Softball Hitting Tip - How to Reduce Pop-Ups

Guest post by Ken Krause, Life in the Fastpitch Lane blog

Softball Hitting Tip: Cut Back on Pop-Ups by Getting the Right Bat Angle

Nothing is more frustrating to a coach than getting a couple of runners on base with no one out only to have the next two hitters pop up into an infield fly rule. Even a weak ground ball back to the pitcher holds the promise that something might happen.

A bad throw, a third baseman pulling her foot off the base early, maybe the ball going into the sun as it’s thrown gives you a chance to advance the runners. But a pop-up? Everybody freeze and we’ll try it again. Do it twice and your inning is all but over.

So if you could teach your hitters to hit fewer pop-ups, it sure seems like a worthy investment of time. Well, you can. It all has to do with the bat angle.

Essentially, hitters need to keep their hands above the ball so the head of the bat is tilted downward instead of straight out. The following figures show why.

The first illustration (left) shows a bat that is sticking straight out, more or less. This is what happens, by the way, when you take your hands to the ball. You bring them level with the ball and the bat will have to level out to the ground as well.

That’s not so bad if you hit the ball dead center. But if you’re a little low, as in this illustration, you’ll hit the bottom half of the ball and it will pop up – especially if you really went low and had to come back up.

Now look at the second illustration (right), with the bat angled due to the hands being above the ball. Not only are you getting more surface on which to hit the ball, there’s no real way to hit the bottom half of the ball. Because of the bat angle, if you’re off-center you’re more likely to either pull the ball or deflect it toward the opposite field.

It’s simple – and difficult at the same time. It’s really tempting to take your hands down to hit a pitch, especially a waist-high pitch. But don’t let it happen. Keep those hands above the ball and you’ll cut back on the pop-ups.