I swing at everything..

**nomo17k** · 05-24-2012, 08:45 PM

Re: I swing at everything..

I think somebody is going to post a set of links about hitting tips that have been discussed in this forum over the years...

My suggestion for someone at your stage is to only try to hit fastballs down the middle. Start with hitting difficulty at Rookie or Veteran (pitchers throw more deep strikes down the middle at these levels). Lay off EVERYTHING that doesn't seem like coming to down the middle, even if you think they'll be strikes. That way you'll develop eyes for judging balls and strikes on the black, which you'll never develop if you keep swinging and making them strikes. (Remember, once you swing, everything is a strike, automatically!!!)

Once you get the hang of it, try to expand your "swing" zone. That's how I would do it.

**Johnson0311** · 05-24-2012, 08:52 PM

Force yourself to take pitches. It takes time. The first time you get walked you'll feel like you hit a grand slam.

37 · 05-24-2012, 08:56 PM

Re: I swing at everything..

Lowering the pitch speed definitely helps but i noticed i was still late on Verlander's fastball at 4 so i had to lower the pitch speed down to 3 and that along with lowering the CPU strike frequency to 2 has helped me immensely in having better plate vision and discipline

**dodgrsfn** · 05-24-2012, 08:56 PM

Re: I swing at everything..

You're chasing cause you're trying to hit every pitch that's thrown. Instead, try focusing on recognizing pitches only to the center of the strike zone and adjust once you have two strikes. Once you get used to not swinging at pitches not to the center, your discipline to swing at good pitches will get better. I also lay off breaking and off speed pitches early in the count because for me, I'd rather hit a fastball in the sweet spot. BTW, I play with zone hitting with the PCI on and on veteran mode.

**dodgrsfn** · 05-24-2012, 09:05 PM

Re: I swing at everything..

I read your update about changing the pitch speed and someone else's about strike frequency. I'm not real big on that cause it really is a matter of just learning to train your eye to pick the ball up once out of the pitchers hand and then recognizing the trajectory and pitch type of the ball.

Hitting practice of all the modes really helped out, but the one that really helped me out was the timing mode training against a hard throwing pitcher (95-97). It forced me to recognize and move my PCI to the spot quickly in order to hit the ball with good timing. When I did the training, I was thinking, make good contact, make good contact. It forced me to move the PCI quickly and the timing was usually good too. Hope this helps.

**bockclock** · 05-24-2012, 09:09 PM

Re: I swing at everything..

What hitting setting do you use? When you do make contact, are you hitting it solid or not?

Using pure analog, I find it much easier to time the pitch as well as read the break. If I use zone, my patience goes out the window, causing me to swing at pitches out of the zone, or I swing too early and over the ball, resulting in weak dribblers to the infielders.

**Bobhead** · 05-24-2012, 09:21 PM

Re: I swing at everything..

Hold your thumb further away from the X button, that way even when you try to swing early... you don't.

I get antsy sometimes too, and my solution is to move my hand and keep my thumb pressed against the bottom of the controller.

You know the cylinder that the right analog stick is in? I keep my thumbnail pressed against the very bottom of that cylinder. It keeps you from swinging 3 years before an off-speed pitch arrives, and also gives you more time to stop yourself if you are attempting to swing at a bad pitch.

I can draw a picture or take a photo if you don't understand the description, but really any place will work, just make sure it's a good distance away.

**TheBadMammaJamma** · 05-24-2012, 09:51 PM

Re: I swing at everything..

Originally posted by Bobhead

Hold your thumb further away from the X button, that way even when you try to swing early... you don't.

I get antsy sometimes too, and my solution is to move my hand and keep my thumb pressed against the bottom of the controller.

You know the cylinder that the right analog stick is in? I keep my thumbnail pressed against the very bottom of that cylinder. It keeps you from swinging 3 years before an off-speed pitch arrives, and also gives you more time to stop yourself if you are attempting to swing at a bad pitch.

I can draw a picture or take a photo if you don't understand the description, but really any place will work, just make sure it's a good distance away.

I noticed that I do actually do a bit better when I do this, so thanks, man. I'm improving, but it's still taking a while for this habit to die. I've taken everything in consideration, and have bumped pitch speed back up to 5. I'm playing on Veteran, and little by little, I am seeing some improvement.

**IK720** · 05-25-2012, 02:03 AM

Re: I swing at everything..

Originally posted by Johnson0311

Force yourself to take pitches. It takes time. The first time you get walked you'll feel like you hit a grand slam.

