Hitting Guide

moneyteam

I was just wondering if any of the more advanced/experienced players could help out with a sort of comprehensive hitting guide.

Stuff like timing, pitches, how to hit certain pitches or any other tips and tricks you might know that aren't included in the game's tips. Less obvious tips would certainly help.

Anyone can share, not just the advanced players but obviously the more advanced or experienced players probably know more than a less experienced player.

Just thought it would be a helpful thread for beginners or anyone to refer to.

Thanks for all the help.

moneyteam

I personally have trouble hitting and timing curves, especially the ones that clip the corners. I end up simply popping them up or ,more often than not, missing entirely. Any tips would be great

jemic

Here is an article I wrote last year.
http://ggnbb.glu.com/showthread.php?117886-Some-suggestions-for-the-new-legend-playoff-offense

It doesn't include all type of breaking ball but hope it can be helpful to you.

There are also some good articles about pitching, hitting, evaluating relievers...etc in the TSB2014 forum.

jemic

moneyteam wrote: »

I personally have trouble hitting and timing curves, especially the ones that clip the corners. I end up simply popping them up or ,more often than not, missing entirely. Any tips would be great

If z-axis information of some kind of breaking ball will change, my recommendation is to skip them.

My suggestion is to skip every curve/moving fast/slurve though TSB2015 has made some improvement about the z-axis representation(the size of the ball will change because of different altitude of the ball. This is hard to determine in TSB2014)

BommbsOverBaghdad

hitting is pretty basic in this game (you just tap. haha). there's no big secret, at least not one that i'm aware of, to hitting certain pitches besides just timing and only swinging at strikes. if you swing when the ball is over the plate, you'll hit it, simple as that. however, even if your timing is perfect, it still doesn't mean you'll get a hit. your hitters stats, your/your opponents upgrade levels, and luck are all other factors. not much you can really do other than keep practicing.

some tips that i use:

for a righty hitter vs righty pitcher or lefty vs lefty, for curves and sliders i try to swing slightly later than i would on a fastball or changeup to try to go oppo. swinging early i tend to miss or groundout and swinging on time seems to be a pop up a lot. righty/lefty or lefty/righty matchup swinging on time seems to work fine.

if i have no strikes i only swing at fast***** or changeups since they'll generally more easy to time and easier to tell if they're going to be strikes.

always take a strike when you have 3-0 count (unless it's a fastball and you're winning by a lot late in the game). this will increase your chances to get a walk.

always take a pitch if you're stealing. attempting hit and runs isn't worth it imo. if you send a runner with less than 5 speed and they throw a ball you can't even make contact and they'll be thrown out. if you send a guy with 5-6+ speed than they'll usually steal successfully though it depends on what your and your opponent's upgrade levels.

if i have a guy on first and second or bases loaded (and infield not playing in) with no outs, i will more often than not try to bunt if anyone besides my best 3-4 hitters are at bat, regardless of their bunt rating. grounding into doubleplays is extremely annoying (plus triple plays are possible, though extremely rare).

one of the game's tips is never make the third out at 3rd which is a good tip. however, one that isn't in there which is even more important than that is never make the first out at home. you'll have 3 outs to get that guy home so it's not really worth the risk. also don't make the 1st out at third either for the same reason pretty much. one thing that really frustrates me in this game is that you can be thrown out at home from the warning track or at third from the right field corner on a somewhat regular basis which is just absurd.

that's everything i can think of at the moment. i'll come back if remember anything else.

moneyteam

Thanks a lot. I tend to pop up a lot of the curves but there are times when I can blast some of the breaking ***** and get hits off of them which leads me to believe I can hit some of the curves. The killer curve is exactly one of the pitches that gives me trouble. The front door curve that clips the inside corner for a strike; I either pop it up or take it for a strike which is quite frustrating.

