Does the L stick affect hitting? If so, how?

[Kernel Pie]

I played 2k10 for almost 2 full franchises and I'm still not 100% on this. I know last year if you pressed up on the L stick, you would get fly balls for sac flies. But I can't remember or couldn't tell if pressing L in the direction of the pitch actually increased your chances of getting a hit. Anyone know or can guess how this will play out? I mean, can you play an entire game without ever moving the L stick at the plate and still mash?

Also, I'm still trying to pinpoint contact swing vs. power swing. I know for a fact that last year, the power swing was the only way to get a good rip, and you would hardly ever hit a gapper using just contact. I wonder if it's the same this year or if they changed it. The way I always interpreted it was: power swing carries more risk reward and is reserved for hitter's counts and the big boys, and contact swing was your go-to swing for almost all other situations.

So anyone wanna go all Ted Williams and talk some hitting up in here?

[jeffy777]

Re: Does the L stick affect hitting? If so, how?

I barely used the left stick last year and still tore the cover off the ball with my guy in My Player.

I'm not sure if mastering the left stick would increase productivity at the plate, but I do know you can definitely influence the direction of your hit with it. However, a lot of that seems to happen automatically based on the timing of your swing and pitch location, so I found that for me the left stick seemed kind of unnecessary, other than for situational hitting (sac fly or aiming a bunt). I do remember the devs last year saying something along the lines of there being extra benefit in moving the stick with the pitch location from side to side, but I'm not sure how much of an impact it has because I haven't used it enough. I do think there is definitely a penalty if you try to pull outside pitches though.

In 2K9, pushing up on the stick greatly influenced your chances of a homerun, but last year they wisely changed it to more of a fly ball influence designed for sac flys. I wonder how many gamers weren't aware of the change and were still pushing up on a constant basis

[BearClaw]

Re: Does the L stick affect hitting? If so, how?

2K10
Up=pop fly
Down=Ground ball
Left=Left field
Right=Right field

It was good if you were able to recognize a defensive shift and aim your hit into a gap.

[BSUFAN]

Re: Does the L stick affect hitting? If so, how?

For me personally I don't use the L button but just the R analog stick and I am hitting the ball all over the park which is just fine with me because I usually hit it where its pitched !!!