Knights Baseball Offensive

Attack Guide

Philosophy:

Commit to the approach. You don’t pick and choose when to follow the approach. It is a part of your arsenal. Buying into this product means you will stay with it through successes and failures. You will fail more times than you succeed, staying consistent in your approach / plan of attack at the plate will bring consistency to your game. Accept failure, learn from it, move on, and apply what you have learned.

Ages 9-12

1. Stay in the strike zone. Be patient. As hitters, if we focus on the strike zone and swing at pitches that we can handle, we have a better chance of making solid contact. “Your” pitch will come, we don’t have to chase outside the zone to find it.
2. Square up the baseball. Balls consistently hit on the barrel will find grass more often than balls hit off the handle/cap. Fighting to make solid contact promotes barrel control which become vital when velocity increases.
3. Commit to hitting the ball on a line. Trying to lift the baseball will only create bad habits. Line drive mentality will create a move level bat path... miss hits will result in deep fly balls and hard grounders.
4. Use the middle of the field. All hitters should be trying to hit the ball “back where it came from”. Middle of the field timing insures we are seeing the ball and making a conscious effort to let the ball travel. “Pull happy” hitters are one dimensional and will struggle with timing when off speed pitches come into play later.
5. Every at bat is an opportunity to succeed. Whether you are 0-3 or 3-3, your fourth at bat is an OPPORTUNITY to get a hit. Treat every at-bat like it is your only at bat of the game.

Ages 13-15

1. ZONE IT UP. Hitters should be looking for their pitch. Free swinging is no longer an option. Unless there are two strikes, we are looking for pitches in our sweet spot to do damage and hit the baseball hard.
2. Looking away. The majority of pitches thrown at the high school level are fastballs and breaking balls on the outside corners. As hitters, it is our job to make sure we are ready to hit the ball out over the plate. The only way to do this is to use the opposite field. Trying to pull pitches on the outside corner will result in weak contact. If we are anticipating the pitch to be away, we should be able to let the ball travel and use the middle to opposite field.
3. Having a plan pitch to pitch. At this level, it is no longer see ball hit ball. As hitters, we must come up with a pitch-to-pitch plan that allows us to make adjustments based on what the pitcher is doing. It is important as hitters to try and pick up pitcher’s tendencies and adjust to what they are doing as quickly as possible. For example, if you are looking for a curveball and you get a fastball, you take it and move on. Commit to your plan and trust it.
4. “Flush it”. The best hitters in the world are where they are because they make adjustments. They also don’t let the umpire or themselves beat them. This means after a bad strike call or a bad swing/at-bat, they step out of the box, reset, and move on the next pitch. STEP OUT, RESET, ADJUST, ATTACK. The longer we dwell over the bat swing or the terrible at bat we just had, the bigger hole we dig for ourselves.
5. FAILURE IS PART OF THE GAME. You are going to get out more times than you will succeed at the plate. Accepting that is going to make you a better hitter. Control the Controllable, you cannot control the ball after it hits the bat… What you can control is swinging at good pitches so we can make solid contact and hit the ball hard. A hard line drive caught by the center fielder > pop up that drops in the outfield. Stats do not define a player, forget about the numbers. Focus on hitting the ball hard.

***You are just as much in the game on the bench watching than playing. Watching what is happening before your at-bat will give you and edge. We are always looking for an edge.***

Ages 16-18

1. ZONE IT UP. Hitters should be looking for their pitch. Free swinging is NOT an option. Unless there are two strikes, we are looking for pitches in our sweet spot to do damage and hit the baseball hard. Understanding which pitches we handle better than others is important. WE DO NOT get beat in OUR ZONE. If we are ready to hit, we shouldn’t miss pitches that we are looking for.
2. Having a plan pitch to pitch. At this level, it is no longer see ball hit ball. As hitters, we must come up with a pitch-to-pitch plan that allows us to make adjustments based on what the pitcher is doing. It is important as hitters to try and pick up pitcher’s tendencies and adjust to what they are doing as quickly as possible. Being able to adjust pitch to pitch give you a better chance of succeeding in your at bat. When in doubt, LOOK AWAY/REACT IN. Hit the ball where its pitched.
3. Gap to Gap timing. We are looking to do damage to the baseball. When we get the pitch we want and we pull the trigger, we should be looking to drive the ball into the gaps ( inside pull side gap / away oppo gap ). This DOES NOT mean we are trying to lift the baseball. Hard line drives over the second basemen and shortstop should be the focus.
4. “Flush it”. The best hitters in the world are where they are because they make adjustments. They also don’t let the umpire or themselves beat them. This means after a bad strike call or a bad swing/at-bat, they step out of the box, reset, and move on the next pitch. STEP OUT, RESET, ADJUST, ATTACK. The longer we dwell over the bat swing or the terrible at bat we just had, the bigger hole we dig for ourselves. *The older you get, the less likely you are to get “mistake” pitches. The one you take after still dwelling on the last pitch might be the only one you get.*
5. Be yourself. Understand what kind of hitter you are. Don’t try to be someone you are not. The best version of yourself is what got you to this position. Continue to master YOUR craft and become the best version of yourself. Simplify your goals as a hitter, commit to them and execute to the best of your ability. Stay in your comfort zone. BE CONFIDENT, embrace challenges and fight like hell to win each pitch.