Off-season Hitting: Mix in a Take

Here's a tip that you almost never see young players do during the off-season.  When a player is in a batting cage, he generally swings at whatever amount of balls the coach manning the pitching machine has.  But as we all know, that is not how things work in the game.  Batters of course, do not swing at every single pitch they see.  

Mix in a take every now and then...
and do it correctly!

Part of good hitting is learning how to take pitches.  How you take a pitch can say a lot about your swing and may identify a number of things that may need some work.  It's not a bad idea to take every fourth pitch or so even if it's a strike.  When you do, here are some things to consider:

• Did you lunge at the pitch (all the weight moved to the front foot) or did you correctly keep your weight distributed evenly between both feet?
• Did your eyes and face stay directed at the pitcher or did they correctly follow the ball all the way back to the catcher/net?
• Did you check your swing or did you correctly keep your hands back when you took the pitch?
• Did your front side open up or did you correctly keep it closed on the take?

There are some other details to look for but the point is, taking a pitch every now and then is a good thing.  It is more "game like" and you can learn some important things about your batting in the process.