What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

[drsonoma]

Like a number of other people in these forums, I really struggle to hit. I've read pretty much everything posted and have made some marginal improvements over the years. But not much . At this point, it has really become an obsession. A quest. A holy grail.

So I am curious. Are there other out there, like me, who think about what they would be willing to do/give/pay to learn how to really hit (All-Star level and above) in The Show? If one were available, I would actually pay a "hitting coach" to help me get better.

Yes, I know it is only a video game. But boy does it get frustrating to keep striking out, draw very few walks, and hit in the .220-.230 range each and every year.

Others?

[Scott]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

Don't feel bad, in a spring training game vs. the Royals, I had 1 hit and I use the Rangers.

[bkrich83]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

For whatever reason this year, I am actually not having a problem hitting.

[sydrogerdavid]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

I can hit the ball on All-Star and get on base occasionally, but I can never score runs. This is after winning my first 3 games I have played in this version. I don't know what happened. I haven't won sense Tuesday, that's about 6 or 7 games.

[I_am_Canadian]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

I would give up my time.....to practice....and get better.

[Cozar]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

Perhaps you should list the things you've tried so people can offer suggestions. Such as,

1. Pitch speed timers
2. Different batting modes
3. Always guess pitch fastball
4. Put your PCI somewhere in the zone and only swing at those pitches
5. Try to only swing at fastballs
6. Create an RTTS player and just sim through to "batting training." Thereare some nice modes that are helpful, like pitch recognition.

Did you follow the step-by-step guide someone posted last year? It was very helpful with step-by-step instructions. Rather than proving a simple tactic (like the ones I put above) it was a routine to practice. For example, you started by only swinging on certain counts, then progress to swinging at fastballs down the center on any count, then progressed to...

edit: I think this was it, but it looks like the format of the guide was changed: http://www.operationsports.com/forum...heres-why.html

[sbmnky]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

I wrote this last year, but still applicable to MLB '12.

I find that a developed game plan is always more productive when attempting to increase one's skill rather than just 'playing around.' I wanted to share my process for utilizing the batting practice modes.

As a note: I don't use timed hitting - I prefer analog.

Batting Practice Mode

I usually select a pitcher with a FB in the mid to high 90s with either a decent change-up or curve-ball/slider. I want to mimic the type of pitches I'll see in a game and more importantly the pitches I have the hardest time hitting throughout the course of a game.

Modes that I find most useful

Timing: This is the 1st mode I choose because the pitchers is going to throw every pitch in the strike zone. I can just get a feel for his FB and off-speed pitches. Once I start ripping getting mostly successes then it's time to move on. I personally like to have 13-15 successes before moving on. This is a good number that shows me that I'm picking the ball up well out of the pitcher's hand.

Discipline: Now that I'm comfortable with my timing, I want to work on my plate discipline. I have a tendency to swing at borderline pitches with 2 strikes and I'm of the mindset that I'd rather strike out looking than swinging on a ball out of the zone. I don't really gauge my success based on the number provided in the game, rather I gauge success on how many pitches I was thrown during a session. I want to see 35-40 pitches in one session before I'm comfortable moving forward.

Good At-Bat: This is my favorite mode in batting practice. You get to take the timing and discipline you worked on and test in a game situation without actually playing a game. I also use this mode to look for pitches in my 'happy zone' which helps me to take pitches that are outside of that zone. I'll sometimes get into a mode where I want to swing at ANY strike pitched my way. Unlike discipline training, you won't be penalized for taking a strike (unless it's the 3rd strike). Sometimes a pitcher hits his spot and there's nothing you can do about it, so I'm waiting and betting on him to make a mistake so I can crush the ball for a screaming line drive. I know when I have a good at-bat without the mode telling me, so I will usually leave this mode when I feel comfortable with my at-bats.

Modes I don't utilize

Contact: I don't find contact training to be useful for timed or analog because success seems to be based on placement of the PCI which the user does not control in either of those hitting modes. I've had many solid contacts that have resulted in fails when my PCI was not squarely on the ball. (I'll post pictures if necessary).

Pitch Recognition: I personally don't use pitch recognition because I can do that training in 'Good AB' mode by sitting on a pitch. I would find this mode useful, however, if I was training myself to look for pitches in certain locations. I think the training mode is ideal for that.

Those are the 3 modes that help my batting out, especially if I haven't played in a day or two. Hopefully this will help you develop your own hitting plan for making batting practice mode more productive towards your goal of becoming a more complete hitter.

