So here is the deal...I am engraining a method into this young man's head. Why? Because when I was his age, this type of hitting instruction did not exist. "Staying inside the ball"...what does that really mean? You will hear coaches and instructors talk about that constantly. And you know what? They are right!
Importance of staying inside the ball
Keeping your hands inside the ball allows you to keep the barrel of the bat in the strike zone longer. Players that uppercut or chop down on the ball as it reaches the strike zone don't create an optimal probability for striking the ball in the zone to create a positive outcome that is a hit.
Players that do this well
If I was to look at the guys that are active in the game today who do this very well, two players come to mind. My opinion is that Freddie Freeman and DJ Lemahieu stay inside the ball very well. It should not surprise you. If you look at DJ
Lemahieu's accomplishments, he has won two batting titles and two silver slugger awards in his career. If you look at
Freddie Freeman, you will see that he is also an elite batting pro. He has also won two silver slugger awards. This did not happen on accident. Both hitters take a very similar and almost overzealous approach to "staying inside the ball" in their preparation in practice which transfers to the game. And, it has paid off for both of them!
It's not rocket science
It really isn't rocket science. My wife is completely fascinated with the stats, physics, and math equations that exist in baseball. And, it really does come down to the statistics year in and year out. Putting your bat in the strike zone longer gives you a higher success rate of hitting a ball and getting on base successfully. It's just math at the end of the day. The picture you see above is DJ Lamahieu NOT getting fooled by a circle changeup getting thrown at him. He stays perfectly inside the ball and drives the ball to right centerfield for a base hit. DJ would have been way to early if he was sitting fastball and thinking he was going to pull the ball into the left field stands. This is the main difference between major league hitters at that level. He created a hit in a situation that most major league hitters would have swung and missed or had popped up in that situation.
It is discipline
I say it is not rocket science at the plate. If you look at Freddie Freeman in the above
hitting session, he takes the same approach that he has taken since he was in high school. Yes it is true that Major Leaguers are able to make adjustments to their game very quickly to be successful, but the best have an ability to stick to what made them successful in the first place. The greatest don't break from the original foundation. They know it works. They may tweak things a little here and there...but the overall approach stays in place.
It all comes down to discipline. Only the most elite hitters truly have complete discipline in their approach to everything they do. The ones that can approach the game in a very methodical, disciplined approach when it comes to practice and in the game situations are the ones that transcend all the other players.
The Conclusion
So what you see in the first picture of Lil' Shaka hitting the ball is him practicing off the tee on hitting an outside strike either to the opposite field or right up the middle of the field. The only way you can make this happen consistently is by really focusing on moving your hands through the strike zone ahead of the barrel of the bat. Guys like DJ and Freddie are notorious for being obsessed perfectionists around this. They have committed this exercise to everything they know and will never fray from this work. Ultimately this is what separates them from everybody else. Lil' Shaka will in fact continue this tradition. Stay Committed, Stay Driven everybody!
