Coaches: If you you want your TEAM to hit better, here’s the formula… -Identify EACH hitter’s strengths and weaknesses -Put a specific plan together to attack those individual’s weaknesses and work relentlessly to improve those weaknesses. -Allow for their strengths to grow and be utilized ***No part of this game plan focuses on swing mechanics alone, they might only be a small part. ***I’d bet that most of your player’s weaknesses will be based more on mentality, approach, pitch recognition/reaction, pitch selection, pitch locations, contact points and other mental aspects #BaseballTruth

Here's the full at bat in graphic form

2028 3B Jayden Moree (NC) battles in a QAB and rips a PS RBI single. Strong 2k approach and a linear path to contact. Pitch recognition stands out and fluid glovework in the dirt. @PB_Uncommitted @PrepBaseballNC || @nextlevelbbnc #PBFallClassic26

I learned this drill from Rudy Jaramillo when I was with the Rangers. I'm trying to hit this pitch (down, in and deeper in the zone) up the middle with backspin. It forced me to be direct with the barrel out front and get familiar/comfortable with that location without muscling up. Place the tee just in front of your stride foot on the inside corner. Drive the ball up the middle and if possible, to the opposite corner of the cage. I loved the feeling of not fearing the inside pitch. It gave me the freedom to focus on the heart of the plate. I later got traded to the Yankees and saw Derek Jeter consistently hit this location to the RCF gap (in game), solidifying my confidence in this drill. If you (or your hitter) can't hit this ball up the middle, it's likely that the shoulders are turning prematurely. It ain't for everybody, but it could be for somebody! Thanks for watching/reading all that!

Here's how I hit 500 in high school while facing pitchers throwing up to 95 MPH who went on to play D1 baseball. But here's the interesting part... I wasn't focused on getting hits. I was focused on having quality at-bats. And I had a specific approach, training routine, and mindset that helped me do it. Here's what I did. 1. I trained myself to drive the baseball through the middle of the field. Every single day, I hit off a tee. I'd work on driving line drives to right-center, straightaway center, and left-center. 50 swings to right-center. 50 swings to straightaway center. 50 swings to left-center. My goal was to hit line drives over the center fielder's head. But I wasn't just taking swings to take swings. Before each swing, I'd visualize the pitch coming in and see myself driving the baseball through the middle of the field. I was practicing exactly what I wanted to do when I stepped into the batter's box. 2. I had a plan for what pitches I wanted to hit. One thing I noticed in high school was that most pitchers didn't consistently throw inside. So I'd get on the plate and look for fastballs away. And when I got an off-speed pitch, I was looking for one that stayed up in the zone. I wasn't trying to hit everything. I wanted to get a pitch I could drive and make hard contact. And because I'd spent so much time practicing hitting the ball through the middle of the field, I was confident in my ability to execute that approach. 3. I trained my body and mind to compete. I lifted hard three days a week. And whenever we conditioned, my goal was to finish first. Not second. NUMBER 1. I wanted to know that when things got tough, I could push myself harder than the guy competing against me. Because I believed that if I could develop that mentality in the weight room and during conditioning, it would carry over into games. Especially when things weren't going my way. And trust me, there were plenty of times when things didn't go my way. Which brings me to the most important part of my approach. 4. I focused on quality at-bats instead of hits. Here's how I looked at hitting. My goal was to have four quality at-bats every game. If I stepped into the batter's box four times and consistently hit line drives, hard ground balls, and hard fly balls, I believed the hits would take care of themselves. I figured if I could consistently hit the baseball hard, I'd give myself a great chance of getting at least two hits. But a quality at-bat wasn't always about hitting the ball hard. It was about having a plan, getting a good pitch to hit, making good decisions, and competing until the at-bat was over. And if I was 0-for-3? I wasn't giving away that fourth at-bat. I'd battle, compete, and do everything I could to find a way on base. Because 0-for-3 with a walk was better than 0-for-4. That was the mentality I wanted to carry into every game. And once I had a couple of hits, that's when I'd start looking for opportunities to drive a baseball out of the park. My approach was still to drive the baseball through the middle of the field. But now I'd become more aggressive about trying to drive one out. I'd visualize hitting the baseball over the batter's eye in center field. I wasn't chasing home runs before I'd done my job. I was trying to be a consistent hitter first. Because there's one thing I learned playing this game... You can hit a baseball right on the screws and still make an out. And you can take a terrible swing, barely get the barrel on the ball, and watch it fall in for a hit. That's baseball. You can't control every result. But you can control how you prepare, the pitches you swing at, and how you compete when things aren't going your way. So if you're a young hitter trying to become more consistent, stop measuring every at-bat by whether you got a hit. Start asking yourself: -Did I have a plan? -Did I get a good pitch to hit? -Did I make hard contact? -Did I compete? Because I didn't hit .500 by chasing hits. I focused on having quality at-bats, and the hits followed. Hope this helps, Jermaine Curtis P.S. If you enjoyed this and thought it was helpful, please share it. (It tells me you want more content like this.)