- Ron Moore, Hardball Guru

A cue, according to Webster, is a hint or a signal to do something. I recently read somewhere that a cue is a key word or phrase that hits a responsive cord (no pun intended). Most cues used for hitting are useful as long as they convey action appropriate to the hitting technique being taught. This can be problematic since some instructors believe there are only 2 hitting techniques, linear and rotational. Some hitting gurus, myself included, believe a third technique combines both linear and rotational aspects to hitting a baseball.  Although there are cues that are common to these techniques, there are also cues that are unique to each.  Interchanging the unique cues can cause significant confusion to hitters.


For example, the basics of linear hitting is to go back to go forward to make contact with the ball.  The basics of rotational hitting is to torque around an axis of rotation while making contact.  The linear philosophy encourages hitting off the front leg (often bent), even lifting (or dragging) the back foot off the ground, while the rotational philosophy is to keep the weight back, sit on a bent rear knee, keeping the front leg straight.  Linear hitters will take the knob of the bat to the ball, keeping the barrel above the hands.  The rotation hitter will weathervane his elbows (front elbow up, back down) and drop the barrel below their hands.  Further, linear hitters try to keep shoulders level and swing level or down on the ball, but rotational hitters will drop the rear shoulder and match the swing plane with the plane of the pitch (as one prominent rotational proponent would say, tilt to avoid the tilt). Finally, the linear hitter will stride with the front toe closed to move into the ball, while the rotational hitter will stride with an open toe to clear exploding hips around the axis of rotation.  I think you can see that interchanging these cues could cause major problems.

I'd like to mention 2 significant problems associated with linear and rotational hitting.  Linear hitters basically are protecting the outer half of the plate and are looking to hit the ball to the opposite field.  In so doing, and because they are moving/lunging into the pitch over their front foot, there is a tendency to cast out or arm bar (extending arms too far from their body) resulting in hitting around the ball.  To counter-act this tendency, the linear hitter must keep his hands inside, and in fact, hit the inside of the ball.  On the other hand, the rotational hitter is looking for the ball on the inner half of the plate in order to pull the pitch and may have a tendency to open the shoulders too soon, also resulting in hitting around the ball.  In order to counter-act this tendency, the rotational hitter must insure the hips lead the hands through the swing while staying inside the ball, and in essence yank the hands.


The combination hitter is looking to hit the ball that is over the middle two-thirds of the plate.  This combo hitter wants to hit the ball to center field (left-center to right-center), staying behind the ball and hitting off a strong back side and a rigid front leg.  Adjustments on the inside and outside corners can be made with a rotational or linear swing, respectively.  Center field contact is made as the ball passes over the front edge of the plate with the barrel of the bat and hands in line and parallel with the front edge.  A rotational adjustment is made on the inside corner by making contact slightly in front of the plate (barrel ahead of hands) and a linear adjustment is made on the outside corner by making contact deeper when the ball is over the back corner of the plate (hands ahead of barrel).  

In addition to cues relating to the 3 hitting techniques, there are cues for the various components of the swing (pre-swing to follow-through).  To me, the grip is the least significant component (a non-teach, if you will).  I've heard or read of cues such as scoop sand, flat palms, shake hands with the bat, point index fingers so they are parallel, loose vs tight (white knuckles), and on and on.  The stance is only slightly more important.  Cues include, open/closed/parallel, strong and athletic, upright vs bent at waist, pinch knees into each other, bat vertical/flat/45 degrees, hands high/low, back elbow up/down, wide/narrow, yada, yada, yada.  I think the only significant aspect of the stance is to be balanced with weight on the balls of the feet.


Beginning with the next component, load-stride, things become more significant.  Cues such as turn your back when the pitcher turns his, go back to go forward, soft stride, feel pressure on the inside of the back thigh, hands and stride foot move in opposite directions at the same time, block weight from going forward with rigid front leg, all can be important within the  concept being taught.  They are important primarily because they contribute to rhythm and explosiveness.


Of course, the swing itself is THE component - the swing is the thing!  It is made up of several subcomponents, starting with the cock and launch. 

