Productive At-Bats
By: Brendan Dougherty
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It is hard to count the amount of times I have heard the phrase “Have an Approach”. It is yelled out by coaches at every level. The majority of good hitters know and understand what this phrase means. So many have no idea what there approach is or what they are trying to accomplish in the particular at-bat. What approach should a hitter have? Is there one clear cut approach for every hitter? Every team and player should have an offensive system that they believe in and buy into. Your approach will change from game to game, inning to inning, and at-bat to at-bat. Every situation is going to dictate what your approach should be. Every pitcher you face will have a different adjustment that needs to be made. These things should be in your broad offensive approach, which is the big picture for the offense. Each situation becomes a fine focus for the individual. Depending on what the game situation is what will dictate what we are trying to do when we get in the box.

Our ultimate goal as a hitter is to have a productive at-bat every single time we get into the box. If your focus is doing that then you will probably never hear that phrase “Have an Approach”. Where do productive at-bats start, AS SOON AS YOU ARRIVE! Good hitters are students of the game. They know and understand what they are trying to accomplish when they step into the box. They are working in the dugout studying how the pitcher is attacking other hitters. They are working in the on-deck circle timing the pitcher so that they are ready from the first pitch. There are 9 ways to have a productive at-bat. Create a scoring system for yourself you can also keep track with your teammates. Make it competitive see who can have the most productive at-bats in each game. There is a chart and column for every category below. There is a huge difference in playing offense and Being offensive!!!

Click Here for the Printable At-Bats Chart