HITTING - Where should your eyes be looking throughout the delivery

Vision is THE MOST underestimated aspect of hitting. It is so important, yet rarely discussed. Most major league hitters (if not all of them) have above average to exceptional eyesight. Ted Williams, considered by many as the best hitter who ever lived, had 20/10 vision. He could clearly see from 20 feet what a typical person could see from ten feet.

Hitters are taught to stride, load their hands, fire their hips, and so on. They are seldom taught where to look and when.

In hitting, there is what's called soft center and hard focus. When the pitcher toes the rubber and begins his delivery, your eyes are in a mode of soft focus. They are very relaxed and set on a general area. The pitcher's face or the front of his jersey is an example of a central location your eyes gaze towards in the early stages of the windup. Once the pitcher's arm swings upward to his release point, your eyes shift to hard focus. This means they're locked in on a specific location, which is the point of release.

Do not shift to hard focus prematurely. Don't try to follow the ball from the time the pitcher breaks his hands from his glove. Your eyes can only stay locked in hard focus on a specific point for a short period of time. Then they tire. If they begin to fatigue as the pitch is released, your eyesight will not be as sharp at the most critical point. Fastballs will appear to get on you quicker and you’ll have greater difficulty recognizing breaking pitches. Have you ever blinked during a pitch? If you have, you know that the pitch is lost when that occurs. Blinking will happen if the eyes are set in hard focus for a prolonged period of time.

Your eyes are essential in timing the pitch as well as determining location and pitch type. Simply stated, they are crucial to hitting. Any vision training drill to strengthen or sharpen eyesight is worth its weight in gold. It's tough to hit what you can't see.