So basically skip most if not all the breaking ***** and just wait for the fast*****?

moneyteam

BommbsOverBaghdad wrote: »

hitting is pretty basic in this game (you just tap. haha). there's no big secret, at least not one that i'm aware of, to hitting certain pitches besides just timing and only swinging at strikes. if you swing when the ball is over the plate, you'll hit it, simple as that. however, even if your timing is perfect, it still doesn't mean you'll get a hit. your hitters stats, your/your opponents upgrade levels, and luck are all other factors. not much you can really do other than keep practicing.

some tips that i use:

for a righty hitter vs righty pitcher or lefty vs lefty, for curves and sliders i try to swing slightly later than i would on a fastball or changeup to try to go oppo. swinging early i tend to miss or groundout and swinging on time seems to be a pop up a lot. righty/lefty or lefty/righty matchup swinging on time seems to work fine.

if i have no strikes i only swing at fast***** or changeups since they'll generally more easy to time and easier to tell if they're going to be strikes.

always take a strike when you have 3-0 count (unless it's a fastball and you're winning by a lot late in the game). this will increase your chances to get a walk.

always take a pitch if you're stealing. attempting hit and runs isn't worth it imo. if you send a runner with less than 5 speed and they throw a ball you can't even make contact and they'll be thrown out. if you send a guy with 5-6+ speed than they'll usually steal successfully though it depends on what your and your opponent's upgrade levels.

if i have a guy on first and second or bases loaded (and infield not playing in) with no outs, i will more often than not try to bunt if anyone besides my best 3-4 hitters are at bat, regardless of their bunt rating. grounding into doubleplays is extremely annoying (plus triple plays are possible, though extremely rare).

one of the game's tips is never make the third out at 3rd which is a good tip. however, one that isn't in there which is even more important than that is never make the first out at home. you'll have 3 outs to get that guy home so it's not really worth the risk. also don't make the 1st out at third either for the same reason pretty much. one thing that really frustrates me in this game is that you can be thrown out at home from the warning track or at third from the right field corner on a somewhat regular basis which is just absurd.

that's everything i can think of at the moment. i'll come back if remember anything else.

I was wondering just the general mentality even when hitting fast*****. Like should i be trying to pull the fast*****, hit it up the middle or just try and go oppo every time. I've had mixed success with all these mentalities.

I play baseball so I've definitely heard the never make the FIRST or third out at 3rd base so I'm quite familiar with that thanks

Yeah the warning track outs are frustrating...especially when you have a fast runner too.

moneyteam

I've also heard something about turning your volume up so you can hear the tick of the ball hitting the dirt of the OH when the pitch is high. But in my experience, by the time you can hear these things, the pitch has already gone by

BommbsOverBaghdad

i try to go up the middle most of the time with fast*****, that way if you are a tad early you'll pull it or a tad late you can go oppo (that's what i do in real life anyway. i play too ). if they're at double play depth try to pull fast*****/changeups or go oppo with the junk pitches. when there's a shift on i try to go oppo however it seems like every time i try it goes right to the first baseman. up the middle goes to second and of course pulling it you always hit it right to short or 3rd. going oppo would make sense though from my experience it seems like most of the time either way you are doomed unless it's a line drive base hit.

moneyteam

BommbsOverBaghdad wrote: »

i try to go up the middle most of the time with fast*****, that way if you are a tad early you'll pull it or a tad late you can go oppo (that's what i do in real life anyway. i play too ). if they're at double play depth try to pull fast*****/changeups or go oppo with the junk pitches. when there's a shift on i try to go oppo however it seems like every time i try it goes right to the first baseman. up the middle goes to second and of course pulling it you always hit it right to short or 3rd. going oppo would make sense though from my experience it seems like most of the time either way you are doomed unless it's a line drive base hit.

Ahh thanks. So do I, unless it's one of my big power hitters then I might try to pull more often...probably not a good thing haha

I've had tons of success going oppo but recently it's not getting me as many base hits probably due to opponents having better upgrades than before.

BommbsOverBaghdad

moneyteam wrote: »

I've also heard something about turning your volume up so you can hear the tick of the ball hitting the dirt of the OH when the pitch is high. But in my experience, by the time you can hear these things, the pitch has already gone by

haha yeah i heard that same thing when i first started out too. not sure who started that rumor but he must have some crazy fast reflexes. did not help me one bit.

bos1978

The best tips I have are:
1. Swing only at pitches down the pipe until you have 2 strikes and then you have to protect the plate a little better.

