Every player wants to hit home runs, and for good reason: it’s the most exciting play in baseball. It’s also extremely difficult, even for really good hitters. So if you’re struggling to hit the ball over the fence, don’t fret. Let’s go over some helpful tips that can increase power and those home run totals!
1. Relax:
Of everything we’ll discuss, this is perhaps the most important yet is often overlooked or even ignored. Relaxing your body, especially your hands, allows your swing to work to its fullest capability. When you’re tense, you swing more with big muscles (and less with your hands and forearms), which significantly slows down bat speed. If you relax your hands, they, and the bat you’re holding, will travel through the zone faster. That means faster swing speed, which means more distance. You can’t play any sport well if you’re tight. So take a deep breath, relax, and have fun.
2. Put Life In Your Bat:
You’ll almost always see professionals moving the bat in some way (referred to as “bat waggle”) before a pitch. Some bat waggles are iconic (Gary Sheffield, Ichiro Suzuki, Jim Thome), others more subtle, but very few keep the bat completely still. Why? Because it eliminates tension in the hands and arms and establishes a rhythm that helps with timing. When you’re in the batter’s box, the pitch is coming at you fast, and if you’re standing like a statue, you’ll have a more difficult time reacting to the baseball.
3. Practice Good Fundamentals:
This is critical to hitting in general and hitting for power. When players try to hit the ball as hard as they can, their technique often falls apart: front shoulder opens too soon, head doesn’t stay down, and this results in a wild, ineffective swing. If you want to crush the ball, practice fundamentals: Keep your eyes on the ball, shoulder in, head down. Swing through the baseball. Don’t take your eyes off it until after contact.
4. Use An End-Loaded Bat
Force is equal to mass (bat weight) times acceleration (bat speed). An end-loaded bat places more mass directly in the barrel, so if the swing speed is the same, you’ll hit the ball farther. The catch is you have to be strong enough to control the heavier bat. If you’re not, consider the next tip.
5. Hit The Gym
Being stronger, in conjunction with good swing mechanics, will help you hit the ball further. It’s a good idea to strengthen all parts of your body with extra focus on your core, legs, and hands/forearms. Power starts with the legs. You want to have a strong, stable base because your swing starts from the ground up. Your forearms and hands are connected to the bat and need to be strong as well. Of course, the core controls your entire body and when it’s strong, you’ll be able to generate more power with your middle half.
Remember, Hitting A Home Run Is Not All About Power
If your goal is to hit solely for power, many of your at-bats will likely end in frustration. This feast-or-famine approach may result in you being labeled a power hitter but not necessarily a great hitter. We encourage you to become a great hitter, which is why all these tips (with the exception of #4) really apply to hitting for both power and average. You want to be able to get regular hits on pitches close to the strike zone and home runs when pitchers make mistakes over the plate.
How Do You Hit A Home Run Consistently?
It’s easy to get caught up in the mechanics of a swing and all the details that come with it. We have to be careful about over-analyzing and thinking too much when we’re at the plate. With these tips, we’ve tried to step back and simplify the approach. By being more mindful about your approach, and making sure you have the right batting equipment for your style, hopefully will result in more consistent hits and more home runs.
