Home runs are usually the result of a good hitter making solid contact. Hank Aaron finished his career with home runs and is one of baseball's most accomplished players. He said he never considered himself a home run hitter but the more he tried to hit line drives, the further the ball went.
Pitchers know when they are facing hitters who are slumping. A batter who has not had a hit in a few days is likely to be anxious at the plate and will swing at pitches that are out of the strike zone. If you are in a slump, you cannot expand the strike zone and try to hit pitches that are balls. That works into the pitcher's hands and places the slumping hitter at a greater disadvantage.
While it is understandable that the hitter will be anxious when slumping, that anxiety cannot manifest itself by the hitter expanding the strike zone. This is probably the most important factor when a hitter goes into a slump.
All hitters go into a slump from time to time. Knowing that you are a good hitter and that you will eventually come out of it will help you make start hitting the ball hard once again. If you are concerned that you have been hitless in your last 12 at bats and you'll never get a hit again, your slump is likely to last longer. But if you just go about your business, working on other aspects of your game like defense and base running, you will find that you'll get one or two hits and you'll soon be out of your slump.
Quality at-bat are generally defined as: 1 Driving in a runner 2 Advancing a runner 3 Hitting the ball hard 4 Drawing a walk 5 Seeing 6 or more total pitches 6 Seeing 3 or more pitches after getting to 2 strikes. Notice how 5 of the above quality at-bats examples might actually result with the batter getting out.
Detroit Tigers leadoff hitter Austin Jackson had a game about 10 days ago where he went , lowering his batting average considerably. However, in those 6 plate appearances, he managed to rack up 4 RBI and scored a run leading his team to a much-needed win over the Blue Jays. Do you think he or his teammates cared that his batting average dropped that game? NO WAY! So why I am talking about slumps now? As coaches and players prepare for their final games this year, I would encourage them all to focus on staying relaxed and having good at-bats — getting a hit is NOT the only way to help your team score runs!
Hey Dan, great idea getting a blog in-place. I printed your message and highlighted a few point for him. The really hard part for kids at LL age is having enough time to get out of a slump. They get two strikes on them and become protected, but not anxious or stressed.
For the most part, the Universe is an extremely accurate presence in our lives It is always trying to give us what we ask for, what we want.
It is only natural, especially when you are in somewhat of a slump, to be apprehensive — to lose your typical assuredness at the plate. Change stations, just like you would change stations on a radio, or switch songs on your I-POD. Same thing goes here. Re-tune your mental antenna so the Universe can respond.
As you are standing in the on deck circle, pay attention to what you are thinking about. Are you over thinking the pitches, or hoping that you will get walked? If you are thinking along these lines, you need to make some mental changes. Hitting slumps exist in your MIND!
First, take a few deep breaths before you even leave the dugout. In fact, you should do this at night before you go to bed, during the day when you have a few minutes, and anytime you find yourself feeling worried or anxious about hitting. And the big universe will hear you and help you get what you want, what you are asking for! This is true not only in life, but in softball as well. You have to believe you are going to hit.
Rather than allow a hitting slump to get the best of you, and to scramble the signals from your mental antenna, use it to make yourself better.
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