How do you use directional hitting?

[BrianU]

Just watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ91QD3k7hU And would recommend it to anyone who plays with Directional hitting.

There seems to be two ways to use directional. One is to use it more as a situational tool, aiming before the pitch at a location like on a 2-0 count aiming inside and swinging if it's there or laying off if it's not. The other is reacting on the fly as the ball travels to the plate and aiming left center or right towards the pitch and swinging. Which method do you use?

[Armor and Sword]

Quote: Originally Posted by BrianU

Just watched this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ91QD3k7hU And would recommend it to anyone who plays with Directional hitting. There seems to be two ways to use directional. One is to use it more as a situational tool, aiming before the pitch at a location like on a 2-0 count aiming inside and swinging if it's there or laying off if it's not. The other is reacting on the fly as the ball travels to the plate and aiming left center or right towards the pitch and swinging. Which method do you use?

I use both.

If I want to sit on a pitch and location I pre load the left stick in the direction I want and sit and hope it hit's that spot (0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-1) If I am in neutral counts and have a situation I need to move a runner, stay out of a double play etc (1-1, 2-2) I may use it on the fly.

I typically use it on the fly to go the other way with a an outside pitch.

When sitting on pitch it is either up (looking for a high fastball to truck) or looking to pull (turn) on an inside pitch.

[BrianU]

Quote: Originally Posted by Armor and Sword

I use both. If I want to sit on a pitch and location I pre load the left stick in the direction I want and sit and hope it hit's that spot (0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-1) If I am in neutral counts and have a situation I need to move a runner, stay out of a double play etc (1-1, 2-2) I may use it on the fly. I typically use it on the fly to go the other way with a an outside pitch. When sitting on pitch it is either up (looking for a high fastball to truck) or looking to pull (turn) on an inside pitch.

I get really specific with how I play and I had an idea to make things more realistic that I am going to follow. I use house rules when I play sports games to make things as realistic as possible.

When you press Up on the D-pad you can see your current batters BA vs leftys and vs rightys of that season. I am going to start using the on-the-fly directional hitting with guys who have a .270+ avg against the matchup they are facing. Just to give them that added boost and differentiate from poorer hitters. For the poorer hitters though I will continue using situational pre-pitch directional hitting if I am trying to move a runner over or hit a sac fly.

Last year I started only using contact swings with players who have a career or season .340+ OBP which Fangraphs says is above average, to give them a slight edge at obtaining walks over guys with not as good plate discipline.

Likewise guys with a career or season ISO of .170+ which Fangraphs says is above average are the only ones I use power swings with.

Just a little twist to make things more immersive that others might want to try.

[Dolenz]

I mostly leave it centered 98% of the time.

I will try and use it when

1. I want to try and influence a fly ball to the outfield

2. Sacrifice bunts to put it down either the first or third base lines.

3. To hit to the right side to try and get a runner on second over to third, Although I should use this more often when the first baseman is holding the runner at first to try and hit in in the hole.

[MoneyMo21]

Sorry to hijack your thread but I can't start my own thread and this is somewhat relatable to the topic. I also can't post on the show forums due to some issue that many others are experiencing. I can't post links here either since this is my 1st post. If you go to the show nation website and click on report issue and search for bug report 14147 you'll find the error submission you can vote up on so it gets more attention. If someone who could post links would like to post a link to it I would appreciate it.

Directional hitting like many of you know is basically timing hitting. If you know what pitch is coming it makes it pretty easy to hit the ball with a little bit of practice. If you use the offset pitcher view when hitting you'll know what pitch is coming by looking at the pitchers fingers on the ball. This needs to be patched somehow. They need to either use the same grip on all pitches to mask this, eliminate hitting from the pitchers view all together, or just eliminate directional hitting all together from online play.

I know they won't eliminate directional hitting from online play since it's a new feature even though I disagree, but they should be able to do one of the other two I would think. There's a thread on the show nation forums in the diamond dynasty section discussing this but like I stated I can't post there for some reason. If people wanna do this vs the computer knock yourselves out but this just ruins online play wether diamond dynasty or online rated. This is just my opinion but if you like to play online and they don't fix this, more people are going to use this exploit and you might have to as well if you wanna compete. Thanks for your time.

[cubby blue]

I don't use my analog stick at all. I treat it like timing. I found out if I try to use it I will lose my concentration and swing at pitches out of the zone. To each his own, I'm playing on default all-star and I'm raking this year. I'm played 36 games and my team average is .272. I'm not saying this to brag. I struggled hitting last year. I hit like .237 for the year. Maybe I'm just on a hot streak, but I definitely going to let it play out. I played the heck out of last year's game. It's made me a more patient hitter. I still don't walk as much as I should, but definitely work the count.

[kbseven]

Quote: Originally Posted by MoneyMo21

Directional hitting like many of you know is basically timing hitting. If you know what pitch is coming it makes it pretty easy to hit the ball with a little bit of practice. If you use the offset pitcher view when hitting you'll know what pitch is coming by looking at the pitchers fingers on the ball. This needs to be patched somehow. They need to either use the same grip on all pitches to mask this, eliminate hitting from the pitchers view all together, or just eliminate directional hitting all together from online play. I know they won't eliminate directional hitting from online play since it's a new feature even though I disagree, but they should be able to do one of the other two I would think. There's a thread on the show nation forums in the diamond dynasty section discussing this but like I stated I can't post there for some reason. If people wanna do this vs the computer knock yourselves out but this just ruins online play wether diamond dynasty or online rated. This is just my opinion but if you like to play online and they don't fix this, more people are going to use this exploit and you might have to as well if you wanna compete. Thanks for your time.

This was one of my few gripes about the show I've had forever. Almost all hitters know what's coming, either through the grip and/or spin. I wouldn't so much pick up the grip when I played because I could see the seams, which was easier for me because I felt it made me focus on the ball more. Good pitchers are better at hiding tipoffs (including grips) but there's only so much you can do (seams). I really hope they find a way to implement this even if it's just a red dot on a ball for a breaking pitch.
As for directional, I'm sure most people play on it since it's easier and they probably want to tailor it so the casual fan can pick up and play, instead of getting frustrated and not play.

[COMMISSIONERHBK9]

I was using directional a lot but now I switch to zone. Idk for some reason once I restarted my franchise and mess with the camera I couldn't hit anymore on directional.