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How To Hit a Home Run
By Jeff Wise | October 26, 2011
How to hit a home run is a topic that every player and every dad wants to know. There is some mystic to hitting it out of the park. We’ve seen players do it.
We’ve seen their pride and excitement as they round the bases and hear the fans cheer. As they reach home plate they get all sorts of high fives from teammates.
Dads love to see their sons hit home runs and players want to make their dads and coaches proud. Let’s face it … it feels good.
Although I don’t stress in my teachings that home runs are everything and something to be pursued more than becoming a great overall hitter … I do like home runs.
How To Hit a Home Run – Focus On Fundamentals First
If you don’t have the basic fundamentals down then you will never jack one over the fence. Even the MLB players who seem to only hit home runs and strike out the rest of the time have good hitting mechanics. Just watch the replays.
You must stand in the box properly, hold the bat properly and watch the ball. You must transfer your weight properly, swing properly and follow through properly.
You get these basic fundamentals by practicing. Batting practice, batting drills, game experience and just practicing on your own at home will get you there.
You can get all kinds of help from dads, coaches and older players.
Strength isn’t a bad asset either. You don’t have to bulk up or anything like that, but it’s always good to stay strong and in shape by exercising and eating right.
How To Hit a Home Run – The Tricks
The magic formula is … there is none. I never teach players to go up to bat and try to hit a home run. In all my years playing and watching baseball I’ve never seen a player go up to bat wanting to hit a home run and actually hit one.
Maybe an MLB player has done that but even for them it’s rare. If I was wrong you’d see hundreds of players with 70 plus four bagger’s every season.
Stay conditioned, stay practiced up on your mechanics, create good bat speed, stay focused and positive, and the home runs will come. It’s different for everyone. Some players hit home runs in Little League. For some it takes more time.
I didn’t hit my first one until my sophomore year in high school and it was amazing! I just kept working hard and finally it happened.
It was a night game and I hit it so perfectly and so hard that it sailed over the green monster-like fence in right field into the night sky and disappeared. I didn’t even see it land. I also didn’t even feel it hit the bat.
My good mechanics, good conditioning plus great bat speed is what I believed allowed me to hit all my home runs, including two grand slams in the same week during my junior year in high school.
It’s a tremendous feeling when you hit a homer and my wish is that each and every player hits at least one out of the park and helps their team win.
Again, if you want to know how to hit a home run … in my opinion it’s mechanics, bat speed, conditioning and hard work.
Topics: basball batting tips, baseball, baseball bat instruction, baseball hitting, bat swing mechanics, batting techniques, hitting mechanics 101, home runs, sports | 2 Comments »
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November 16th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
When I was a kid I used to play baseball on some local teams. My memories of the sport are kind of vague, but the few that stick out do involve me hitting the ball out of the park (or pitching a really great game, as I played that position a lot as well!). There are so many variables that go into hitting the ball just a few yards, much less managing to hit it over a fence and “out of the park.” While I don’t think a person can “learn” how to hit home runs, they can learn how to be prepared to do this. And that seems to be the point of your article here. I expect that with all the content you provide on baseball, someone is bound to learn something new and apply it to their game!
November 18th, 2011 at 12:21 am
Thanks for the great comment Chris! That’s the point exactly! I don’t want to teach kids to go up there and try to hit a home run.
They should be taught the fundamentals and practice hard to become a better hitter. The home runs will come naturally.