Q&A for How to Swing a Baseball Bat

Watch for these common swinging errors: casting, lunging, and dipping. Casting is when your hands get disconnected from your body during the swing. That causes your swing to lose power, and it makes it very hard to square up the ball, so you'll hit weak ground balls instead of line drives. Lunging happens when you're not on time, like when you're fooled by an off-speed pitch. When you lunge, you'll typically drop your hands, and the ball will pop up. Dipping is when you're going up to the ball too much. That will cause a lot of swings and misses, as well as pop-ups or foul balls.

Winning is more fun than losing. However, maybe you're the type of person who just loves playing and doesn't worry too much about winning and losing. That's actually a pretty healthy way to approach any sport.

It's just a matter of practice. Experienced hitters are good at recognizing the speed of the ball right after it leaves the pitcher's hand.

Most people have a dominant hand/arm that's stronger than the other.

Swing a little earlier than you would with a slower pitcher, and stand farther back in the batter's box.

If you're asking about your batting stance at home plate, stand close enough to the plate that when you swing, your bat can cover all of the strike zone. As for your front foot, it depends on whether you expect a fastball or a curve. If you think a fastball is likely, move back in the batter's box (toward the catcher). If you expect a curve, move as far forward in the box as you can. If you don't know what to expect, stand directly opposite the plate.

You're correct. In the first drawing of Part 3, the hands are wrong. Right-handed batters place their right hand on top, left-handers do the opposite.

You can swing level. Practice it over and over. You don't even have to be at home plate when you practice. Do it so often that it becomes second nature to you. And by the way, if a pitch comes in below your waist, you're not going to want to swing level anyway!

That's the area of the outfield midway between straightaway left field and straightaway center field.

Swinging level means moving the bat parallel to the ground. Swinging hard and level often produces a line drive, which often results in a hit.

Many girls prefer softball to baseball. Look for a softball team in your area. If you're interested only in baseball, all you can do is ask a coach to let you try out.

It's critically important. That's why players take so much batting practice: they're working on their timing.