Don Mattingly's Hitting is Simple

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Don Mattingly was one of the greatest offensive ballplayers of his generation. In 1985 he was the American League MVP and Player of the Year. A nine-time gold glove winner, a batting champion, and six-time all-star, he remains today one of the most beloved Yankee first basemen of all-time. Now as the premiere batting coach for the most successful sports franchise in history, he offers solid advice and instruction for young athletes around the world on how to hit a baseball – a task considered to be the single most difficult skill in sports.

The following excerpt appears with permission of the publisher, St. Martin's Press.

Building the Foundation of Hitting

Hitting .300 is as simple as learning the foundation of hitting. Coaches and instructors often make the mistake of complicating what is a very simple process. We tend to confuse kids by getting them to think about a bunch of technical jargon, when the basic foundation will do the job.

1. Start with the tool.
Swing a bat that feels comfortable to you. You don't want to grab a bat so heavy that it will force you to drag it through the strike zone, or one so light so that it feels like a whiffle bat. Pick something that feels good. Get a bat in your hand that allows for a comfortable swing.

2. The foundation is your stance.
When you stand in the batter's box, you want to be comfortable. I favor a shoulder-width stance for its simplicity and its ability to help me stay balanced. I always tell kids: Make sure you are balanced on the balls of your feet, as this will allow you to swing the bat with consistency. The goal is to be able to take the bat from Point A to Point B. This movement starts with a simple stance.

Don Mattingly's Hitting Is Simple: The ABC's of Batting .300 offers solid instruction on how to hit a baseball – the single most difficult skill in sports.

3. The stride should also take you in a straight line.
If you were to draw a straight line from where your feet are aligned, the goal is to be able to stride toward the pitcher. If I stride open—if I'm stepping back away from the pitcher—it will force my front-side shoulder to come out, and then I open my hips early. Next thing you know, I'm dropping my hands and I won't be able to take a straight path to the ball.

For me, the key to success is to take a straight path to the ball, to get back to basics. This first move causes a chain reaction. If you follow that straight path, your hips stay square and at that point you can take the bat directly to the ball.

Remember that the shortest distance between two points (from the bat to the ball) is a straight line. Any deviation from the straight line will make your swing longer. That's when you hear comments like "He is dragging his bat through the strike zone."

You do see guys with long swings make it to the big leagues, and they tend to be power hitters who strike out a lot. Their swing is not as consistent; they are more hot and cold-type hitters.

Ideally, you want a shorter swing that goes directly from Point A to Point B because shorter is quicker. If pitchers throw harder, a longer swing will give you less time to make a decision. We're talking about time and distance: A swing on a straight line puts your hands straight to the path of the pitch.

4. Put the bat on your shoulders to start the hands.
Now that we've talked about the feet being fairly straight in the stance and the stride moving in a straight line, the next element is proper hand position. My advice is to lay the bat on your shoulders; as you pick the bat up your hands are in a solid position to hit the baseball. The goal is to get your hands in a nice, relaxed position to start the swing.

5. You have to go back to go forward.
This rule applies to almost any athletic activity. The objective is to create some type of momentum. A cat that's on the prowl is in a coiled position before it strikes—same thing with a snake that's coiled. They are essentially moving in reverse—before striking at their prey.

For hitting, there needs to be a little bit of lean back to initiate the swing before you stride forward. You'll see some hitters do a little step back, which is often called the "toe-tap." Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves does this, and it works well for him: He steps back and then goes forward. I don't teach the toe-tap, but you have to do something in your swing to get your weight to go back before you move forward—and obviously it works for Chipper.

Think of this triggering mechanism as a bow and arrow: You have to draw back the bow slowly and let it go so that the arrow can hit its target. Same thing with hitting: It's a slow start to your swing, with a lean to trigger the movement—the coiling of the snake, and then a smooth move forward. As you pick up your front foot, you should be able to stand on one leg or move forward or slide toward the ball under control. If I pick up my front foot and fall forward, it's a sure bet that my balance is off.

Here's how it all works together in sequence: I'm relaxed and ready as I step into the batter's box with a shoulder-width stance. I've got the bat in the position where I picked it up off my shoulders, the pitch is coming, I pick up my foot, and I have to go back before going forward or I'll be unbalanced at the outset of the swing.