[bcruise]

I've mentioned it in other threads but I'll go through it again - this is my general approach to zone hitting on HOF:

Early counts (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-1): I pick a spot with the PCI and sit on it (depending on the patterns I've seen from the pitcher), and prepare to swing early to pull with most hitters. If I perceive the ball to be heading outside of the PCI, even if it's in the strike zone, I won't swing. Note the word "perceive" here - I am definitely not perfect at this (wouldn't be much fun if I was), and I'm pretty susceptible to stuff that breaks below the PCI. It's basically like guessing fastball and getting the change. But when I get that fastball where I want it, I can do some major damage.

Ahead Counts (2-0, 3-0, 2-1, 3-1): Not much different from early counts, except that I'll look more toward the center of the zone more often and mix in a power swing with certain hitters (usually those with a large PCI which cancels out the power swing penalty).

Behind Counts: (0-2, 1-2, 2-2? (not "behind" per se, but still two strikes)) Protect mode. That means attempting to move the PCI to follow the ball, make contact and put the ball in play. Nothing to say about this one other than practice - it's the only way you get better at identifying balls and strikes. The "Discipline" batting practice mode is well-suited to training the two strike hitting approach. I do not use contact swings here or on full counts - I use them very situationally such as trying to drive home a runner from 3rd with less than 2 out.

Full count: Basically the same as behind, but with a slight bias towards taking something that looks like it's heading to a corner. I still don't want to strike out looking, though.