By Rod Carew, MLB Hall of Famer and Chairman of Rod Carew Baseball
Hitting, indeed, is enjoyable. But becoming a good hitter is by no means effortless. In reality, it’s laughable each and every time any person has ever said, “Rod Carew is a born hitter.”
While winning seven batting titles might not take place, anybody can become a excellent hitter – even a fantastic hitter – if you determine to work at it. A constant drive to enhance is of the utmost importance, but maybe just as crucial at the onset is to understand how to enhance.
As the late, fantastic John Wooden once said, “practice doesn’t make best, ideal practice makes best.” As essential as any other aspect is realizing that the philosophy of each very good hitter is to do whatever is required to assist your team win baseball games. Obtaining on base to score runs, coming by means of in the clutch and driving in runs is clearly the most obvious way to help a team.
But there’s far much more than that involved in becoming a good hitter and a great team hitter. It involves being unselfish, doing the little things like moving a runner over, sacrificing your self for the greater good of your team, all the aspects of the game that don’t necessarily show up in the box score, but still have a large impact in the game’s final score.
In addition to the desire to enhance and function – and playing in an unselfish manner, having discipline and confidence at the plate are an vital component of the equation in becoming a standout hitter. Making consistent contact at the plate comes from knowing the fundamentals of hitting and applying them with discipline and confidence. Know what pitches work very best for you as a hitter, know what pitches you like to hit, what pitches you can and cannot hit and where you want (and can) hit every single pitch you see.
In turn, don’t mess with success, don’t change a winning formula. All the whilst, know that the art and science of hitting is a long and deliberate procedure, and becoming a great hitter will not happen overnight, it won’t happen just by reading this. It takes plenty of experimentation and self-analysis to determine what’s right for you and to refine your craft. From the commence, you need to decide what hitting philosophy you’re going to follow.