Effective Two-Strike Hitting

One of the most important areas of offensive baseball is the ability to make good contact with two strikes.
The most successful pitchers have the ability to "turn it up a notch" when they have the hitter in a two-strike situation. Unfortunately, many hitters do not raise their level of competitiveness accordingly. Not only does a hitter need to make physical adjustments, but he must also turn up his mental focus to prepare for the upcoming confrontation. It should be "personal!" Here are some ideas in dealing with the two-strike situation:
I. MENTAL OUTLOOK Imagine yourself backed into a corner of an alley. Someone confronts you and wants your last five dollars. You can either:A. Submit and give upB. Try and negotiate a settlementC. Fight your way out of itWe would like players to have the "C" mentality.
II. PHYSICAL ADJUSTMENTS A. Choke up on the bat slightly. Bat control is importantB. Move slightly closer to the plate. Take away the outside strikeC. Spread out slightly to insure balanceD. Slightly crouch to shorten the strike zone. This adjustment helps in identifying and laying off the high pitch
III. MENTAL ADJUSTMENTS Make it clear to the team that taking a third-called strike is unacceptable. There is no doubt that sometimes a hitter is fooled by a great pitch, and he cannot pull the trigger. However, this situation requires a feisty, competitive mode.A. Look fastball and adjustB. Look to go up the middle and opposite field. Protect outside to inC. Foul off any borderline strikesD. Fight off or block off inside strikes
IV. ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE Putting the ball in play has so many possibilities. Keep the strikeouts down to find a correlation with run production. The difference between ten strikeouts and six strikeouts in a contest is huge! The difference with those four contacts can result in any of the following:A. Advanced runnersB. Forced errorsC. Bloop hitsD. Bad hops/lost in the sunE. Frustrated pitcher
V. CONCLUSION
Effective two-strike hitting can be enhanced in practice settings.
Establish count settings in the cages or in front toss drills.
Also include this package in a batting practice scenario live on the field.
Players must understand the concepts and see the fruits of their labor.