Tips on Softball Hitting

Hitting a softball requires the involvement of every part of your body. It's important to train your brain and body to work together to become an effective hitter. Focusing on fundamentals like stance and position allow a player to develop other skills, like judging ball speed and contacting the ball.

  1. The Stance

    • Learning proper stance techniques is an important component of hitting a softball. With your face turned toward the pitcher, your body should be balanced with the majority of weight on the rear foot. Stand with feet about shoulder-width apart and keep your head motionless. The key is to let your body shift its weight into a swing while keeping your head still and your eyes on the ball. Knees should be bent at a comfortable angle, and your upper body should lean forward into the plate. Striking a proper balance with the stance boils down to personal preference, since every player is different. In general, keep your body relaxed, head motionless, feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent and body leaning forward. This stance allows you to use your front foot to step into your swing, applying maximum force to the ball.

    Hands and Arms

    • Hands should be low around the bat, with knuckles aligned. The grip on the bat should be firm but flexible enough to allow hand movement when the ball is hit. Arms need to be bent and parallel, with elbows lined up. This allows the batter to propel the swing forward while keeping the bat level. Lock elbows on impact, bringing arms out straight to allow for maximum follow through. Loose arms and elbows result in flubbed hits and foul balls.

    Eye on the Ball

    • The key element in hitting properly is judging the speed of the ball as it approaches and the correct time to swing. This requires the most practice, but when the basic fundamentals of posture and stance are implemented first, this skill develops over time. The ball should contact near the thickest part of the bat. Follow the pitch with your eyes while keeping your head still and stepping into the swing. The more you practice keeping your eyes on the ball, the better you will become at making successful hits and learning to judge when not to swing.

    Practice

    • Practice is the best tip to becoming an effective softball hitter. Before facing pitches, invest time in batting practice with a batting tee. Tees are used in practice for college and professional baseball teams and are a useful resource for softball hitting, as well. Use this time to play around with comfortable stance positions, varying the way you stand and swing to find the stance that works best for you. Before facing fast-pitchers, practice with slow-toss pitches to work up momentum.