2. Trying to pull the ball too much leads to swinging at bad pitches

3. If a pitcher has an 8 or 9 arm concentrate on the ball as it comes out of his hand and hammer the fastball and learn to lay off the bad stuff.

4. I've always hit better when I am striking out looking as opposed to swinging.... Patience is key! Pitchers will come down Broadway sooner or later if you wait them out- if you chase them they keep throwing garbage.

moneyteam

Someone told me once to start swinging when the ball is just past the grass. I've actually had a lot of success with that. But I'm trying to figure out where I make contact with the ball if I do that, whether that is a bit out in front of the batter's body or centred with his body.

So anyone got any tips on timing? obviously it's a skill that has to be learned which comes with experience but I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on timings. How do you guys time the fastball down the middle? When do you like to start your swing on those? Do you swing so you make contact with the ball in front of the batter? If so, how far out in front?

Right now I'm experimenting to find how I can basically get perfect timing most of the time, which is causing me some lost/wasted innings where I could be scoring more so any help would save me some losses ^.^

I know it's a more difficult question to answer but any of your guys' thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

BommbsOverBaghdad

moneyteam wrote: »

Someone told me once to start swinging when the ball is just past the grass. I've actually had a lot of success with that. But I'm trying to figure out where I make contact with the ball if I do that, whether that is a bit out in front of the batter's body or centred with his body.

So anyone got any tips on timing? obviously it's a skill that has to be learned which comes with experience but I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on timings. How do you guys time the fastball down the middle? When do you like to start your swing on those? Do you swing so you make contact with the ball in front of the batter? If so, how far out in front?

Right now I'm experimenting to find how I can basically get perfect timing most of the time, which is causing me some lost/wasted innings where I could be scoring more so any help would save me some losses ^.^

I know it's a more difficult question to answer but any of your guys' thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

i just tried the swinging when the ball is just past the grass idea a few times. did not turn out well. ended up swinging at a ton of bawls. swinging early means less time to tell if it's a ball. plus the one time i made contact i pulled it into the dugout.

as i said in a previous post, the concept of the game is simple. just tap when the ball crosses the plate. some people over complicate it. even if your timing is perfect for every single swing you're still going to pop up and ground out. there's no secret to getting 20+ hit games every time. it would be smarter to practice determining bawls from strikes early as that becomes harder and harder as you level up.

moneyteam

BommbsOverBaghdad wrote: »

i just tried the swinging when the ball is just past the grass idea a few times. did not turn out well. ended up swinging at a ton of bawls. swinging early means less time to tell if it's a ball. plus the one time i made contact i pulled it into the dugout.

as i said in a previous post, the concept of the game is simple. just tap when the ball crosses the plate. some people over complicate it. even if your timing is perfect for every single swing you're still going to pop up and ground out. there's no secret to getting 20+ hit games every time. it would be smarter to practice determining bawls from strikes early as that becomes harder and harder as you level up.

Yeah that's the drawback. I was focusing more on where the ball was rather than if it was a ball or strike. But when I first tried it I had a lot of extra base hits and just the contact seemed more solid. Trade-off was more swinging at bad pitches. I wonder if going oppo decreases likelyhood of power versus pulling. Even the in game tip says you can pull for power or go oppo.

BommbsOverBaghdad

moneyteam wrote: »

Yeah that's the drawback. I was focusing more on where the ball was rather than if it was a ball or strike. But when I first tried it I had a lot of extra base hits and just the contact seemed more solid. Trade-off was more swinging at bad pitches. I wonder if going oppo decreases likelyhood of power versus pulling. Even the in game tip says you can pull for power or go oppo.

yeah i can only recall a few oppo homeruns so i bet that pull means more power. on the other hand i feel like most of my base hits are either up the middle or oppo. so i'm guessing the game is programmed to make pulling cause more homeruns which is annoying.