Help with Zone Hitting

[cmoore10998]

I really like the challenge of zone hitting but is there anyway to aim your hits or is it just timing?

In practice mode I can hit just fine but they all go to right center (lefty batter).

Like I said I like the challenge of zone but I like the swing influence of non-zone hitting using both sticks.

[yanks1]

Re: Help with Zone Hitting

It's just timing, but where on the bat you make contact effects which direction the ball goes and how hard. For instance, if I'm late swinging and hit the ball off the end of the bat, the ball will travel weakly to the opposite field. That's how it should be. You're technically influencing where the ball goes based on bat placement. I like it a lot better than aiming the left stick in a direction I want the ball to go.

You must be late on everything. I turned pitch speed up to 100 to check it out. It would take a ton of practice to ever get the hang of it; might be almost as difficult as hitting a real major league pitcher. I remember way back when, people on this forum asked FatPitcher why WSB didn't have realistic pitch speeds. His response was that it would be nearly impossible to hit the ball, and the ball would basically look like a blur. In 2k3 I turned up the speed to 100 and didn't have as difficult a time hitting the ball. I think the bat shaped cursor in 2k9 moves more slowly and is less responsive (or forgiving) than those in past games. I kinda like it, though. It's definitely a challenge.

[cmoore10998]

Re: Help with Zone Hitting

Thank you, that is what I thought, I was just hitting in practice mode and I can definetly wait or swing early to direct the hit but I have yet to hit a HR to straight RF or LF. In practice they pitch right down the middle, will it be easier to hit an outside pitch for homerun to opposite field just like in real life?

[foofighter2455]

Re: Help with Zone Hitting

If you hit the ball to one side of the little marker on the bat and time it right you will pull it, if you hit on the other side... push. It's where you hit it on the bat and the timing you put on the ball. Very realistic IMO. Sticking the bat out for an outside pitch and getting an inside fastball shatters your bat every time just like in real life!

[catcatch22]

Re: Help with Zone Hitting

Actually I have used zone hitting and many of it's iterations since 1995 with World Series Baseball 95. In this version you can only hit outside pitches to the opposite field. I have been extremely good with many versions of "cursor hitting" including this one, but no matter how perfect my timing is or how well I place the bat I can never hit a ball pitched down the middle to the opposite field. Which is not realistic!

I understand their approach but if you ever actually hit a ball, you can pull outside pitches and even hit inside pitches the other way. In this game I have yet to do either. If the pitch is outside you will hit it outside no matter how early you swing or how much of the fat part of the barrell you use. It's basically see ball hit ball. There is no influence at all. This is not what I was hoping for. I wanted it to be more like other versions where you can pull pitches by placement of the cursor and the timing of your swing. That is not the case with this version.

Try practice mode and try to hit a ball the other way, it is not possible.