How To Swing A Baseball Bat Correctly |Learn Easy Steps From A Coach

Last Updated on July 25, 2022

Different techniques and setups are needed for proper batting in baseball. Swing is one of the best ways to correct baseball batting. I have seen many players struggling with how to swing a baseball bat correctly.

Do you want to know how to swing a baseball bat properly? If so, then continue reading the following. As a coach of baseball, I can definitely assist you with proper guidelines and relate real-life stories from my students’ experiences.

Hitting in baseball is always challenging and a stressful job to deal with. Every good hitter always looks forward to how to swing a baseball bat correctly.   In the following write-up, I will be directing you on how to swing a baseball bat correctly.

What Does ‘Swing The Bat’ Mean?

Before I intervene, I want you to understand what a swing is in baseball. In baseball, ‘Swing The Bat’ refers to a type of movement performed by the batter or hitter.

When you start playing baseball, as a hitter you need to swing your baseball bat the best you can in an attempt to hit the pitcher’s pitch. 

When all other factors are equal, a hitter who swings more is likely to hit the ball more. I always tell my students that “practice makes a player, a player”. The more you practice the more you learn and furnish.

There are multiple research and ongoing projects on the swing in baseball. Moreover, many arguments are there too. Most Major League Baseball players and Little League Players emphasize swing in baseball.

Top-down swing, leadfoot down or off, arm Z swing, weight shifting, front foot force, and bat and ball contact are some of the main events to determine while swinging a bat in baseball. You have to keep reading the following to know how to properly swing a baseball bat.

In the link below, I have attached a slow-mo video of proper swings in baseball so that you can easily understand how to swing a baseball bat correctly:

Importance Of Swing In Baseball

Swing is of the utmost importance in baseball. Many aspects are related to swinging in a baseball game. However, different pitch locations determine the swings in baseball.

Many arguments have been coming for decades on whether the swing is a rule or not. I would like to clarify one thing: there are no written rules that you must have to swing in baseball. However, most successful players follow the swing motion to success.

Here I would like to mention a quote about swing from one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Babe Ruth. 

“I swing big, with everything I’ve got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can”.

Do you know there are differences between swings in softball and baseball? Check out my article regarding the differences between Softball Swing and Baseball Swing on my website. 

What Are The Swing Sequences?

If you think about an elastic band, you want to be able to shoot the band, store energy in the band or create tension within it then pull the band back, but the band on stretch and then release it. 

The body works the same way. You have to be able to put your body on stretch and then release that stretch. That is how you can swing. All the bat’s speed is produced by being big and strong.

The basic swing sequences are explained below:

• The things you need to do is change the way your body moves and change the sequences. Here the main thing is creating proper sequencing throughout the body. 
• Accelerate the body from the ground up.
• Release tension and stretch within the body.
• Create resistance with the upper body. The upper body will let the arms take over and start the swing. 
• Pull back and make a forward move into the ball. Hold the resistance as long as you can even if your lower body starts to unwind.
• The sequence is the lower body will start to open and the shoulders will be closed then the shoulders start to open and now the bat’s turn to hit.

Besides how to properly swing a bat, you must be interested in your speed as a hitter. Learn how to boost your speed by ten miles per hour using tried and true methods.

How To Swing A Baseball Bat Correctly?

In Major League Baseball, you must have seen a lot of baseball players utilizing different ways of swing. The explanation of how to swing a baseball bat correctly is not so easy to describe without showing physically.

I heard this question, ‘how to swing a baseball bat’ the most from my students. There are different types of swinging techniques you can use while hitting. Different players use different swing processes.

Below I am describing some of the most used movements of swing in baseball so that you can know how to swing a bat correctly.

Proper Stance

Proper stance is the key to swinging in baseball before you gather any other knowledge on how to correctly swing a baseball bat. Above everything else, your stance should be flexible and comfortable to you. 

I always get the question from students on how I should stand at the plate, should I start with a square stance or should I start open or close? 

I think this is a very basic and simple question. However, it is often overlooked by a lot of players. I think stance and grip are the very basic fundamentals and they are very important. It is very important to have a solid foundation first before ever moving on to anything more advanced.