How true that statement is lol. It is so hard for me, but when you do its worth while. Then I usually swing at the first pitch next guy and hit into a double play lol.

**UK0wnag3** · 05-25-2012, 04:28 AM

Re: I swing at everything..

For the first pitch of every at-bat, I just put the controller down, away from my swing-happy thumbs. If it's a ball, I do the same thing again until a strike is thrown.

**BSUFAN** · 05-25-2012, 06:09 AM

Re: I swing at everything..

Another tip you might consider is using the custom cameras edit feature and lower height of strike zone and move back some so you can see the balls better coming from the pitcher . I have found that it's easier to see the balls thus not swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, it doesn't mean you will see them all correctly but it should help.

**Geronimo22** · 05-25-2012, 07:12 AM

Re: I swing at everything..

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I have 3 pieces of advice. The first two are easy

1) Tinker, Tinker, Tinker...

This game is like golf. You're going to tinker with your swing mechanics, controls, camera's, sliders... It's human nature to try different things, so I'm sure you're going to try all the different pieces of advice you receive. And you should! That's the only way you're going to find what works for you (which could be a combination of many different things). You're going to get better the more you play, so that's all you really have to do... But I'll tell you what works for me (points #2 and #3).

2) Turn the pitch speed down.

This is simple... Find a speed that allows you to recognize pitches. Not all TV's are the same (input lag), we all don't use the same hitting view (I'll switch views multiple times mid franchise seaons), etc... There is no shame in turning the speed down. Don’t fight your ego… I find myself fighting mine all the time. Okay if you must fight it, how do you beat it? I found a silly rationalization on why I lower my speed... I don't have the same eye as a major league player... I need a fraction of second longer to get realistic swing discipline (a conversation for a different day)

2) I agree with nomo's advice, look for pitches you can handle.

I like to think about the game like this... Playing is a combination of your user input and your players physical ability. If I do my part, swing at good pitches to hit; I'm allowing my players to do their part, put the ball into play.

And to really allow my players to perform at their maximum abilities you have to remember you are using players of which all have different hitting strengths and weakness. Some can handle inside pitches better, some low balls, etc... You want to do them justice by swinging at pitches that THEY can handle.

Once you start thinking like that you force yourself start looking for pitches in certain parts of the plate allowing you to shrink your strike zone early in the count, and WALA... you will find yourself taking more pitches.

Why does this work? Besides giving your player a better chance of making contact, more importantly for this conversation, you allow yourself to relax and your brain to mentally "accept" taking pitches for strikes because they aren't in the part of the plate you are looking for.

So start with nomo's advice and focus on pitches right down the middle early in the count. Later you will start to look for pitches in different parts of the plate that you can handle.

---

I'm glad you posted and I'm also glad the mod's didn't just forward you some links and close this thread. I would still suggest for you to do a search for other hitting threads, but sometimes it’s easier to just talk about your specific problem in a new thread, without the clutter of other conversations going on.

Good luck and keep posting questions and results. You have lots of knowledgeable and helpful OS’ers in this thread.

**rymflaherty** · 05-25-2012, 11:06 AM

Re: I swing at everything..

When I first started playing The Show something that helped me with the game was starting a RTTS Career.

It's not going to magically make you not swing at pitches, but I do think it could be good "practice". I think it helped me because you're getting a lot of at-bats and having your one character I was really focusing on each at-bat. You're also in and out of games and seeing a lot of different pitches/pitching styles and starting in AA ball, much like real life, it's giving you a chance to learn against bad (or young) pitching as opposed to jumping into a franchise and facing Felix Hernandez.
Having the "Goals" and point system also helped me.

Might be worth a try.....Like I said that seemed to help me. The other thing I try to do is really focus my eyes on the heart of the strike zone. It's tough and you'll have to fight yourself at first, but especially early in the count, try to get in the habit at focusing your eyes in the middle of the zone, and if it is below, outside or whatever, don't swing......Even if it turns out to be a strike it's probably not a pitch you'd have done much with anyway.
If you haven't already.....Also moving to contact swing at 2 strikes could help out. Personally I use contact when down in a count 0-2, 1-2.

**eyeamg0dly** · 05-25-2012, 11:36 AM

Re: I swing at everything..

alot of good advice here. the game will come to you the more you get attuned to it. first only swing at pitches in the zone. then only swing at pitches you recognize. then only swing in certain counts. then i will only swing when its in the hotzone. then its about "if i dont see what i want, how many can i foul off till i get it "

i think thats the secret to hitting in this game. really minutely examine every situation and discipline yourself to only offer at the pitch you need or want.

I swing at everything..

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