The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 mph

by Shawn Green

Now, responding rather than reacting put me in control of my relationship with the pitcher. Common sense would tell you that the pitcher is always in control because he decides what pitch to throw, whereas the hitter isn’t supposed to know what’s coming. Of course, much of the time I did know what pitch was on the way, but even when I didn’t, I was still often in control of my at-bats. This is because I knew which pitches I wanted to hit, so I simply watched for those pitches. I didn’t sit on pitches or jump at pitches, as many hitters describe their calculated anticipation of a particular pitch. In my view, these practices rely too much on an effortful process of guessing and analyzing and reacting. I simply watched for pitches with no thought or action, just patiently waiting and seeing. And if I watched for my pitch with full attention, my swing happened spontaneously.