Mental Training For Baseball Hitters

By Kenny Buford

Be Prepared for the Good Pitches

The times a batter will have a perfect pitch thrown to them are few and far between. For this reason, a batter must be ready to aggressively go after a ball they believe is perfect for what hit they need and their personal hitting strengths. Aggression is essential in batting because players need to believe that they can successfully hit the ball they are being pitched.

Preparation for the good pitches comes first in practice. Coaches must help develop confidence in their players.

Coaches can help batters prepare for good pitches by building their confidence in practice. If you encourage players to hit the balls they think they can hit, you show them that you trust their judgment. If you congratulate them when they have a good appearance at the plate, you show that you recognize and appreciate their good technique and hard work.

By teaching players when and where to hit a ball, as well as helping build their confidence during practice and in games, you will soon find that your players are ready to jump all over good pitches when they come. Those players with less encouragement and support hesitate more at good pitches and are not prepared to meet the challenge with confidence and the aggression necessary.

Stay Focused in the Box

While in the batter's box, players should be thinking of nothing more than connecting with the ball and doing their job properly. All thoughts of technique and preparation should be gone, because the player has focused on this during practice to the point that all motions come like second nature.

The batter should also keep his focus on the pitcher. Once in place, the batter should look only at the pitcher, so as to better read what pitch is coming and how to hit it. Finding a central focus point like the pitcher also helps batters tune out the noise and other distractions threatening to take the player's focus from the ball.

Kenny Buford is a baseball coach with over 20 years of experience and a founding member of Baseball Inner Circle. Discover the ultimate source for baseball drills, videos, and coaching tips that will immediately improve your players' skills and win more games for your team:

Baseball Inner Circle

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kenny_Buford

Baseball Coaching Digest
The Baseball 2Day Coaching Journal
American Baseball Directory
Baseball Parent Guide