Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

[Bobhead]

I know we have a generic thread for hitting strategy a few pages back, but it seems zone players are in the minority in that thread, so I wanted to have a thread that pertained specifically to zone (and analog zone) hitting and how all the various zone players go about their business.

Do you guess PCI location? Do you react to the pitch? Do you have any special things you do to help you at the plate? Where do you keep your hands in relation to the controller and the analog stick?

Anything and everything you can think of that relates to zone hitting, feel free to share it here.

I know for me, the biggest problem seems to be responding to fastballs up and inside, especially to righties. I just can never seem to react quick enough to those pitches, and if it's not a swinging strike, it's usually a late-swing foul ball.

[ILiveForThis]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

I use Zone Analog extensively and I have the same problem you do with fastballs. For some unexplained reason, my finger controlling the PCI goes "down" instead of up. And this got me thinking and changing my philosophy at the plate..

I have started taking borderline pitches (except with 2 strikes). The best you're gonna do with those pitches is pop them up or roll them over. So, instead of swing at a crappy strike, take the pitch and go onto the next. You'd be surprise by the improvement of hit quality. Also, Contact Swing is your best friend on 2 strike counts where you are behind (0-2, 1-2). If you can battle back to 2-2, go back to normal. A strike will be coming that you can drive.

Other than that, it's see pitch, react, hit pitch for me.

[HechticSooner]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

As far as the high and inside strike most batters have issue getting around on that pitch even in RL. Thus the only time that I worry about that pitch is A) when I have to because I have two strikes or B) if I have a hitter that has hot zones up and in. In the cases of B) most times that batter likes the ball up period so I will start with the PCI up anyway especially since most of the time those types of hitters are power hitters so I'm wanting a ball up in the zone to crush anyway.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

I used Zone for years and I always pre-loaded based on patterns and hunches. I'd then adjust on the fly if I saw the pitch well.

That said, thank goodness for Timing only.

[HechticSooner]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

I used Zone for years and I always pre-loaded based on patterns and hunches. I'd then adjust on the fly if I saw the pitch well.

That said, thank goodness for Timing only.

No way I'm way too much of a control freak, the first time that it said perfect timing and the PCI was set at swing and miss I'd ****ing flip!

[dman08]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

Using zone hitting has been tough but I've made a few adjustments in this year's game. I turned off the strike zone and guess pitch. With these features off I tend to focus a lil more on the pitch, it's location and speed to get my timing right. It's funny how detailed this game is when u pay attention to it. I make sure I know the pitchers different pitches as well as speed of their fastball so I have a general idea of what to expect and what kind of timing I might need. I know a lot of people wonder how you can read the strike zone without the visual, well it's obviously the plate from side to side. As far as the top and bottom of the strike zone it's usually the bottom of the knee for all hitters and unless the batter has his hands upright the top of the zone is usually at the elbow of the batter. I play the count to get a pitch in the zone I want which is normally middle of the plate outside or middle up. You have to realize that you're not always going to get that pitch but when you do u have to make the pitcher pay. As far as fastballs up and in that's a pitcher's pitch honestly. Most hitters in real life do nothing but pop up or miss that pitch completely. You're better off laying off that pitch unless you're sitting on 2 strikes. This is the beauty of OS. Similar gamers being able to help one another out.

[bmill777]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

I've been trying to master zone since '09 and hers what turned the corner for me

1. Sitting on a zone. I pick 4 of the 9 squares in the strike zone and sit up and in, up and away, low and in, or low and away depending on where the batters hot zone is. The extra split second u get from not having to move the pci is enormous. Also my chase % has dropped way down and I'm drawing more walks.....3-4 a game on avg

2. Downsize your tv. I switched from my plasma w 30ms input lag to a 22" w zero input lag and I can tell quite a difference. A baseball reaches the plate in about 400ms.....half of that time is spent reading the pitch and the other half is spent w your actual swing. If you get 200 ms to make a decision then u casee how important an extra 30 ms is.

3. Use the pitch edit rosters, osfm v3. There is too much disparity between fastballs and breaking pitches this game. Setting accurate pitch speeds is pretty huge IMO. Most guys change ups are 7 or so mph slower than thier fastballs......in this game it's a 10+ mph diff for most guys. Fix that and it's and easier more realistic hitting experience.

I play on hof hitting by the way

[baseballsim]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

Even though it's uglier this year I would recommend turning on the PCI indicator (That yellow thingy). Also Heroesandvillains strategy might be good strategy rather than trying to move the left stick on the fly.

[KingV2k3]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

I used Zone for years and I always pre-loaded based on patterns and hunches. I'd then adjust on the fly if I saw the pitch well.

That said, thank goodness for Timing only.

I use it based on patterns and hunches as well...

Based on:

Is the pitcher a lefty or righty?

How about the hitter?

