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When I step up to the plate, all of the lessons I’ve been taught and mechanical mistakes I’ve been trying to correct go out of my mind. Once the pitch is thrown, I only have enough time to see the ball and hit it. However, even though I can’t think about my mechanics, all of my practice previous to that pitch causes my swing to be exactly the way it needs to be. My body is remembering the correct mechanics that I’ve practiced, and this is commonly called muscle memory. Without muscle memory, hitters would never be able to start their swing until the ball has already crossed the plate. There would just be too many things to think about at once. Before he ever steps into the batters box a hitter already has a lot going through his mind. He must be aware of how many outs there are, whether the pitcher is left handed or right handed, if there are any runners on base and what base they are on, the inning and the score of the game. All these factors determine what the goal of the hitter needs to be. What many observers of the game do not realize is that when a batter is in the box, he is not just swinging as hard as he can and hoping for the best. Many times, for example, batters will hit a ground ball to the second baseman or a pop up to the outfield on purpose.
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