One of the toughest things in the world to do is to hit a round baseball coming at you at 95 miles per hour with a round bat, squarely enough so that you can send it off into the field ahead of you in such a manner that it goes far enough that you can get on base. Some of the greatest sports players from other mediums have said that they'd rather do anything else than try to hit a baseball. Some of these people are some of the strongest and most powerful players in their respective sports, including football tackles who have to deal with 300 pound bodies day in and day out.

So why is it that hitting is so difficult and what exactly is a professional ball player's approach to hitting? To understand the difficult part, just try it yourself. To understand the approach, keep reading.

A professional baseball player, at least if he is one of the better ones, develops what is called an approach to hitting. Not everyone's approach is the same, for if it was everyone would hit the same. But what is constant is that every player who develops an approach, sticks to it religiously. That is how he develops consistency.

The first part of the approach is the stance that the player takes when he is up at the plate. There are basically two stances, open and closed. An open stance is when the batter stands up to the plate with the front of his body almost facing the pitcher. In other words his body is exposed, or open to the pitcher. A closed stance is when the batter stands at the plate and his body is at a 90 degree or even smaller angle to the opposing pitcher. The advantage of an open stance is that you can swing the bat quicker after the ball is released since you are almost in a swing position to start with. The disadvantage of an open stance is that on inside pitches you are more likely to pull the ball foul. The advantage of a closed stance is that you can generate more power when hitting the ball because the bat is being swung farther. Also, a closed stance makes you wait on the ball more and keeps you from committing too soon. Depending on the player's individual strengths and weaknesses, a particular stance will be chosen.

Aside from the approach, there's how far up the bat a batter will hold it. Some batters who prefer to make contact over hitting home runs will choke up on the bat. This gives them more control. The stronger men in the game will hold the bat almost all the way down at the end of it by the knob. This allows them to generate more power when they swing. Your typical power hitter will hold the bat this way.

In the next installment of our approach to hitting two part series we'll focus on how a batter adjusts during an at bat depending on the count, the situation and the pitcher he is up against.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Baseball