Want to improve your baseball or softball game?

Take some tips from the pros.

Coach Tim Nolan, professional batting instructor, associate scout for the Philadelphia Phillies, and the designer of the ProCut Hitting System, has a few ideas to help you improve your game skills.

Balance

Why balance is so important?

Balance is very important if you want to be a successful, high average hitter, both in baseball and softball. A hitter needs to be consistently balanced at the beginning of the swing (stance), and through the rest of the swing, hit or miss.

Are you a balanced hitter?

To find out if you have a balanced swing, test yourself. Take a hard practice swing and freeze at the end. If you stand still without falling off balance, that means you're on your way to being a consistent hitter. If you are off balance, there is a way to fix the problem.

How can you correct your balance?

It all starts with the feet. After you freeze, make sure your front foot is flat on the ground and that the toes are not pointing toward the pitcher. The back foot should have the heel pointing toward the sky and the shoelaces toward the pitcher. Start your practice swings in slow motion until you consistently swing without losing balance. Then, work up to faster swings. Click here for more info.

Don't believe the hitting "myths".

In most of the youth baseball and softball organizations across the U.S., coaches and volunteers are teaching kids what they learned 15-30 years ago. What players need to learn from the start are the fundamentals. It is vital that Little League coaching is up-to-date, because if taught incorrectly, players develop bad habits, which can make it difficult for them to advance to the next level.

Myth #1 - Hitters should put their back elbows up.

Actually, the elbows, both front and back, should be relaxed, with the front shoulder down. Coaches teach hitters to put their back elbows up if the hitter tends to always hit fly balls.

Many times the bat is too heavy, causing the front shoulder to lift higher than the back shoulder, making the hitter swing an upper cut - which is fundamentally incorrect.

Myth #2 - Using a doughnut on your bat helps improve your swing.

As experienced coaches, we don't recommend traditional doughnuts especially for Little League baseball or youth softball. In fact, they should not be used by anyone but professionals, who know how to use them correctly and have already established a solid, powerful swing. Weights on the barrel of the bat helps reinforce bad habits, such as dragging, rather than driving, the bat through the hitting zone.

Myth #3 - A hitter should step into an outside pitch.

A hitter should take the same stride and swing for an inside pitch, an outside pitch, or down the middle pitch. The only thing that should change is the angle of the bat at the point of contact.

Prepare yourself properly for a game.

For a hitter to get ready before a game, they must first loosen up by stretching the arms, legs, and body. To be a successful hitter, there are a series of drills to follow so you are loose for the first pitch. These drills help a hitter put their fundamental swing together:

1) Practice with dry cuts or practice swings (No ball.) 100-300 swings a day, 3-7 days a week for practice. Work on good fundamental swings with good balance EVERY SWING.

2) Hit off a hitting tee:This adds the element of hitting a ball without the ball moving. 100-300 swings a day, 3-7 days a week for practice. (10-25 swings before a game.) Work on good fundamental swings (to all fields) with good balance EVERY SWING. Hit the ball on-the-line drive every time, where it is pitched (inside, middle, outside.)

3) Soft toss drill: A coach/person tosses a ball from the side of a hitter into the hitting zone. This adds the element of a slow moving ball. 100-300 swings a day, 3-7 days a week for practice (10-25 swings before a game.) Work on good fundamental swings (to all fields) with good balance EVERY SWING. Hit the ball on-the-line drive every time, where it is pitched (inside, middle, outside). Great drill before a game!

4) Short toss drill: A coach/person (behind a net) throws a ball from half way between the pitcher's mound and the home plate. This now simulates a pitch being thrown as if in a game. 100-300 swings a day, 3-7 days a week. Work on good fundamental swings (to all fields) with good balance EVERY SWING. Hit the ball on-the-line drive every time, where it is pitched (inside, middle, outside).

5) Batting practice: This is the last drill used to properly warm up a hitter after learning how to hit or to warm them up before a game. It is extremely difficult to just take batting practice to learn how to hit, let alone to just take it before a game. Take your time and warm yourself up properly. I guarantee if you follow these simple steps, you will be a more consistent hitter and you will be ready to hit when game time comes. 50-100 swings a day, 3-7 days a week. (10-25 swings before a game.) Hit the ball on-the-line drive every time, where it is pitched (inside, middle, outside).

Remember:

Do not swing too much! Quality is better than quantity. Swing 6-12 times per repetition. Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect!