Batting Practice Swing = Game Swing

One of the most difficult parts of hitting a baseball is taking your practice swing to the game. Most players from the college level to the minor leagues have fantastic swings off the tee, front toss and pre-game batting practice, but they can't replicate that swing in the game. What separates each player is if they can take that perfect practice swing and trust it in the game.

Many players change their swing in the game in order to just put the ball in play out of fear of their coaching yelling at them for striking out and getting benched. What players need to realize is that their best chance to hit the ball hard is to trust their swing. This goes back to my "Owning Your Swing" post. In 2015, Bryce Harper rarely took batting practice. He just focused on his tee work and front toss in the cage because he knew that the swing he used off the tee and off front toss would work in the game. Harper trusts his preparation and owns his swing.

When players change their swing in the game, they almost always slow their barrel down or change their barrel path. Slowing the barrel down in order to just put the ball in play is not good enough. Changing your barrel path just to put the ball in play is not good enough. Doing each of these things will give you bad results. Players need to completely buy into their swing no matter what the circumstance. I see so many players who have picture perfect swings in the cage and then once they get into the game everything changes. They are overcome by the moment and by the intensity of their at bat, that they let that control them instead of their preparation. Draw confidence from those countless hours of preparation and trust the swing that you have prepared will work in the game.