BASEBALL - Shortening Your Swing for More Contact!

Shortening Your Swing is a concept that many young baseball players have a hard time understanding.  Some wonder why they would ever want to change their entire swing during an at bat.  That thinking is sort of a misconception.  You are not necessarily changing your entire swing, but adjusting your approach at the plate.

The typical approach for a batter is to swing hard in an attempt to make contact on every pitch.  Many of the players swing for the fences every time.  This is really not the best approach to take at the plate.  Like everything else in life, you will be more likely to succeed if you have a solid plan, and if the odds are in your favor.

Remember, if you put the ball in play then you have a chance of reaching base, but if you swing and miss then you have no chance at all.  The only exception would be thanks to a dropped third strike, but that is a very rare occurrence.  So In order to get the most from every at bat, you may have to be a little flexible at times during any typical plate appearance.

WHAT IS SHORTENING YOUR SWING?

Shortening your swing means focusing on just putting the ball in play, and not worrying about crushing the ball into the outfield gaps.  Basically you want to give yourself the best chance for making contact with the ball and become more of a "singles" hitter.  This doesn't mean that you need to become a player that only hits singles.  It just means that there are times when it may be beneficial to be able to pull this trick out of the bag.

When shortening your swing, there are a couple of means which this can be accomplished.  First you could be a "slap hitter" and just try to quickly throw your hands at the ball without using much of your lower body stride to provide power.  This may be such a drastic change from your normal swing that it would be more detrimental to your plate production than helpful.  However, if you are comfortable swinging with mostly arm power then this might be the style for you.

Now the other and probably the most efficient way to shorten your swing is to set up with the bat pulled back only about 2/3 - 3/4 as far as you would normally setup for a typical full swing.  For example, if you normally hold the bat back so far that your hands are above your back shoulder, and out of your peripheral vision; then you need to move your hands out away from the shoulder until you can see your hands out of your peripheral vision.  With is new stance you will still take your normal stride, but your focus is to just quickly bring the bat throughout the zone and make solid contact.  In these situations contact is more important than power.  However, with this type of swing, you will still have enough pop in the bat to hit the ball hard and drive it through the infield and even hit it solidly into the outfield.  Your leg stride will remain the same as with your full swing, but the shorter distance that the bat has to travel will bring it through the hitting zone a little quicker and usually provides a little more control of the bat head.

WHEN TO SHORTEN YOUR SWING

There are a few situations when it is wise to shorten your swing.  First and foremost is when you have two strikes on you.  This is especially true if runners are on base.  In this situation you want to move runners, and the only way to do that is to put the ball into play.  You can't do that when you strikeout.  So shortening your swing will increase your odds of success.

The second situation is when you are facing a pitcher that "has your number".  If you are facing a pitcher which either you can't catch up to his speed, or he just seems to be able to hit the right locations for the holes in your full swing; them shortening your swing may give you the edge you need to get the proverbial monkey off of your back.

The third situation is when you are trying to break out of a slump.  Shortening your swing and focusing on just making contact on every pitch can help bring you out if a slump.  So as you start to gain more confidence at the plate, likewise you can increase the size of your swing.

Knowing when to swing for the fences and when to shorten up your swing can mean the difference between batting around .250 or becoming a .300 plus hitter.   It takes practice and discipline at the plate to perfect this technique.  However, once you have this kind of command of your swing, you will become a force to reckon with at the plate.

To some of you, this may sound impossible to do.  I assure you it is not.  We have seen this technique work for athletes as young as 9 years old.  Now at this young of an age, the athlete usually has to be reminded to adjust their swing at the appropriate time.  Any coach can easily shout these instructions from the coach’s box or the dugout.  So if little kids can implement these techniques effectively, then older athletes should be able to master them.

-CYU