Why is hitting a baseball with a bat one of the most difficult athletic activities?

Why is hitting a baseball with a bat one of the most difficult athletic activities?

Years ago, I regularly played softball.   I was a good fielder but was never able to hit a baseball or softball very far and deep into the outfield.  Others I played with including people who were not as physically well developed as I could sometimes hit the back fence with a tremendous amount of power.

Hitting a baseball is definitely about how art and technique meet physics.   To move that ball requires power, timing, and a careful eye.   It also requires good technique A baseball swing has many similarities to a golf swing.

I finally trained with somebody at Zoned,  a facility that uses ballplayers from the Somerset Patriots baseball team to teach others how to master certain playing skills.  Eventually, after repeatedly practicing and hitting a ball off of a T, the ball began to go much farther than before. As my brain memorized the improved technique, the ball would leave the bat with far more power than before.

Today, most children great excellent instruction in baseball skills but when I was young if you didn’t have a dad working with you a lot, your skills were usually not great. I am thankful I found a coach who would work with an adult, as many wouldn’t take older players seriously in my experience.

If you want to be a great hitter, you need a great coach to teach you how.  While some of us are just naturally talented, for most of us, it takes practice. There are many hitting aides you can purchase as well to help your eye and hand coordination.

Some people have poor body mechanics.  With the help of a sports chiropractor, they may improve the way they move which will improve both their hitting and fielding.

I came across a great article that discusses what is behind a baseball swing and why it is so difficult to do.  Check this out

Hitting a Baseball is the Hardest Skill to Pull Off in Sports. Here’s Why.

A unique blend of physics and neuroscience makes the skill astronomically difficult.

There are few aspects of life where you can fail seven out of 10 times and still be considered great at what you do. With a 30 percent score on the MCAT, you wouldn’t get into medical school. You’d likely lose money if you only won 30 percent of your Super Bowl bets. But in baseball, if you get a hit 30 percent of the time you step up to the plate, you might be headed to the Hall of Fame—and that’s because it’s perhaps the most difficult thing to do in any major sport.

Ted Williams, for instance, one of the greatest hitters to ever play Major League Baseball, finished his 19-year career playing for the Boston Red Sox with a .344 batting average. That’s a 34 percent success rate, tied for seventh-best in the sport’s history. But even he famously said that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. So why is that the case?

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