3 Techniques to Develop a Baseball Player’s Hitting Approach

• By Grant Young

A baseball player can have the quickest hands, keenest eyes, and most perfect mechanics in their league. But if they never develop a proper hitting approach while at the plate, they’ll never reach their true ceiling.at the plate, they’ll never reach their true ceiling.

On the surface, developing an effective hitting approach can sound simple. Yet, we all know that baseball — hitting, specifically — is a game of failure. And if a player is going to adjust their hitting approach after every time they get out, or even after every hitless game they have, they’ll never reach their true potential. 

Thankfully, there are hitting coaches who are generous enough to share their wealth of wisdom and create courses that can teach you exactly how to develop a consistent hitting approach for your players.

Brandon Matthews - 2 Strike Hitting: Approach, Philosophy, & Strategyke-hitting-approach-philosophy-strategy/control-what-you-can-control/11811851"> 2 Strike Hitting: Approach, Philosophy, & Strategy

Brandon Matthews is a professional hitting instructor in North Carolina. Coach Matthews has almost 20 years of coaching experience at all levels from youth to professional baseball. In 2017, Coach Matthews started Swing Angry LLC for baseball and softball hitting instruction. Since then, he has performed thousands of lessons with youth to professional hitters.

In his course, Coach Matthews explains that developing a praiseworthy hitting approach is all about developing one’s mental fortitude. 

“I think a lot of hitters don’t have success when they get to two strikes because they’re too worried about striking out,” he says. “They’re more focused on what they don’t want to happen, than they are focused on what they want to happen.” 

In other words, many hitters have negative thinking habits at the plate that keep impacting their psyche. Coach Matthews believes the remedy to this is for coaches to help instill confidence and relaxation in their players when they reach two strikes. If their coach remains at ease, and not worried about a potential negative outcome, then it will become easier for the hitter to focus on the positive, as well. 

Another important aspect of Coach Matthews’ lesson is to control what we can control. A pitcher making the perfect pitch, an umpire making a bad call, or squaring a ball up only for it to go straight at a fielder is out of the hitter’s control — and are therefore things that they should not worry about. 

Hitting is difficult enough as is. So why waste time and mental energy thinking about what we won’t be able to change? According to Coach Matthews, these are the keys to developing a solid hitting approach.

Monte Lee - Developing Approach in Hittingcourse/baseball/teaching-approach-in-hitting/11926665"> Developing Approach in Hitting

In 2022, Monte Lee was named the associate head coach/recruiting coordinator for the South Carolina baseball team. Prior to Coach Lee joining the Gamecocks baseball program, he was the the head coach at Clemson University for seven seasons (2016-22), garnering a 242-136 overall record and leading the Tigers to four NCAA Tournament berths. Lee coached nine All-Americans, including at least one All-American in six of his seven seasons, and had 34 players drafted a total of 38 times at Clemson.

During his course, Coach Lee was asked about whether he advises his player to sit on pitches. 

“It depends on what the pitcher is trying to do to us,” Coach Lee responded. He then discusses a situation where an opposing pitcher has an above-average breaking ball, but seldom throws it for strikes. In a situation like that, Coach Lee tells his hooters to avoid pitches that look like they’re headed low and away, because that pitch will likely end up outside of the strike zone. 

The point here is that Coach Lee is preparing with his hitters beforehand on how to handle their in-game hitting approach. There is a constant stream of scouting and communication between coaches and players (and between players and players) about what specific pitchers are trying to do in certain situations. 

Coach Lee alludes to how doing your homework beforehand and communicating feedback to your players is a great way to have them focus on the important things while they’re at the plate, and not playing a guessing game. And even if the hitter is still guessing about what’s coming, they’ll at least feel more confident at the plate as opposed to having no idea what’s headed their way.

Of course, coaches in youth baseball might not have access to opposing pitcher scouting reports. In this case, watching a pitcher make their warm up pitches and seeing what they throw should suffice in communicating an approach to hitters. 

Steve Springer - Mental Side Approach to Hittingourse_lesson/mental-side-approach-to-hitting/the-power-of-breathing/604456"> Mental Side Approach to Hitting

Steve Springer is the former performance coach & major league scout for the Toronto Blue Jays. Coach Springer played over 14 years as a professional baseball player and compiled over 1,600 professional hits. He now travels and speaks across the country about the mental side of hitting while working and training with major league all-stars. Coach Springer is the author of Quality At-Bats and the founder of Quality At-Bats Academy.

While constructing an effective hitting approach is in large part mental, there are crucial physical components to doing so, too. Coach Springer says that breathing might be the most important. 

Coach Springer says that breathing at the plate is about getting one’s energy up in the chest, and then “dancing with the pitcher”; that is, timing one’s breathing them the pitcher’s windup. And that doesn’t mean taking short, choppy breaths in order to synchronize. Rather, Coach Springer suggests taking long, measured breaths that will enable a hitter to think clearly and execute their approach while at the plate, without getting overzealous. 

Breathing is paramount to surviving in all facets of life. So why should hitting be any different?

Taking these tips from three elite hitting courses should help you hone your hitters’ approaches, in both a physical and mental capacity. Hopefully these notes will have your hitters thinking (and breathing) like a pro next time they approach the plate.