They hang 'em, we bang 'em. Happy Hitting fellas!

[Redacted01]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

Perhaps you should list the things you've tried so people can offer suggestions. Such as,

1. Pitch speed timers
2. Different batting modes
3. Always guess pitch fastball
4. Put your PCI somewhere in the zone and only swing at those pitches
5. Try to only swing at fastballs
6. Create an RTTS player and just sim through to "batting training." Thereare some nice modes that are helpful, like pitch recognition.

Did you follow the step-by-step guide someone posted last year? It was very helpful with step-by-step instructions. Rather than proving a simple tactic (like the ones I put above) it was a routine to practice. For example, you started by only swinging on certain counts, then progress to swinging at fastballs down the center on any count, then progressed to...

Where someone should start is just do timing or analog; no zone. Don't even worry about aiming. You try one of the higher modes (zone, zone+analog) and you are trying to work on timing, eye, location, etc... all at once. No wonder some people struggle! Once you get used to seeing pitches and have the timing down, then start trying the other batting modes where you have to aim the bat.

And using guess pitch won't help you learn to see pitches. It will just help you see fastballs because what someone will do (and I was prone to do it myself so I quit) is to guess fastball, and then if you guess wrong, you just hang back and never learn to just look for off-speed, etc...

[sixmillion]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

All you need to know about hitting.....this is excellent
http://www.operationsports.com/forum...ting-tips.html

[Scott]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

So a game after getting just 1 hit and 0 runs, I notch 17 hits and 8 runs.

[IlliniM1ke]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

I can hit the ball on All-Star and get on base occasionally, but I can never score runs. This is after winning my first 3 games I have played in this version. I don't know what happened. I haven't won sense Tuesday, that's about 6 or 7 games.

Yeah I struggle at putting hits together, so far I've been pretty boom or bust, if I haven't hit home runs I haven't been scoring.

I have only had one hit that has stayed in the park that drove someone home, an RBI double by Allen Craig.

Also only hit one home run that wasn't a solo shot, that was a 3 run homer that barely got over the fence by Rafael Furcal.

I can get guys on base but I can't get them home to save my life.

[Garrett67]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

What I did was put the hitting on Veteran and timing only with the stick.

I realize men have their pride and need to play on All-star or HOF but if you can't hit, then you need to adjust something.

Whether you achieve more hits and runs by turning the difficulty down or applying some magic formula, it doesn't matter. The outcome is the same.

So, save yourself a headache and just go for Veteran hitting, analog hitting with timing only.

You'll save yourself grief.

[sydrogerdavid]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

I feel better now. My slump did last for over 48 hours, but some slider tweaking broke it.

[Doormat]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

It's just one of those slumps dude.. just swing less if struggling for hits to work walks and luck will be on your side

[Bondsfan]

Re: What would give give/do/pay to be able to hit?

Here's what I do. I used to be terrible at hitting, but now I get pretty good stats on All Star. So far so good anyways.

First and foremost, if you are struggling to judge balls and strikes, lower the pitch speed. This gives you an extra split second to read the pitch. Personally, I have mine set at one. But set the slider to zero and increase it from there until you find the speed where its not too easy but you still can judge balls and strikes better.

I use zone hitting with guess pitch 1/4. Here's my strategy, one I really recommend for people who are struggling.

In early counts (0-0, 0-1, 1-0, 1-1) - Don't use guess pitch. Keep the PCI in the center of the strike zone. Don't move it. Only swing if the pitch is heading towards the center of the zone. Your goal during early counts is to only swing if the pitch is a good pitch to hit. If its not, take it, even if its going to be a strike.

In ahead counts (2-1, 3-1,, 3-0) - Basically the same strategy as above, but be extra careful to only swing unless its right down the plate. You can consider using the power swing here, but I almost always just use the regular swing on all counts. Again, don't use guess pitch, and leave the PCI in the center.

In behind counts or full count (any count with 2 strikes) - Now use guess pitch. Guess the zone where you have the most problem judging balls and strikes. I always guess fast ball down. If you guess location right, then using 1/4 guess pitch you'll know the exact location, so you'll know if the pitch is a ball or strike. If your location guess is off, then move the PCI to the other part of the zone (in my case in the upper part of the zone) and just look for a pitch going in that zone.

If you take this strategy combined with slowing pitch speed to better judge pitch location, I guarantee you'll start improving. You'll only wind up swinging at pitches you'll want to swing at, greatly improving your power. Your goal is to basically wait until the pitcher grooves one down the middle, then punish them.