Hunter Pence’s Hitting Tips
January 26, 2008 by Hunter Pence
Filed under Baseball
Hi Everyone –
I am looking forward to another week closer to spring training. This week my schedule has finally resumed back to normal. I have my regular workouts in the morning and baseball in the afternoon. Now that my schedule is back to normal, I feel like it is a good week for me to respond to a few of your questions.
One of the questions asks, what I am working on and what am I being taught about hitting? Firstly, I’d like to start by sharing my philosophy on hitting – no one should try to hit like me! Ha-ha! But seriously, I feel that everyone’s swing is different. I believe that hitting is about coordination, balance and comfort.
If I were to coach someone on how to hit, especially younger kids, I would tell them the best way to get better is to HIT, and hit a LOT. It’s all about feeling for me. My two favorite drills are hitting off a tee #1 and front toss #2.
When hitting off a tee, make sure to work on pitches on the outside of the plate, middle of the plate, and inside of the plate. As far as I’m concerned if you can learn to hit all three of those, the rest is just mental and getting your pitch. Learn to coach yourself by feel, if you hit enough you can start to feel what works best for you.
Another question was, who are my workout partners? Well this is kind of funny because the three of us that train together were all on the same team when we were 10 years old.
One is Ryan Patterson, who grew up in Rowlett, TX and plays in the Blue Jays organization. The other is Sean Danielson from Irving, TX who was traded from the Cardinals to the Red Sox this year. Our other workout partner is older than us, but he just signed on with the Dodgers, Kelly Gulledge.
I hope this answers some of your questions. Good luck to all of you with the hitting!
Until next time …
Hunter
Cool. Good tips too bad I’m over the hill at 25 to use those tips.
I got a financial question. I here that a lot of professional athletes aren’t familiar with managing money. There is also no “guidance counselor” from what I can tell to help guys out, within the organizations. Are most guys responsible with they’re money in terms of setting up long term security?
I’m just curious because take a guy like Ensberg that looks like he was on his way up, making good money. As of now he doesn’t have a job. Mo looks like a smart guy but not everyone must be. Going from making millions a year to looking for a job is a big change of gears.
I guess I could say the same thing of a guy making 40K that loses his job, but those big numbers make it seem interesting. It’s also easier to find another job making 40K than 5M.
this sounds more like hunter pence.
well, the entries that are not written by hunter are written by kori ellis – her name is right there.
and joel asks a VERY good question. mo ensberg is a very intelligent man who actually got himself a college degree in finance. he had said (in several interviews) that he planned to work as a banker/financial planner if he didn’t make it as a pro ballplayer. i would guess he is one of those sober, sensible men who didn’t spend all the money on whiskey, loose women and waste the other 10%
hunter -
i would like to know if you guys just hit off tees/ pitching machines, or if you get someone to throw batting practice or even live pitching.
also, do you work on your fielding during the off-season and if so, what do you do?
from his ‘hitting tips’ blog
“My two favorite drills are hitting off a tee #1 and front toss #2.”
Hunter, I see that you’re coming to Huntsville to give a talk to Sam Houston State’s baseball team, along with those who can afford the tickets. Do you plan on stopping at our ihop (or anywhere else) when your in town? I’d love to meet you but can’t afford what the university is asking for tickets.
Joel B, I’m a 20 year old, short girl who has never played a sport. But, I throw a baseball as much as possible. I throw like a girl, but when I hold the ball, everything else fades away. It’s just me, the ball, and the beauty of the game. It doesn’t matter if you’re over the hill, or a chick, or anything else. The only thing that matters is how you feel when you hold that ball in your hand. So, don’t let being 25 stop you from dreaming.
I hear you. Every once in a while I throw the ball around with my buddies, but its not like I’m going to try and improve my velocity or for that matter put too much time in the cage.
I still have fun.