Making solid contact with a pitch is the most challenging thing to accomplish in all of sports. First of all, what other sport allows you to fail 70% of the time and be in the hall of fame. I think that in itself speaks volumes about the difficulty of having success at the plate. In order to make contact with a baseball speeding in excess of 90mph, a batter requires courage, amazing hand-eye coordination, and not to mention extraordinary reflexes.

The best hitters in the sport of baseball typically have a life-time average in and around the .300's. Although there is enough opportunity to get base-hits between the defenders, there is no margin for error when making solid contact with a ball that isn't any bigger than the bat you are swinging at it with. Striking the ball a couple of millimeters to high or low will result in a fly-out or a weak ground-out. Miss by an inch or more and you strike out.

It would be much easier if the pitch was pitched to exactly the same place at the same speed but that's not the case. Not only does a batter have to track the ball up and down but also has to determine when to make contact with it. If you hit the ball too early or are out in front, you will not hit the ball as hard or square as it is possible and will most likely hit a foul-ball. If you are late on the pitch or make contact after the point of square, you will also be sacrificing the potential power of your swing and the direction of the ball that was hit. Bottom line is you must precisely track the speed of the pitch in order to hit the ball at the optimum point within the hitting or strike-zone. Now, considering the fact that the ball doesn't move in a straight line and can have all sorts of spins that will change the line of travel hence curve balls, split-fingers, sliders, change-ups, and knuckle balls; it's a wonder that anybody can actually perform this feat.

Determining whether a pitch is a ball or strike, fastball or curve, and pin-pointing it while flying through the air to then hit it, leaves a batter no time at all. A pitch moving 90mph from 60 ft. away allows only .4 of a second to be precise. That's quite a process for your brain and body to complete in virtually no time at all. In fact, that is the limit of human reaction time capabilities.

Obviously, being a good baseball batter requires a lot of natural talent, but it also involves experience backed by a lot of hard practice, relentless drilling, and knowledge that will increase your skill over time. Having the proper swing mechanics and fundamentals will greatly increase your chances of becoming a better batter. That is accomplished by doing the right drills to develop the mechanics necessary to hit the ball consistently.

I maintain a few sites dedicated to teaching drills and fundamentals for improving your batting skills. I also have a site with detailed baseball bat reviews that can help when choosing a bat that will be comfortable for you. You must be confident and comfortable when you go to swing and I think having the right kind of bat is important. It's at that precise moment in baseball that everything has to perfectly come together.

Joe Rodgers teaches fundamentals to increase bat speed and reaction time at the plate and gives baseball bat reviews to help when selecting the right baseball bat for you.