The first thing that you have to understand is that there is really no perfect way to stand in the batter’s box. There is no perfect way to stand with your feet, there is no hand position. There is no perfect positioning in the box whether it is forward in the box, back in the box, or the distance away from the plate.

There is nothing absolutely down to an exact science. There are some fundamentals. If you look at the big league game you may find that all the hitters have slightly different stances.

Your stance will change over the course of time. You will need to make adjustments from the time you are eight years old all the other way till you are 20 to more than that.

A proper stance will help you to understand how to swing a baseball bat properly.

Square Stance

• It is the traditional stance. 
• The feet will be even here. They should be parallel with the plate or parallel with the barrel box.
• If you are a beginner or still learning this is the stance that I would recommend to you.

Open Stance

• The open stance is pretty self-explanatory and the opposite of the close stance.
• The front foot actually moves a little bit closer to the plate and there are varying degrees of open and closed stance. Some people want too wide and want too narrow. It varies from player to player.

Close Stance

• The Close Stance is also self-explanatory and the opposite of the open stance.
• The more you rotate your body inside the pitch you won’t be able to make contact.
• This is the thing I personally do not like. It is not that common these days. Because it hinders you at that plate.

Turning The Barrel And Getting The Right Grip 

Tipping the barrel forward is a very clever motion that revolves the barrel around the hands.

From the tipping position, your barrel should level with the upcoming pitch.

Before turning the shoulders, perform this movement. You must develop top-level bat speed and flexibility by generating a running start. You must be able to shift the barrel while maintaining the hands back, allowing you to adjust to pitching velocity and position.

Stretching And Hitting

While attacking the baseball, notice that you need to keep your weight balanced over the back leg.

Your upper body will strive to maintain your position while the lower body will take the lead.

For power, the stretch and hitting mechanic is crucial. In a flawless baseball swing, your lower body will come first, followed by your upper body.

You can improve your swing speed by engaging in this tug of war.

Flexibility

The ability to hit various pitches and spots is referred to as flexibility.

Take note of how the barrel travels apart from the shoulders.

This permits bat speed to be developed without committing fully to the pitch. For as long as feasible, the hands are kept back.

Baseball is a sport that rewards consistency. Thousands of players are capable of hitting a baseball 400 feet or more. Only a few are capable of doing so consistently against the top pitchers on the planet.

Planting Feet

I have seen that some hitters land with the toes slightly open with a stiff lower half. Maybe there is no flexibility in the hips. It is okay as long as that heel will drive straight down to give a firm base if you land with the toes slightly open. 

You have to make sure that it does not open up or creep in as you start into rotation. Some hitters keep it squared up closed and then they drive straight down and they might have just a little bit more flexibility in the hips which is okay.

And if you focus on the front foot you can gather more power and you can help a little bit shorter and quicker to the ball. This is a great drill to put together and what you need to do is put a small bat inside of the stride foot that will help you to stay square on contact and not open up so early.

The mistake that a lot of people make is when they go into the foot plant they start to open on foot plant or when they drive the heel or drive the foot down it opens when they start to swing. 

When you go down in foot plant imagine your foot being concreted or a cement block or something that it can stay and feel planted inside the ground and not open.

Hands Position

There are a lot of rotation elements in the swing. Hands position is the sequence of the baseball swing. 

If you pulled the bat away from a right-handed hitter at contact and had open hands, your right hand should be facing the sky and your left hand should be facing the surface. 

At contact, this is the most forceful bat grip you can have. There are so many theories regarding hands. Some say do not do anything with your arms while swinging. 

When I try to get my upper body ready to hit I always think about two things. 

1. I will get my hips coiled. 2. Feel from the waist up

You will see that when you start to get ready to hit the upper body and shoulders will move and things start to get coiled and it will be pointing slightly to the right of the pitcher for the right-hand hitter and slightly to the left of the pitcher for the left-handed hitter.  

Want to know about the front elbow baseball swing? We have an article on this topic on the website. See the front elbow baseball swing on the website to improve your baseball vision.

Head Standing

Different players’ instances start a little bit more shifted out. During my training session, I often find that some hitters’ heads are going forward and up rather than rotating. 

