Advantages of Left Handed Batting in Baseball

Series Summary

The ability to switch-hit in baseball allows a batter to put himself in an advantageous situation against any pitchers they face. Right-handed hitters usually do better against left handed pictures and vice-versa. Most curveballs break away from the side the picture is throwing from, i.e. a curveball from a left-handed pitcher will break to the left of the plate. Most batters have a more difficult time hitting curveballs which break away from them rather than toward them. Thus batting from the right side against a left-handed picture insures that the ball breaks toward the batter, giving him an advantage. Another big plus for switch-hitters, especially in youth leagues, is the guarantee of more playing time for a coach trying to maximize the effectiveness of his lineup. Examples of swith hitters include Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, Carlos Beltran and Lance Berkman.

In this free series of baseball lesson videos, you will learn tips and techniques for switch-hitting from our expert baseball and softball coach. Juan Carlos Landaverde discusses the advantages and disadvantages of being a switch-hitter, then tells you the basics of how you should stand and grip the bat on either side of the plate. He also shares his insight about how and when to swing as a left-hander or as a right-hander. This series also includes tips on how to train to hit from both sides.

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Juan Carlos with Expert Village. In this segment I'm going to teach you how to be a switch hitter. In this segment we're going to talk about advantages from the left side of the plate when being a switch hitter. Normally you want to be on the left side when you have a right handed pitcher pitching towards you. The advantage is to receiving a ball from the left side is definitely picking up the arm angle and actually having the angle going towards you normally down in the zone. So you are able to pick up the ball much effectively from the left side cause lefties like the ball down. So it's very important from the left side the advantage that you want to pick up clearly is the location of the arm angle and normally that arm angle is downward towards the strength of a left handed batter."