the reason is vision's importance has once again been nerfed.

Something else I noticed while doing my testing, the CPU uses contact swing a lot, even in situations you might think they wouldn't (2-1 with nobody on). I've started mixing in more contact swings myself as a result, with middling success. I found it interesting because it would explain why a lot of people feel they can only score runs with the long ball while the CPU can seemingly get more singles/doubles. I might make a new thread to point it out.

[wcu25rs]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

I used directional influences a fair amount in '18 with good success. In '19, at least in my experience, influences were completely useless. In '20, ive been having trouble with hitting, as i just couldnt seem to get any lift on balls that werent perfect/perfect. Also, Ive been early alot on pitches due to slower pitch speeds, so that's one thing, but unlike years past, I wasnt getting any exit velocity on early swings, even on balls down the middle. Wasnt getting any hit variety either....everything was either a homerun or a weak liner or groundball. Went into practice mode and decided to try influences again to see if they have any more impact than they did last year and was pleasantly surprised at the results. I mainly used the pull swing at the 3/9 and the 2/10 positions on favorable counts, and hitting really opened up for me. Starting to hitting more gappers and getting more lift and exit velocity on a variety of swings(perfect, good, and early). Really excited to see this mechanic become viable again.

[Therebelyell626]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Quoted from another thread. My interpretation is that the guide is not an accurate representation of what is happening, but manages to touch on elements of truth throughout. I can hear the animals and smell the pine, but I can't see the trees, so to speak.

Warm. So I am having a little trouble understanding this. Years passed the way I understood directional influence was that whichever direction you chose, would influence that type of hit. Example: if I am batting with a righty and I point my left stick left diagonally and up it would influence for a fly ball pull hit. Or example 2: if I am batting righty and point my stick directly right with no up or down influence, the outcome is to influence a oppo line drive hit.

Is this not the case?

[wcu25rs]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Warm. So I am having a little trouble understanding this. Years passed the way I understood directional influence was that whichever direction you chose, would influence that type of hit. Example: if I am batting with a righty and I point my left stick left diagonally and up it would influence for a fly ball pull hit. Or example 2: if I am batting righty and point my stick directly right with no up or down influence, the outcome is to influence a oppo line drive hit.

Is this not the case?

you are correct, though obviously it depends on pitch placement/swing timing whether you are successful in the influence affecting the hit.

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Warm. So I am having a little trouble understanding this. Years passed the way I understood directional influence was that whichever direction you chose, would influence that type of hit. Example: if I am batting with a righty and I point my left stick left diagonally and up it would influence for a fly ball pull hit. Or example 2: if I am batting righty and point my stick directly right with no up or down influence, the outcome is to influence a oppo line drive hit.

Is this not the case?

According to Brian, no, at least not directly. However the hitting system is so complex that it's impossible to deny it.

Brian claims that using the influence just creates a tendency in PCI placement (which is hidden from the user). However PCI tendency can have other unforseen impacts, like the changes in power, contact, and vision that I'm seeing, or the influence in direction you suggest. He further confirms that there are elements of truth throughout the guide, and nothing stuck out to him as "wrong".

Think about it like a guy playing a tuba. Your listening in saying "that tuba is making that sound" and someone else is saying "No, it's just a guy moving his lips making the sound". Both statements hold some of the truth but not it's entirety. Yet describing every system and contour that all works together to create that sound in plain words is a herculean task, so instead we simplify it into the above statements.

[XicebreakerX]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Is this guide still accurate in The Show 20?

[TheWarmWind]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Is this guide still accurate in The Show 20?

Based on my playtesting, mostly yes.

The up influence had been buffed and the down influence had been nerfed compared to last year, but the core concepts remain the same.

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[GainzBro]

Re: Directional Hitting Guide

Based on my playtesting, mostly yes.

The up influence had been buffed and the down influence had been nerfed compared to last year, but the core concepts remain the same.

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You have confirmed my suspicion about the down influence. I had so much success with it last year especially with 2 strikes. This year not so much.

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