A few baseball legends got together the other day and had a healthy discussion on what they did in different situations and the adjustments that they made to be successful. 

  Pete Rose was one of the greatest hitters of all time (hopefully he will get in the HOF sooner rather than later) so when he talks I believe we should all listen. Something that really sticks out to me is that you never change your swing. It got you to where you are today! Now if you are hitting under .500 in softball you may want to change it and start from scratch, but in most cases we have all had a similar swing pattern since high school at least. He said that the best thing that you can adjust is where you stand in the batters box (this is super important in softball)

  The reason where you stand in softball is so important is because unlike baseball the pitch comes in at an arc that can range across many different planes. I’m not an expert in geometry or anything but there is definitely some tricky configurations going on in softball compared to baseball because the ball is coming in flat and may break 12 inches at most. Softball’s can rise and drop 4-8 ft (of course it’s underhand so not that hard but you get the point) So for me personally I like to stand up front more on a pitcher that throws it flat so I can still get something around belt high. With a pitcher that throws more of an arc I tend to get further back just so I won’t chop at the ball as much. 

  Another thing lots of softball players do is get off the plate to go backside and get on it more to pull it. I notice lots of players almost standing in the dugout to have to hit it over there and that is something easy to spot so work on it so you don’t give away what you are doing. It take practice and a brave bp pitcher unless you have a screen but it is a great tool to add to the bag. The more diverse you can be as a hitter the more headaches you can give defenders and the more valuable you will be to your team when you can deliver those situational at bats.

  I know everyone has their own way and I would love to hear what works for you below because I hit horrible last weekend (we can all learn from each other) 

See you at the field,

-Knox