I want you to understand that your head should always stay still and rotate. You can do the pole drilling session to do the head position correctly. Your body will rotate, you will be transitioning in the side bend and you will keep your body hinged over the plate so that you can stay through the outside pitch and through the low pitch without giving up the posture.

From my experience, I have found that this drill is extremely helpful for young players.

If you are interested in knowing about stop arm barring in baseball you can find it on our website.

How Can A Beginner Swing A Bat?

I receive inquiries about how to swing a bat baseball, where to start with young kids, what’s the first exercise you should do, and where we should spend most of our practice time, and so on.

The process is very much individual. In the following, I am covering the very basic rules of how to swing a baseball bat correctly. If you are an eight-year-old kid or an adult. The following applies to kids and elders.

Always start at the bottom. I often used the analogy of what you do first when you build a house.  You put down the foundation. 

Likewise, in baseball without a proper foundation, you won’t do the proper hitting. Without the proper foundation, a house can’t be built the same way without pepper foundation swing won’t work.

One of the biggest mistakes I saw in young players is all these exotic stances. When young players witness big league players, they raise their hands all the way up and perform big high leg kicks, among other things.

Figure 7: A Beginner Swing A Bat.

Because they don’t grasp the efficiency, I’ve seen young children feel a lot stronger when they have a lot of moving pieces. The majority of them do not understand how to create potential energy as young players.

Whereas while swinging, we create potential energy, we are loading the muscle groups to begin to hit. 

• At first, it is always the balance. From a swing standpoint balance is number one. 
• Big-league players will begin with their feet close together and up high. It is the most athletic position. However, when it comes to the fundamentals of swinging and where to begin, I prefer to start outside of my hips. The front edge of the home plate, somewhat back from the rear corner, is a decent reference.
• Here, I would like to have some bend. I never want to begin with a child who has a strong leg kick. It is a wrong start I would say.
• Your head should be kept as still as possible and simplify this. It is not for everybody. The motion and gesture may vary but for the beginners, I am just simplifying it.
• Then a simple sit and step are required.  That is all you need to do with young kids to get into the launch position. The feet must be as wide as the bat in the launch position. It is the general rule.
• Hands over back foot, a little bend in front arm, a box with back shoulders and front arm knob facing down to catcher’s feet. It’s not necessary to have this back completely flat or to have the bat in the air.
• With a relaxed neck, your chin should be directly over the front shoulder, allowing you to view the pitcher. Looking back does not require straining your neck.

Sequencing The Swing

Now here, at this point, I am going to talk about sequencing the swing. Sequencing the swing is missed in a lot of young players. 

 Position of launch > Sequencing > Heel plantation > hip drive into the core

Below I am going to talk about sequencing the swing in detail for beginners:

• You need to understand the importance of the front foot. Your front foot will not go down perfectly flat.
• With the heel slightly up, you’ll go soft. As soon as the heel strikes the ground, the rear hip is triggered, the hips begin to move, and the sequence begins to function from the ground up.
• I’d want to discuss the tornado impact here. Heel, hip, core, shoulders, and then out the head, arms, and hands, and through the barrel.
• I always start with the launch when working with young players. Allow them to launch, then allow them to feel the hips before allowing them to swing.
• Hold a one-two count if you can stay balanced at the finish of your swing.
• The last thing to pay attention to is that everybody sees all this casting or these armbars or the hand drop as a problem of swing. Whereas in reality, most of the upper body issues come from improper launching and improper sequencing.  

Below I am highlighting the key point to keep in mind while swinging:

1. Balance stance
2. Head movement would be minimal.
3. Small load, simply a little sit
4. Heel plant 
5. Proper launch into hip drive.

Finally, there’s a balanced swing. You’re on the right track if you can get those down. You can always contact us if you have any questions.

Suggestion:

If you are a young player or a beginner you can begin with some twenty swings in a day. You can gradually increase it to fifty in a day. Professionals can do some 500 swings in a day.

How You Can Use Your Hands Properly In Swing?

Eye and hand coordination are extremely important while swinging which is often overlooked. No one generally talks much about how the hands are properly used in the swing.

