Hitting Approaches Using Zone Plus Analog

[aliashecman]

I am going to stick to zone plus analog hitting this year. I used analog hitting last yr and got pretty good at it albeit on veteran. I am going with All-Star difficulty this yr. Thus far this new hitting feature in 12 has been challenging. I want some opinions on approaches to hitting using this hitting setting.

So far I am unable to just pick up the pitch and location as it comes in. I can do it sometimes but not consistently. The times I can do it if the pitch is high or low thus only moving the left thumb stick up or down. If the pitch is on the corners I'm screwed.

My approach right now is to move the zone to where I think the pitch will be based on the pitcher and the situation and if I get it there I swing, if I don't I take it. Other times I will use guess pitch to and pick a location in the strike zone and if I guess correctly it tells me where the pitch will be, if not I've eliminated the section of the zone and can look to the other areas.

I have some success at times and fail miserably other times. It depends on how disciplined and patient I am, not to mention having my timing right. Its tough.

Any other approaches? Better ones? Any one having success at a good clip?

[ILiveForThis]

I got a few good ideas for you.

1) Lower the pitch speed until you can pick up the pitch out of the pitchers hand on higher speeds.

2) Take the first pitch. More than likely, it will tell the tale of that at-bat. Another rule on this, if you make a first pitch out, wait on the next two. It will help drive the pitch counts up, giving you better pitches to hit.

3) Check out the pitch confidence and notice trends. If your facing Strasberg and you are getting some heat alot, look to hurt somethinf that has some bend and lay off the straight ones. Don't be afraid to use Guess Pitch on obvious counts, where the opposing pitcher will throw that 'high' confidence pitch and you can crank it.

4) Take advantage of your 2-0's, 3-1's. Fastball counts are your best friend. Also, use the Contact swing. It really does do justice in making your 0-2 become a walk.

[aliashecman]

Quote: Originally Posted by ILiveForThis

I got a few good ideas for you. 1) Lower the pitch speed until you can pick up the pitch out of the pitchers hand on higher speeds. 2) Take the first pitch. More than likely, it will tell the tale of that at-bat. Another rule on this, if you make a first pitch out, wait on the next two. It will help drive the pitch counts up, giving you better pitches to hit. 3) Check out the pitch confidence and notice trends. If your facing Strasberg and you are getting some heat alot, look to hurt somethinf that has some bend and lay off the straight ones. Don't be afraid to use Guess Pitch on obvious counts, where the opposing pitcher will throw that 'high' confidence pitch and you can crank it. 4) Take advantage of your 2-0's, 3-1's. Fastball counts are your best friend. Also, use the Contact swing. It really does do justice in making your 0-2 become a walk.

Thanks. I will keep these in mind. I really dont want to lower the pitch speed yet but will if I keep struggling.

[saturn2187]

i need to try these tips too. i'm hitting .184 as a team in my franchise this year. I'm utterly lost at the plate, flailing miserably. if the CPU was smart enough to throw just sliders or high fastballs, i'd go 0 for 27. I think lowering the pitch speed is coming soon. Haven't hit a homerun yet, in fact any hits I do get are going to the opposite field, so its clear i'm way behind.

[BezO]

Aiming prior to the swing has been tough. On 2-0, 3-0 & 3-1, I'm trying to look for certain pitches in certain spots, aiming prior to the wind up. With other counts, I'm trying to stride, aim then swing and it's been tough.

Also, aiming gives me the urge to swing. Cool when the ball is still in the zone, but I'm swinging at a lot of balls, especially inside.

Quote: Originally Posted by ILiveForThis

...Also, use the Contact swing. It really does do justice in making your 0-2 become a walk.

Hold up. There are contact & power swings with Zone + hitting? How do I contact vs power swing?

[Kernel Pie]

I can see the pitches extremely well in this game after adjusting my camera lower, and moving it back a bit. This is imperative IMO, as I couldn't hit a beach ball on default cam.

I do leave the strike zone on and full pitch callout on, so I know how off the plate something was and what pitch it was/how fast it was right away. I leave the PCI off, as I feel it's unnecessary. I also don't move the PCI until the pitch has been delivered, because I don't want to miss a meatball down the middle.

I leave guess pitch off or on 'no feedback' and never use it, as I feel this does more harm than good.

So basically, I use a pure read and react approach, and just swing at the pitches I like and take the ones I know are gonna be balls. I've gotten fairly good with the left stick on All Star and would say my PCI is over (or very near the baseball) probably 80% of the time.

If you're struggling with ZPA, I would suggest tweaking the camera and practice hitting with contact swing for a while. It should be easy to get your timing down like that.

Oh, and get in hitter's counts--can't stress that enough.

[The Commish]

I find that I alway's want to challenge myself with hitting but after a few games of o'fer's I get sick of it and revert back to timing where I can at least get a few hits.

I like the idea of slowing the pitch speed down so that I can see the ball, but will that hamstring me to where I will always be stuck at that speed? Or is it you're experience that you eventually start seeing it better and are able to increase it again?

Also I am curious about the power/contact hitting with the analog as well. I didn't know that option exsisted, can you tell me where to adjust that, as I have not found it yet.

Thanks so much.

[starvenger]

I approach it by focusing on getting my stride automatic first then worrying about the direction. I try to take a pitch the first time I see a guy in game to get an idea of how his delivery and release points are.

I don't move the PCI pre-pitch. I leave it at the center and try to move it right before or as I'm swinging. I feel like if I try to guess before hand and I'm wrong I have less of a chance to foul one off if I'm totally out of position. Plus, ideally I don't want to be swinging at pitches that I'd have to move the PCI around a ton for, unless I'm defending a 2 strike count.

The main problem I have and my main hitting focus right now is not over-moving the PCI. Sometimes on a questionable pitch my stupid brain will decide to swing and I'll jam the left stick too fast and far. I'm focusing on making smaller adjustments to make better contact on pitches that are clear strikes, but not meatballs.

EDIT: To the gentleman who was wondering how do do Power / Normal / Contact swings with analog + zone hitting, you hit [] for a power, X for a normal and O for a contact swing before you swing to change your swing mode, I believe.