Contact or Power swinging?

[deckofcards77]

What's the most effective way to swing? Do you still hit homers with a contact swing?

[nomo17k]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

I rarely hit HRs with contact swing. It's useful for avoiding swing & miss, but you'll have a less chance on driving the ball. I only use it when I don't want to strike out or just want to put balls in play (e.g., hitting a grounder with a runner on third). You'll notice the exit speed with contact swing is generally slower even when you square up.

Power swing, you'll hit harder if you can make a solid contact, but your bat control suffers (i.e., you'll end up with more swing and misses). So I would only use it only when I'm looking for a specific pitch (both location and speed). The exit speed with power swing is generally much faster when you square up. In turn, if you hit a grounder with a man on first, you might get more GIDPs.

In MLB 13, power swing is pretty effective... too effective IMO. If you play at a lower difficulty where PCI is generally big, you can hit HRs all day long by just waiting on a mistake pitch down the middle...

[KBLover]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

In MLB 13, power swing is pretty effective... too effective IMO. If you play at a lower difficulty where PCI is generally big, you can hit HRs all day long by just waiting on a mistake pitch down the middle...

Unless you use timing, imo.

*watches as Evan Longoria is "looking" 2 feet outside on a pitch in the middle third of the plate and pops up*

[Armor and Sword]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

Typically if I am behind in the count (0-2, 1-2) I am using contact swing to fight off pitches and force the count back to 2-2, 3-2. It is a great way to stay alive in AB's and force the pitcher to "give in" to a pitch you can square up wth your normal swing.

I rarely hit HR's with contact swing...but I have done it. I have also gotten some key hits, or sac's using contact.

I rarely use the power the swing (I play with Timed hitting). Every now and then on a 3-1 count with my big boppers I will square up a ball with the power swing.

[KBLover]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

I rarely hit HR's with contact swing...but I have done it. I have also gotten some key hits, or sac's using contact.

Sometimes I get better hits with contact than normal - wonder if you're using a high contact player if contact swing isn't better since it makes it even more likely he'll square up the ball?

[Joey]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

Reading the question in the OP, I can't help but wonder if he means Normal or Power regarding HRs? I never use the Power swing. Ever. I still hit plenty of HRs with Normal and I always switch to Contact with 2 strikes. Only exception may be if I have a stud up and it's full count, then I may stay with the Normal swing.

[deckofcards77]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

Okay. I see what you guys are saying, another question I have is when I play road the show, how do I hit homeruns if my power isn't all the way up? Do I power swing all the time?

[deckofcards77]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

Reading the question in the OP, I can't help but wonder if he means Normal or Power regarding HRs? I never use the Power swing. Ever. I still hit plenty of HRs with Normal and I always switch to Contact with 2 strikes. Only exception may be if I have a stud up and it's full count, then I may stay with the Normal swing.

So with the normal swinging I will still be able to hit homers? Even with a RTTS rookie?

[nomo17k]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

Unless you use timing, imo.

*watches as Evan Longoria is "looking" 2 feet outside on a pitch in the middle third of the plate and pops up*

Yeah, I think Timing hitting is a bit different in that the AI seems to guess (for you) pitch location and timing a lot, rather than reacting to each pitch after placing his PCI in a more general location.

I think there was a big discussion a couple years ago about PCI placement by AI in Timing hitting mode, based on how some felt very weird that AI quite often placed PCI anywhere other than around down the middle of the strike zone in hitter's counts (3-0, 3-1, etc.). A couple reported that PCI was placed somewhere in Kansas when they would naturally look only for pitches in the deep part of the strike zone. That made Timing hitting unsatisfying for some, because even when you feel you square up, the PCI placement is at the mercy of AI and the end result is not necessarily in sync.

Okay. I see what you guys are saying, another question I have is when I play road the show, how do I hit homeruns if my power isn't all the way up? Do I power swing all the time?

