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Step 1
Overcome the mental game of staying in the box even when you see the ball coming towards you. Imagine: You are standing at the plate, and waiting for the pitch. As the ball leaves the pitchers hand it looks as though the ball is headed on a direct plane towards your head. Your instincts tell you to duck or back out of the box. As you do the ball breaks right across the plate for a strike. Such is the nature of a great curve ball. However, you must overcome the instinct to move. This takes tons of practice and a few bruises, but it is vital to learning to hit the curve ball.
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Step 2
Learn to not kill the ball. Most young hitters are swinging for the fences every time. You must learn that baseball is a game of inches, feet and yards. Not just bombs over the fence. If you are swinging out of your shoes every time, then you are not concentrating as you should to hit a curve ball.
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Step 3
Practice. If you do not see tons of curve balls, you will not learn to hit them consistently. Get in the cage and practice every chance you get. Instead of hitting 100 balls, hit 200 balls. Dedicate yourself to hitting the curve ball solid every time.
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Step 1
Learn to hit the fast ball. Sounds silly, right? Not at all. You simply must be a great fast ball hitter to excel at hitting the curve ball. The reason? A level swing. Swinging level is the only way to hit curve balls hard every time. Hitting fast balls teaches you to swing level. Also, at the lower levels of the game you will see better fast balls than curve balls. Learn to kill that fast ball and you are on your way.
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Step 2
Study the pitcher. Most pitchers will tip off the pitch sometime during either the delivery or before the wind up. Watch them when you are waiting to hit. Do they scratch their nose every time they throw a curve? Do they hold the ball differently? Pick up on these tip offs to know what is coming.
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Step 3
Keep your head in and learn to go the other way. Hitting to the opposite field is a lost art in baseball. When you wait until the last possible moment to hit a curve ball, you will have a much higher success rate. This also allows you to see the pitch longer and determine if it is a strike or ball. If the ball comes in below the knees, leave it alone. It will drop out of the strike zone. The same is true for an outside pitch. If the plane of the ball is outside on the release, then let it fall safely out of the strike zone. A walk is just as good.
