Tips on How to Hit

[COMMISSIONERHBK9]

I'm getting a lot of hits now but not able to turn those hits into runs. Should I use power more or maybe just use contact ?

[cazanova]

Great tips in this thread so far. I've noticed if a dominate pitcher is on the mound (refraining from using the 'Ace' term here) like King Felix, Lester, Scherzer, driving up the pitch count works wonders.

Starting this off by waiting on a first strike. Although it may be the best pitch you see, it would be your best option to chase them out of the game in case it doesn't go your way. Eventually, they will leave meatballs in fast ball counts that you can take advantage of.

I've been able to successfully chase pitchers like Tanaka out by the 6th or drive their pitch count to 70ish in the 3rd or 4th. A lot has to do with fouling pitches off to make a great AB, of course, but waiting that first strike for at least an inning can make a difference.

Obviously, this works just as well for other pitchers in the rotation, probably better so since you are essentially making them throw a strike. It also gives you an opportunity to see what strikes the umpire is calling if you have that option set to VARIABLE.

[dvazquez190]

Quote: Originally Posted by sh27

It "moved" because you swung early. If it was good timing then it would not have moved at all. If you swung late it would have "moved" slightly inside.

The PCI isn't suppose to move that much on a swing. It's movement is suppose to be slight depending on timing. Not to mention the movement of the PCI is mainly vertical. That's where the biggest movement occurs. If you notice in the picture the PCI moved more horizontally than vertically. No amount of timing could incur that kind of movement.

[dvazquez190]

Quote: Originally Posted by Madden's Jowels

For those of us who don't want to use zone, anybody know how I can help the CPU not suck so much at PCI placement? I'm about to blow my stack over here, the amount of good swings I put on balls right down the meatpipe and they get fouled off, popped up or weakly hit because he's swinging under, over, inside, or outside the ball... it's so F*#%&*! frustrating. I'm specifically having this problem in RTTS. Franchise I've been having ups and downs but I don't feel like I'm getting cheated on meat pitches in franchise, if I swing good on them, I'll barrel them up, they don't always go out of the park or into the gaps, but they feel like I'm hitting them hard at least. My guy has 99 vision (not even including equipment) and great contact vs. righties, good contact vs. lefties. Maxed power vs. righties, low 80's power vs. lefties. Max clutch. I'm in the biggest cold spell I've ever been in, I can't barrel up anything and a large part of the problem is that even when I put a great swing on something extremely crushable the problem I listed above will happen. I can't pull anything because if I swing on anything middle to inside a TAD early it always goes 80 feet foul, never pull anything down the line or just into right field. I feel like I wait an eternity on any breaking pitch and then I swing and I'm still early and hit a chopper. I tried bumping the pitch speed up and that barely helped, not enough to counteract the negatives of being late on more fastballs, when I already can't hit a fastball right down the pipe with good timing what am I supposed to do with fastballs on late timing I've been playing this game since 12 and I've gotten what I consider pretty good at hitting. I'm not an elite "Legend only with zone analog, no guess pitch, increased slider difficulty" type guy (in other words, a masochist), but I play on All-Star analog (RIP Stride) and usually crush at that level, and have done well enough on HOF when I've ventured up there. Lately I just feel like I'm a noob, nothing is hard hit, and if it is it's straight to a defender or dies at the warning track. Maybe I just need to take like a week off lol. But I veered away from my original question: how can I make the CPU do a better job at PCI placement if I just want to use analog with no zone? Would that be the contact slider, the solid hits slider, or am I just out of luck?

Again i've tried Directional, to this day I can't figure it out. I hit so poorly on directional it's not even funny. By the sound of it I doubt you can do any worse on zone and the benefit is you'll be able to crush the meat pitches. You can also try influencing more on Directional if you're insistent on staying. Maybe if you influence where you want to hit it with good timing you'll hit more of the meat pitches.

[dvazquez190]

Quote: Originally Posted by COMMISSIONERHBK9

I'm getting a lot of hits now but not able to turn those hits into runs. Should I use power more or maybe just use contact ?

If you're getting a lot of hits chances are you aren't scoring because of something psychological. You're probably getting too anxious or over thinking with RISP and your approach changes. You have to remember when runners are on base it's the pitcher who is in trouble. There is a difference between letting him get himself in more trouble and trying to create more trouble for him. You want to let him work that much harder to get out of trouble. Chances are he will be more prone to make mistakes. See pitches, work the count, make him come after you. If you hit a single 9 times out of 10 the pitchers mindset will be to keep it low and make you ground into a DP. Use that to your advantage.

[iLLWiLL]

Last week I switched from Dynamic difficulty (which bounced between All-Star to HoF), to just static All-Star.

The biggest improvements I made were just in thumb positioning (as I explained earlier in this thread, I put the crease on the underside of my thumb knuckle on the top of the left stick), in addition to placing my PCI in a region of the strike zone (pre-pitch) that I think that specific pitch is going to be thrown -- and based on the situation or count, I might change the location from pitch to pitch.

The result? I was getting no less than 9 hits per game. I'm hitting well over .300 with two of my Season Mode teams, and a little under .300 with my other team. I've had a 17-hit game and a 16-hit game. And I'm also scoring alot of runs.


I will be switching back to Dynamic to see how much I've really improved. Although as one poster has already said, play on a difficulty level that keeps the game FUN for you, and that is still challenging.

[iLLWiLL]

Also, with my new thumb positioning that limits over-extending, I just ordered some KontrolFreek grips that make your analog sticks taller, so I'm excited to see if that makes things more comfortable & precise ...

[dvazquez190]

Quote: Originally Posted by iLLWiLL

Also, with my new thumb positioning that limits over-extending, I just ordered some KontrolFreek grips that make your analog sticks taller, so I'm excited to see if that makes things more comfortable & precise ...

Please come back and share your results. I have that problem myself. If they help you I might order some myself.