Why?

Well, if he's a lefty who leans on sliders and curveballs to compliment a straight fastball, then chances are he's going "down and in" to a righty and "down and out" to a lefty...

What are your hitters hot / cold zones with relation to the above?

If the pitcher is ahead in the count (and / or game) chances are he's pitching to your cold zone...

If he's behind in the count, you might get a fastball in or near your hot zone...

Is he trying to induce a grounder / double play ball?

Are you trying to advance a runner with a grounder or sac fly?

If so, then it's a low ball with some movement...(anything but a straight 4 FB)...

Is he ahead in the count and going for the K?

Then you have to protect low and (possibly) outside...

There's SOOOOOO much to try and describe here...lot's of "moving parts"...

Bottom line:

I use it in an early count, but if I get two strikes on me, it's back to just trying to put it in play with the contact button and not messing around otherwise...



I also tend to let it go on a 3-1 with a straight "Timing" rip with the X, so I don't overthink and ruin an opportunity to square up (or have the attributes /AI help square up for me)...

Anyway:

LOVE the three swings (power, normal, contact) and all the options to zone OR time OR mix and match as the AB goes along...

[Bobhead]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

I use Zone Analog extensively and I have the same problem you do with fastballs. For some unexplained reason, my finger controlling the PCI goes "down" instead of up. And this got me thinking and changing my philosophy at the plate..

Ha I'm glad I'm not the only one! I thought my left hand had a mental disease or something. It's weird because I also feel like this problem is more pronounced this year than it was last year, but that might have something to do with me rushing this year, since I have a laggier TV.

I have started taking borderline pitches (except with 2 strikes). The best you're gonna do with those pitches is pop them up or roll them over. So, instead of swing at a crappy strike, take the pitch and go onto the next. You'd be surprise by the improvement of hit quality. Also, Contact Swing is your best friend on 2 strike counts where you are behind (0-2, 1-2). If you can battle back to 2-2, go back to normal. A strike will be coming that you can drive.

Other than that, it's see pitch, react, hit pitch for me.

That's pretty much how I approach. I tend to use Power Swing for the first 2 strikes if I have a power hitter up, but other than that, I am more often than not on 2 strikes, trying to work the count and put something in play. I don't use Contact Swing much though, I should probably work that into my approach more often, especially with my strikeouts where they are.

I've been trying to master zone since '09 and hers what turned the corner for me

1. Sitting on a zone. I pick 4 of the 9 squares in the strike zone and sit up and in, up and away, low and in, or low and away depending on where the batters hot zone is. The extra split second u get from not having to move the pci is enormous. Also my chase % has dropped way down and I'm drawing more walks.....3-4 a game on avg

Oh how I wish the hot zones appeared for me. Unfortunately, there's no way to display the hot zone without displaying the strike zone (where's the "fade" option from MVP Baseball?), and I don't like having that stuff on the screen while batting. I know I can press Select, but I always forget that exists.

2. Downsize your tv. I switched from my plasma w 30ms input lag to a 22" w zero input lag and I can tell quite a difference. A baseball reaches the plate in about 400ms.....half of that time is spent reading the pitch and the other half is spent w your actual swing. If you get 200 ms to make a decision then u casee how important an extra 30 ms is.

I definitely agree here. I got a new TV late last year, and it has no settings to minimize lag or anything, so I'm stuck with the lag, and I don't plan on buying a new TV. If my TV ever spontaneously combusts though, I'll pay more attention to lag with my next purchase.

And I play on Hall of Fame also. All-Star's PCI is too big and poppy, I don't like it.

[PowerofRed25]

Re: Zone hitting Strategy/Advice

I've been having a terrible slump with my RTTS player in my first year of AA using zone hitting. I started off strong. My first professional hit was a 423 foot 3 run homer, I was hitting .350 for the first month. One month later, I am down to .235. I've gotten ridiculously pull happy, to the point where I'm pulling fastballs foul at times, so then I get offspeed and I'm nowhere close.

I've started to get back on track though because I changed my approach. I kept trying to read and react to pitches and I was swinging way too much

First pitch: I am looking fastball, one spot (down and in from a LHP, down and away from a RHP) and power swinging. I have hit 3 homers this week taking me to 5 on the season.

Second pitch: If the count is 1-0, I take the same approach as first pitch. If it is 0-1, I protect.

The rest of the time, it is situational. If I get up 2-0, I usually take a pitch. If I go up 3-0, I will for sure take a pitch maybe two (just because my BB rate is way down, I want to force myself to take them). If I go down 0-2, I use a contact swing to foul off some pitches and get back to 2-2.

I'm trying to get a lot deeper into counts and it is helping. I still K a bunch, especially on high fastballs, but I put a lot more balls in play and get a lot more solid contact because I am looking for one pitch in one zone most of the time.