As the hands go back into the cock position and the stride foot goes forward, the rubber band begins to wind initiating the kinetic chain.  The back elbow slips into the slot just before the hips pop and the hands/barrel are thrown at the ball (linear) or pulled/yanked (rotational).  At the all important point of contact, forward movement is blocked by the front leg (linear) or is unleashed by the torque created by the front heel drop to allow the hips to clear (rotational).

The cue to squish the bug may be used by both linear and rotational instructors to emphasize keeping the weight back and unwinding the hips.  The linear hitter, wanting to get on top of the ball (tomahawk), will roll the top hand (crack the whip) while the rotational hitter will keep the top hand palm up to lift the ball.  As long as the hitter swings through the ball  (short to, long through), the finish is relatively unimportant.  The linear hitter will keep his head down on the contact point and may release his top hand on the follow-through to get extension, but the rotational hitterπs head will angle on the swing plane and he will keep his top hand on the bat to drive the ball.  A high or low finish is dictated by pitch location.  You may hear proponents of both techniques use the cue shoulder-to-shoulder, meaning chin at front shoulder to initiate the swing and at back shoulder to finish it off.


As I noted above, the contact point is the life and death of all hitters.  This brings up the absolutely crucial element of TIMING.  Above all else, hitting the ball consistently on time is essential!  Keeping this in mind, as well as the point I made earlier regarding casting and pulling off, there are numerable very useful cues that I consider to be among the most significant in teaching and correcting hitting problems.  The basic idea is square or 90 degree contact.  Other cues might include use the whole field, hit the ball where it's pitched, straight away (or center field) contact.  To illustrate, for a pitch middle-middle, the contact point should be just behind the front edge of the plate with the barrel of the bat and hands in line and parallel to the front edge.  This results in hitting the ball up the middle.  This also allows for a margin of error estimated to be about 15 degrees (early or late) for mis-timed contact and still driving the ball hard into the gaps.  As alluded to above, trying to hit the ball out in front of the plate (lunging and/or casting for linear hitters, pulling off for rotational hitters) is a serious problem at all levels.  The concept of waiting for the ball, letting the ball travel, hitting the ball over the plate will go a long way (pun intended) in solving these problems.  This is why the game of pepper is so greatãit teaches square contact.


The final area I'd like to address is the mental aspect of hitting.  Ted Williams has said that hitting is 90% mental (although I think he also said hitting is 50% from the neck up).  Yogi Berra has said that he canπt think and hit at the same time.  These 2 great Hall of Fame inductees seem to be in conflict, but I donπt think so.  The "splendid splinter" was probably the smartest hitter of all time.  He studied pitchers and usually guessed right because he knew their tendencies; he anticipated exceptionally well.  In fastball situations, he would sit dead red and look for the ball right down Broadway.  Late in his career, when he had difficulty with the slider, he would anticipate it and adjust off it.   Yogi was one of the most relaxed hitters of all time, and also one of the best bad ball hitters.  He certainly lived by the aggressive philosophy of yes, yes, yes, no (or hit, hit, hit, take) on every pitch.  When he stepped in the box, his mind was clear of any thought except see the ball, hit the ball.  

Most good hitters have a set pre-pitch routine in order to relax and get comfortable.  George Brett would bend at the waist and dance with the pitcher to establish rhythm and break inertia.  Everyone can think of a current MLB player with his every pitch ritual of adjusting batting gloves and tapping toes to the ground.  And the last pre-pitch thought and positive self-talk is important to trigger reaction to a given pitch or situation.  Making adjustments during an at-bat has become important, especially in 2 strike situations.  An aggressive approach with less than 2 strikes (A-hack) and a battling approach with 2 strikes (B-hack) seem to be in vogue.  These, and other cues, can be used by hitters to relax, get comfortable, and prepare for the challenge presented by each pitch.

I have used almost 100 hitting cues in this article - there are hundreds more. 

Most are useful if used in the proper context of the technique being taught.  Those that are especially useful, in my judgment, relate to timing and contact point as well as the mental preparation to hit the ball.  Be patient and get a good pitch to hit!