As a hitter, effectively making contact with the ball is a critical skill to master. In fact, it's considered by many the single most challenging thing to do in sports. The irony behind the difficulty of the skill is that the top people in the sport say you should go to bat without thinking.

It's because great hitters are made with practice. Hitting takes a great deal of hard work and proper body movement. The good news is that a person can make up for a shortage of natural hitting talent with smart coaching.

Not enough time is spent teaching hitters to flow with the swing. It should be apparent to anyone that focused thought is necessary when standing at the plate. So why the heck would a coach yell 10 commands at a hitter when he's hitting? This is the most effective technique for confusing and distracting a batter. Is this the goal?

Simplicity is the secret. Practice hard. The best results come from training your body on one aspect of the hitting process at a time. When you've done enough work to engrain that into your muscle memory then you can move on to the next part of your swing that needs help.

Work on using your legs and trunk when you swing. One of the largest problems is only hitting from the waist up. The most famous sluggers use the body most effectively by moving from the core outward - engaging the hips, legs and having great form throughout. Also, don't "squash the bug." This is terrible advice and robs the hitter of virtually all of his power.

Be sure to stay relaxed when hitting a baseball. Your body must be able to react very quickly. When the muscles are pre-tensioned there is a delay to react which robs acceleration and velocity. Part of staying relaxed includes not grabbing the bat tightly when batting. A tight grip will also lead to a tense body and decreased reaction, bat speed and power.

In a combination of the physcial and mental aspects of hitting, you need to work on the kind of "seeing" that baseball requires. Learn how to track a projectile (i.e. baseball). Trace the path of a baseball as it follows various trajectories. Your vision ability when hitting is vital. If need be go get a full eye examination. After all, you can't hit what you can't see!