How to Add Power to Your Baseball Swing

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There are several ways to create power in your baseball swing. The first step should be to develop a good swing from a technical standpoint.

Steps

1. Take a small step directly toward the pitcher when you start to swing. Try to keep weight balanced. Also keep length for even more power. Make sure your front foot is closed off when you step. The toes on the front foot should be pointing across the front of your body. If not, you are going to spin instead of creating torque as your upper body rotates. Torque creates power.
2. When you hit the ball regardless of whether it is an inside or outside pitch your hands remain close to your body.The top hand of the bat should have the palm facing up when you make contact. If the top hand palm rolls over on contact you will not drive through the ball.
3. It is important to keep your hands around the height of your chest. If your hands or elbow is too high, you will cut down on the ball and beat it into the ground. Your elbow should be around a 45 degree angle which allows you to power the bat quickly through the zone.
4. The follow through is important. Your hands should finish high ensuring that the bat head stays through the hitting zone as long as possible. If you finish below your shoulder, then you know that you have "rolled your hands" early which will decrease the amount of time the bat is in the hitting zone, therefore giving you less of a chance of making contact.

Tips

• Weight training, plyometrics, sprints, are things that can be done in season and off season to enhance strength and power. Stay away from distance running if you want to be explosive.
• Practice off a batting tee. In this country players use the tee until they are 7 years old and then start using it again after they are 17. The beginners and professionals use the tee all the time. Scholastic players need to use the tee to develop, maintain,and perfect technique.
• You can also keep hands just ontop of the knob as it gives you a little more power.
• Using the lower half of the body is a good way to easily produce extra power.
• Lead your swing by throwing your hips into the swing, then your hands with follow. That is the new way players are being taught. It is much more powerful. If you think about it, your entire lower body thrusting your entire trunk and arms will generate more power than your jacked up arms alone. Hips will generate more bat speed. Your hips should end up pretty much parallel to the pitcher for maximum bat speed and follow through for power hitting.
• If you strike out dont get angry. Instead try and figure out what you did wrong (or what the pitcher did right) to help you in your next at-bat.
• Swing down on the ball as much as possible, swinging down on the ball will make your bat connect with the middle of the ball resulting in much more power
• Fast bat speed will generate more power than a heavy bat

Warnings

• Do not over swing, you could dislocate your arm.
• Spend ten minutes doing a dynmamic warmup before swinging 100%. Ask any coach or physical education teacher. You will avoid injury and enhance performance.
• Always wear a helmet for safety. You are going to wear one in a game anyway, so you may as well practice with it.
• Do not do steroids or drugs. Youll be found out and the side effects are huge and you will get in a lot of trouble and sometimes even banned from the game.
• Dont use a heavy bat, Ted Willams proved that you dont need a heavy bat to hit the cover off of the ball, use what is just right for you ---Use what is comfortable and makes you confident. The heavier the bat, the farther the ball will go as long as you dont lose bat speed due to the weight of the bat. If you can swing a tree as fast as you can swing a bat, which will hit the ball farther?
• Dont practice your swing too much w/o batting gloves or you will get blisters.
• Make sure you have a strong base/balance when taking your swing. Try not to have a long swing, but be quick and compact.
• Do not swing so fast that you lose your balance and pull your head away.

Related wikiHows

• How to Hit a Baseball
• How to Pitch a Baseball
• How to Play Shortstop in Baseball
• How to Hit a Knuckleball
• How to Hit a Baseball
• How to Be a Better Baseball Hitter

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