Starting with when should the hands activate and when should the hands get involved in the swing.

There are four things to keep in mind to use your hands in the baseball swing. They are – 1. Load  2. Launch 3. Separation 4. Connection

Earlier, I have already talked about sequence and launch and now the connection is also important. Connection is the point from which the hands will be used. Below I am going to describe some of the hand movements you need to determine while swinging baseball.

• Your hands should always connect high with a tight turn. 
• Never drop your hands on the back.
• I always advise my students that once they start to get the chest toward home plate this is now the decision time with the hands. If you need to stay down or high you can take the position. And then use the shoulder tilt to get there.
• So many young players get into survival mode. They see the ball coming, and most of the time forget to load. One thing which I always tell my students that ‘Trust your hands.’ because I do not want people to come up and just flip with their hands. 
• You have to be able to get the sequence correct and get into a full swing and then trust your eye-hand coordination is going to allow you to get the barrel there.
• It is a sequence thing. The hand will be the last thing to fire in the hitting sequence. 

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What Are The Most Common Swing Mistakes?

In this part, I will explain some common swing flaws that students generally do frequently and some easy drills to combat those mistakes.

The following basic fundamentals are the stuff that new hitters miss. Those are some basics that bigger news or parents just do know. I am here for you to help with this issue.

1. Improper Load or Load Control: In this part, players are not aware of how to load properly or do not have control over the body.
2. Incorrect Launch Position: How to properly swing a baseball bat mostly depends on the proper launch position. It generally comes from the incorrect load. If you load the wrong Incorrect Launch Position will be the first thing to happen and your launch position will probably be going to be off.
3. Posture Issues: You have to be very focused on what is posture, how to set posture, and how to maintain posture. Posture will vary depending on players’ athleticism. You just can’t be straight up or too bent over. The proper direction is impossible without maintaining proper posture.
4. Swing Direction: Direction is a component that has to do with holding posture and how you control your rotational moves. It is not turning off the ball, not pushing out to the ball. You have to turn to the center in the proper direction. You have to make sure to complete the swing. You should not walk out while swinging.

It is very simple to fix the swing flaws. Firstly, if you can control the load your balance in the launch will be correct and you will have proper direction. The correct posture is there. You cannot have proper direction if you have bad posture. 

Controlling The Load

At the very first you have to put baby steps. You will start wide and the idea is to not get back over the backside as you are working down. It is just feeling and controlling the hip.  You have to make sure to work down into the hip and keep the head centered between the knees.

Suggestion: Do not let the head get back behind the hip.

Hip Coil Move

You have to start open in like 45 degrees set up so the pitcher would be out in front. Your back foot will be set at the angle that it would be at in your hitting stance. 

Suggestion: Do not over-rotate the upper body. Your chest should end up square to home plate.

Knob And Knee

It is an exaggerated move so that players can feel how the knee and hands are kind of working away as they get into launch. You need to hold the balance position with the front knee up for a two-second count before making the forward move.

Controlled Fall

This is the number one drill to find the launch position. If you are taking full swing make sure to check the launch position. 

Upper Body Isolation

The drill is just flat feet and then you will have to have the upper body isolation. You have to stay centered and pay close attention to head movement. You should not feel like you are reaching for the ball. 

Suggestion: Keep the spine straight. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Which bat is best for the swing?

Ans: Players under 60 pounds should use 26 to 29 inches length bats however players more than 70 pounds should use 28 to 32 inches length bats.

Which bat is better to train a beginner?

Ans: Wooden baseball bats are the best to train a beginner or a kid.

How to get a good swing easily?

Ans: The easy steps to get a good swing are- feet positions, knee bending, Foot plant, hand position, and still head.

Which batting stance is the perfect one?

Ans: There are many hitting stances. The open stance is the most used one. I would suggest you not use a close stance.

Conclusion

Understanding the correct way to swing a baseball bat is one of the most crucial factors in baseball. How to swing a baseball bat correctly includes many topics and techniques.

You have to understand very well that a successful swing is the most powerful step in baseball.

You may definitely observe that major league players often do a variety of things with each step to win.

I hope the above-mentioned drills on the plethora of swing information are enough for you to correct your batting swings.