How to hit a curveball

No Difference

You hit the curveball the same way you hit the fastball, HARD!

 

Easy for you to say..........lol

 

h

 

Have a plan...

Everyone of us have always taught hitters to "have a plan" or have a good approach"...

Please share your "plans" that you may teach or suggest. It is always up to the hitter as to implementation- success or fail.

I'll start-
1. Know what the pitcher has started other players with on their 1st pitch
2. There is no guessing pitches- see it Look fastball away & adjust
3. Fast ball- Swing out of your shoes
4. No swing on first or second pitch curveball- Why swing at "his pitch"
5. Two strikes- widen stance, keep hands back, shorten stroke
6. Force the pitcher to make a mistake over the plate- (practice fouling off pitches)

These are only thoughts- please share other approaches of players you work with.

 

Know the game situation. Where do you want to put the ball in play too. If you make an out, make it productive, make the defense work.

 

What brought me to think about this topic was twofold:

- I don’t see that many good curveballs in HS- most are spinners
- Too many hanging curveballs are taken for strikes

Now I’m not saying this is taught, but it seems that many HS hitters are being taught to let any breaking pitch go unless there are two strikes and I don’t know why. I’m wondering if bp’s consists mostly with “meat” pitches, so a player doesn’t get a chance to practice hitting a curveball…or maybe it’s their approach.

I really like ECU’s Billy Godwin’s approach: “there are basically two counts- counts with two strikes, and every other count. Until you get to two strikes, mentally you're in a 3-1 count looking for something to hit hard. It doesn't matter what the pitch is....meat fastball, curve ball that just spins, or whatever. But it has to be a pitch you can drive.” However, in HS, you rarely face a pitcher that can consistently throw a good curveball, so even with two strikes you may see a spinner. I believe most agree a hanger can become a banger, but what about the outside strike CB? Most seem to want to pull it (groundball.) vs going oppo. I would think this is correctable through practice, but is it being taught or practiced? I don’t know, but it is a bit frustrating to continue to watch HS hitters let “spinners” go by, hoping for the FB; risking getting into a pitcher’s count.

Personally, I always liked swinging at a mistake curveball, especially against a pitcher with some strong velo, so I don’t understand why so many HS players take them. I have to conclude that some either don’t know how to hit them, aren’t comfortable swinging at them or taught not to swing at them, unless in two strike counts. So, is it a matter of practice? Knowledge? Or approach?…. to hit a curveball.

 

That's one tough question Braves

This has been a particularly fun thread to read (especially as someone who used to dread this pitch)… and in my opinion everything that has been said works or is an approach for someone.

I like the approach of just don’t miss the fastball but what does that really mean?

To me it used to mean just hit the fastball early in the count to avoid getting into a pitchers count… this worked for a while but it had flaws. I let poorly thrown curve balls go, I’d chase fastballs out of the zone, I’d freak out when I got behind in the count, I’d guess curve ball look silly and strike out a lot. No one is every satisfied with their current results and they always strive to improve and with baseball being as much mental as it is physical I set out to improve my approach. After all I have to try to keep up somehow, I may not have all the physical tools, but mine aren't bad and what good will those tools do if I don’t know how to use them… So off I go, the never-ending tweaking begins.

Next, I would base my approach on the type of pitcher I was facing. This takes a lot of legwork to get to know your opponent in some cases, but once again, you’d do anything to get better so off I go. I’d try to pick up tendencies, I’d look at pitching charts, I’d do anything to try to determine what was the most likely pitch and I’d sit curveball, fastball, change-up or whatever it was that I guessed was coming next. I thought I had this guessing stuff down to a science and I was getting pretty good at it (especially when someone else was in the batters box). Well, too often I found myself struggling when it mattered most so off I go again trying to find the answer.

What to try next??… I based my approach on myself, know one knows better than myself what I like to hit, what I handle well and what I struggle mightily with. This may be easier for some than others but it was a bit of a challenge for myself. I’m no power hitter… I get lucky occasionally but for my type, it usually induces a slump. I’m not a turf burner either, but being on the base path is one of my favorite parts of the game so that’s my basic goal to get on base. I don’t need a fastball to get on base so I adjust my approach accordingly. I would love to see a fastball up in the zone and I still look for that pitch to drive… but rather than taking that first pitch curveball on the outer half (that’s usually not as sharp because the pitcher is trying to get ahead not trying to get you to chase) for strike one… I’ll take the easy single to right (or try to take it at least). All these adjustment based on my strengths and weaknesses have been nice but for me the deciding factor to how I’m going to approach an at-bat is the situation at hand.

I’ve played all these mind games and made all these adjustments because I have never found the answer to the initial question. “How do you hit a curve ball?” To this day I still don’t know the right answer but I like how I get around this question in my head. Every at-bat has its own particular situation. There are literally thousands of situation when you look at all the possible variables involved when going into a plate appearance so I can't tell you what my approach is, it's not something I can define. It’s always changing. If I was at the point where I could go up there and confidently sit fastball and know I am going to be able to recognize breaking ball keep my hands back and do all the text book stuff you always hear I wouldn’t be writing this. It’s not that easy for me but rather than worry about hitting the curve ball, I worry about doing my job…getting on base, moving runners, driving them in… see the ball hit the ball do your job… then it doesn’t matter what pitch it is.

 

I worry about doing my job…getting on base, moving runners, driving them in… see the ball hit the ball do your job… then it doesn’t matter what pitch it is.

Well said. Too often this team concept gets lost in the current game. I applaud the player that selfishly does his job day-in & day-out.

 

Ty was an exceptional breaking ball contact hitter because he lived by these rules:

* NEVER hit a first pitch curve or change-up...
* Once a pitcher establishes he has an effective curveball tonight? Stay late...Think up the middle/oppo...
* Most importantly: Focus on the pitcher's release point. See the spin early. Again I say...See it early. Don't just look at the pitcher. Zero in on his release and see the spin. You'd be surprised how few do this.

 

You may be surprised how much this post may help others...outstanding