Becoming a great hitter requires proper technique and acquiring the proper technique requires concentration, hand-eye coordination, attention to detail and diligent practice. Hitting is difficult. The best hitters in the major leagues hit .300, meaning they fail to get a hit seven out of every 10 at-bats. Practicing your swing in the batting cage is one of the best ways to learn about hitting and to improve your game.
Timing
You can have a perfect swing that is level and comes through the hitting zone with power and authority, but if you don't time it correctly you won't hit the ball. If you swing too early, you will lose your balance as you hold up or lunge at the ball. Swing too late and you will either hit the ball on the bat handle or miss it. Swinging in the batting cage gives you an opportunity to hit as many as 20 to 25 pitches in a row and that will help you learn to time the baseball. When you step in the batter's box, your want your bat to be parallel to the front of the plate at impact. This can be accomplished when you gain confidence by swinging in the batter's box.
Hitting to All Fields
The best hitters in the game learn to hit the ball where it's pitched. This is an important area to work on when hitting in the batting cage. The right-handed hitter wants to hit the inside pitch to left field, the pitch in the middle of the plate to center and the pitch on the outside part of the plate to right field. A right-handed hitter who tries to pull the outside pitch to left field generally ends up hitting a weak ground ball. But that same batter who tries to go with the pitch to right field ends up hitting line drives. This is an important area to work on in the batting cage.
Quick Hands
Hitting coaches stress the importance of quick hands for hitters. The quicker the swing, the quicker the bat gets through the hitting zone. Many players come into the game with big, looping swings because they either don't know any better or they are mimicking their favorite home run hitter. A long swing is the wrong swing. It takes too much time and the result is usually a swing and a miss. A quick swing means shifting your weight from back leg to front leg quickly and getting your hands out in front of the plate. You will not sacrifice power. The opposite is true. Quick hands get the bat through the hitting zone with speed and a purpose and that can lead to many long hits.
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