Even when your Power attribute is low, you can still hit HRs when you really square up, in terms of PCI placement and timing. (That's how you can hit HRs with pitchers at the MLB level, although it is very rare.) Down in minors in RTTS, the opposing pitchers have low H/9, BB/9, and K/9 ratings, which together make it comparatively easier to square up on pitches, even if your hitting attributes aren't all that high.

Contact swing naturally nerfs the power, so if your end goal is to hit HRs, then I would only use Normal or Power swing. There is a tradeoff between the two, namely, it is easier to square up with Normal swing while you substantially lose that control with Power swing. But if you are a master of Zone hitting and move PCI around at will to square up against various pitches, Power swing will generate more harder hit balls for you. So it depends on how well you are already hitting.

Having said that, if your goal is to hit a lot of HRs, there's no substitute for increasing Power attribute IMO. That by far is the most important attribute for that purpose.

[Knight165]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

Yeah....I'm thinking he meant normal and not contact.

I think you have very little chance of hitting a HR with the contact swing.

You can still hit plenty with normal.

M.K.
Knight165

[deckofcards77]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

Yeah....I'm thinking he meant normal and not contact.

I think you have very little chance of hitting a HR with the contact swing.

You can still hit plenty with normal.

M.K.
Knight165

Yea I meant normal I apologize.

[Knight165]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

Yea I meant normal I apologize.

No need.

I rarely use the contact swing.....because for me....I think you need to be a good hitter to use the different swings "properly".
What I mean is you need to recognize the pitch and location and choose which swing on the fly.
I'm usually locked on to one of the buttons and just hope for the best.:o
For me to pick a different swing type on the fly usually ends in a pretty poor AB for me.

M.K.
Knight165

[nomo17k]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

No need.

I rarely use the contact swing.....because for me....I think you need to be a good hitter to use the different swings "properly".
What I mean is you need to recognize the pitch and location and choose which swing on the fly.
I'm usually locked on to one of the buttons and just hope for the best.:o
For me to pick a different swing type on the fly usually ends in a pretty poor AB for me.

M.K.
Knight165

This is the most shocking post that I've read this year..... because it implies: (1) Knight actually hits; (2) he is able to switch Contact/Normal/Power swing on fly, which as far as I know few even try to accomplish....

Using Analog, the swing type can only be preloaded, so switching on fly isn't an option... This is an aside, but rather than clear distinctions among different types of swing, I would rather see how we use stick/button be reflected on the swing speed..... (that is, if we have a different swing type at all.)

Like if we press the button harder or push the analog stick up faster, then you register a faster swing (i.e., Power), etc. Too bad pressure sensitivity has been removed from DS4...

[Knight165]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

This is the most shocking post that I've read this year..... because it implies: (1) Knight actually hits; (2) he is able to switch Contact/Normal/Power swing on fly, which as far as I know few even try to accomplish....

Haha....
1....I TRY to hit occasionally!(with poor results)
2.....I definitely cannot switch swing types on the fly, which I thought(think) is the best way to use the types according to what pitch/location you get(ie....if you looking inside and get that pitch on 0-2 or 1-2....you would use normal...but if the pitch was low and away(while guessing inside)....you would hit contact just to foul it off.

I guess I figured that's how the better hitters of The Show did it.

M.K.
Knight165

[nomo17k]

Re: Contact or Power swinging?

Haha....
1....I TRY to hit occasionally!(with poor results)
2.....I definitely cannot switch swing types on the fly, which I thought(think) is the best way to use the types according to what pitch/location you get(ie....if you looking inside and get that pitch on 0-2 or 1-2....you would use normal...but if the pitch was low and away(while guessing inside)....you would hit contact just to foul it off.

I guess I figured that's how the better hitters of The Show did it.

M.K.
Knight165

Come to think of it, it's not impossible to switch between [] and X (but not with O) on fly just using the thumb with button based hitting... with Timing it seems doable. I don't know anyone who actually does it, but perhaps that's a novel approach for using Normal and Power swing right there. I dare people to try it...