How to Hit a Baseball Harder

Baseball is one of America's favorite pasttimes. Even with the technological advance in entertainment today such as online gaming, nothing beats the comraderie of playing a game of baseball with friends.Baseball is more fun to play if you're good at it. Of course you're not going to have as much fun as the other players if you can't hit the ball, catch it, or run fast enough to get around the bases. Hitting the baseball attracts more people to the game than anything else. There are many different things you can do to be able to hit a baseball harder. This article will show you how to do just that.

Things You'll Need

• baseball
• bat
• batting cages
• (or someone to throw ball to you if no batting cages)
• protective headgear, such as helmet
• sneakers with some traction for your stance
• comfortable clothing for hitting baseballs

Instructions

1. Strengthen your upper body muscles. The more strength you have in your swing, the further you will be able to hit the ball. There is more to it than this, but this is the first step you can take. Start lifting weights and working out to get your upper body in shape and ready to swing the bat.

2. Find somewhere to practice. The batting cages are a great place to do this, because you don't have to have someone throw balls to you all the time. Also, you have more chance of having a ball come over the strike zone to give you the best opportunity to hit it. The balls are thrown at a relatively consistent speed, and you will have your choice of a slow pitched, medium pitched, or fast pitched baseball.

3. Practice, practice, and continue to practice. The more times you swing the bat, the more you will develop the muscles that are used for hitting the ball. The more balls you hit, the more coordination you will develop for maintaining accuracy and being able to time the ball right to hit it harder.

4. It's all about timing your swing. Swing too early and you'll either miss the ball or tap it weakly to the infield. Swing too late and your power will be dissipated. Timing is about practice. The more pitches you see, the better you'll be able to time the baseball. A perfectly timed swing will result in a hard line drive to centerfield.

5. Hit the ball at the right place on the bat. You want the ball to make contact with the bat on the center of the upper part of the bat. If you hit the edge of the bat, you won't get as much power. This will take practice and coaching by having someone watch you and give you feedback. Or, you could videotape yourself and see where you're hitting the ball with the bat.

6. Use a heavier bat during part of your practice. What this will do for you is get you used to having a harder swing, so that when you use a lighter bat, you will be able to swing faster and harder. It's like if you train for a long distance race, and you run five miles every day so that when you run the one mile race it's like a hop, skip and jump to the finish line.

7. Use the appropriate bat for your size and strength. You can use a heavier bat for practice, and even as a warmup for swinging before you actually step out onto the field for a game. However, when you get ready to hit the ball as hard as possible, you want a bat that works best for you. Find one that is the correct length and weight by trying different bats out until you are comfortable.

8. Swing quicker. The quicker your swing, the further the ball will go. When practicing, try swinging faster so that you can accomplish this. Keep in mind that if you increase the speed of your swing, you'll have to adjust your timing.

9. Hold the bat correctly. The better grip you have on the bat, the more strength you'll be able to put into your swing. Find hands positions that are comfortable for you. Then, experiment with other ways to see if they give you more power. In general, if you hold your hands away from the bottom of the bat, you should get a quicker swing.

10. Find a good stance. Test stances out to see what is comfortable and see which one gets the ball flying the furthest out into the outfield. Even if you have an unusual stance, use it if you are comfortable and get results. In general, try standing with your feet shoulder length apart, and also in a way that when you swing the bat, it swings level to the ground.

11. Put more of your body into the swing. To do this, lean towards your back foot. Then you can move your body forward to get more power behind the swing.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a small frame, don't fret. If you use many of the other techniques, you'll still be able to hit one out of the park.

• The more of these techniques you can employ, the harder you will be able to hit the ball.

• You have to be able to hit the ball in the first place before you can hit it harder. If you have trouble with the coordination, this can work itself out with lots of practice at the batting cages. The most useful practice will come when you have someone to give you feedback. For instance, if you're swinging late, the person can tell you and you can start swinging sooner.