There is nothing worse than a hitting slump in baseball. When you are headed to the plate, there is often a lack of confidence and the ball looks really small.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are times when you are in the zone and everything seems easy to hit.
All hitters, even the greatest of all time, have stretches of a season where they may be struggling and people start talking about a slump.
There are some simple steps to talk to help get you out of a slump in baseball. Our 7 tips below can be utilized.
Try your best to stay positive, work hard and be a good teammate. You will turn the corner and in the meantime there are plenty of things you can do to help your team win. Make sure you continue to play solid defense, run the bases well when you do manage to get on base and cheer your teammates on!
How To Get Out of a Hitting Slump in Baseball – 7 Tips
- Keep it simple
- Go back to the basics
- Get extra work in the batting cage
- Use video of your at bats
- Check your equipment
- Hit the ball where it is pitched
- Focus on the process
Tip #1: Keep It Simple
Hitting slumps can be very frustrating. You lose confidence quickly and feel like you will never get a hit again. When you head to the plate, keep your approach simple.
I would recommend having only one or two thoughts. For example, “go with the pitch” or “swing at good pitches.” These simple swing thoughts or approaches help you keep it simple. If you start thinking about what your shoulders, legs, or arms are doing.
Make sure you keep your swing simple as well. We don’t need complex thoughts and do not work on mechanics at the plate. If you want to check your mechanics via video, go ahead, but when you step to the plate focus on the task at hand.
Tip #2: Go Back To The Basics
HItting is only as complicated as you make it. During these difficult times, go ahead and go back to the basics. Review your balance, your grip, your stance, distance from the late and how you are loading your weight.
Of course, do this in a work session to make sure you are spot on with all of those items. However, make sure you are not dwelling on this during an at bat. Your focus should be on hitting a good match and keeping you head through the swing.
If you are worried about your feet, hips, shoulders, etc. during the swing, you are bound to fail. The quick review of the basics will help build confidence that you are doing things right. Or you might find one little thing that was off.
Tip #3: Get Extra Work in the Batting Cage
Getting extra swings in is never really a bad thing. The key is to get a good session where you work on contact. Most slumps are caused from a lack of quality contact on the ball.
This results in weak ground balls or weak fly balls and maybe even an increase in strike outs. Work through drills where you focus on making contact and going with the pitch!
Once again, keep it simple and take a deep breath!
Tip #4: Use Video of at Bats
Often the feel vs what is real is off in a baseball swing. Use video during your practice sessions or even of game at bats to see if there is something that is a bit off. If you are fortunate enough to have bats recorded from when you were hitting the ball solid, go back and watch those videos.
The best teams will utilize film throughout the season to help players stay sharp and to reduce slumps. Slumps can be caused from a wide range of issues including poor pitch selection, poor mechanics, or a bit of bad luck.
Over time if you can record swings during good stretches and poor stretches you increase your likelihood of keeping your swing on track. You also can evaluate your pitch selection and how pitches might be working to get you out.
Tip #5: Check Your Equipment
IF your swing feels a bit slow, go ahead and move to a lighter and maybe shorter bat. If you are way ahead of everything, either find a way to slow down and be patient or go with a slightly larger bat.
Sometimes just a different feel of a bat can help you end a slump. Confidence is often the key in baseball and having confidence in your equipment is a must! Big money is spent on baseball bats in the market today, make sure you have the right equipment.
The exit velocity of a bat can often be measured at different locations. Pick the bat that feels right and has a high exit velocity. Extra speed off the bat will help the ball get through the infield quicker, find more gaps in the outfield and possibly result in more home runs!
Tip #6: Hit The Ball Where it is Pitched
I really should have this tip as number one. Many slumps are caused by players trying to hit home runs. If you watch enough Major League Baseball you will see a guy hit a homerun or two and then enter into a slump.
He thinks he is a homerun hitter now and starts swinging for the home run every at bat, even if he doesn’t realize this is what is taking place. Stay with the pitch, keep it simple and hit it hard. I always liked to tell my players to try to keep the ball in the middle of the field and then if it is slightly inside, go ahead and pull it.
If it is outside, go ahead and hit it backside. This simple approach will keep you on the ball, will increase your amount of contact and will help produce a higher percentage of line drives. When you try to pull an outside pitch, you will often hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield for a right handed batter.
Tip #7: Focus on the Process
Many coaches will help identify what a good at bat is prior to the season and then measure every at bat for the quality.
What Makes A Quality at Bat?
- At bat with 3 pitches after 2 strikes
- At bat with 6+ pitches
- Extra base hit
- Hard hit ball
- Walk
- Sacrifice Bunt
- Sacrifice Fly
Instead of measuring whether you got a hit, look for the basic items to measure a quality at bat. You can see on our list above that a hard hit ball would be considered a quality at bat. It often seems that when we are battling a slump, the hard hit balls seem to go right at people.
This is where some bad luck comes into play. Over enough games and at bats during a season, these numbers tend to work themselves out. There will be at bats where you bloop one in every now and then! Stay with the process, just your success by the quality of the bat, not the finally outcome.
BONUS TIP: Be Patient
Try to remain patient and continue to work hard and most importantly keep a positive attitude and maintain confidence. Utilize some visualization of you getting a hit and what the ball flight will look like.
Remember, it is a game and it should be fun! The last thing you want to do is make the game miserable for yourself or your teammates. For parents helping their kids, remain positive with the kids, make sure you focus on tip #7 and the process.
Did they have a quality at bat? Did they help their team win in another way? Did they take a bad mindset on the field when playing defense?
Final Thoughts
Baseball is a great game to teach life lessons. During life, there will be difficult times, but if we trust the process, do the right thing and work hard, life seems to work out. Being in a slump is no different and provides a great opportunity to develop some grit and perseverance.
When you work hard and overcome the slump, you will feel accomplished and understand that you didn’t fail if you kept working and came out on top! Work hard, enjoy life and play some sports!