Can'T Hit Worth A _Hit, Need Some Tips Please ?

[LouisvilleLipp]

Played a game yesterday between the Royals and Indians, I was KC, could only muster 4 singles in a 4-1 loss. I know KC isn't a offensive juggernaut, but I could not put the ball in play. Had 2 men on with 1 out and Billy Butler (good hitter btw) at bat and could not score. The only run I did score on was caused by a error. Hitting is very frustrating for me. Anyone have any tips? Also can you use the left stick to aim for direction before hitting? Or maybe the sliders need tweaking. Thx for the replies, if any. Otherwise, I like this game a lot.

[BigMaj]

I dunno, I feel like the speed for this game is much faster than 2k9. If you played 2k9 as much as I, it'll just take a while to get used to timing, and seeing the breaks on pitches. And yes if you press the stick forward( 12 o clock its a uppercutting swing) depending on ur stance side(lefty or righty) 11, and 3 o clocks are ur slap and pull.

6 o clock gives u grounded hits. So overall just play! its like real baseball, learn how pitches break, and learn how fast fastballs reach you. Hope this helps!!!

[LouisvilleLipp]

I dunno, I feel like the speed for this game is much faster than 2k9. If you played 2k9 as much as I, it'll just take a while to get used to timing, and seeing the breaks on pitches. And yes if you press the stick forward( 12 o clock its a uppercutting swing) depending on ur stance side(lefty or righty) 11, and 3 o clocks are ur slap and pull.

6 o clock gives u grounded hits. So overall just play! its like real baseball, learn how pitches break, and learn how fast fastballs reach you. Hope this helps!!!

Thx for the reply, but I was talking about the left stick. Some people just use the right stick to hit, and won't touch the left one.

[elpatorojas360]

May be I can help'u. Click here.

[rixmithco]

It took me quite a while to be able to hit, but now I do just fine. Here are the things I learned:

* There is way more strategy in hitting in 2K10 than in 2K9

* If you swing at low pitches you will generally ground out

* Your goal is to get pitches in the middle or upper part of the strike zone

* So if you have less than two strikes on you let anything low go by

* I play with the batter's eye that somethings shows pitch location, and if it flashes the bottom of the strike zone it is a take with less than two strikes

* If you aren't making good contact turn on the Swing Analyzer for all pitches (the Always setting). When the Analyzer appears on the screen it shows nothing useful, but after a pitch you can hit the C button and you will get to a screen that allows you to see the pitch from multiple angles. Using that you can tell if you are slightly early or late, and whether you are swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. This really helps you figure out what you are doing wrong.

* Learn to use all the swings. I use the Power Swing early in the count, and the Contact Swing with two strikes. I'll also use the Defensive Swing if I'm uncertain about a pitch and just want to foul it off. I struggled a lot with the Power Swing early on because the throw length on my controller from top to bottom was really long, so the timing was difficult. Then I read a suggestion that said to just pull back on the stick far enough so that your hitter moves into his ready position. Once I started doing that the timing on the Power Swing was much closer to the Contact Swing and I improved dramatically.

* My sliders for hitting are almost standard Pro settings (I just have the CPU fielding lowered to 40), and now I'm doing well enough that I'm considering making it a little bit harder.

Hope that helps. Once I got it figured out the game has turned out to be really, really fun.

[LouisvilleLipp]

Thx for the heads-up Rixmithco, All were great suggestions. I know it takes time to learn, but it also takes patience as well.

[grmrpr1313]

I am doing decent at hitting I usually only use contact swing dont get to many HR'S but get about 5-8 hits a game and 2-3 runs a game.

[Chowderhead]

Great stuff rixmithco - I will give it a try.

[purplerat]

Basically what rixmithco. I was a bit frustrated playing this game for a while especially when not using The Batters Eye. Once I started using it (and learned how to) I got better and it is actually a pretty cool feature - I'm usually skeptical of features that offer that kind of assistance. It really makes batting a strategy game of it's own. I would also go into each at bat with a strategy of what you want to do; hit for power, get on base, move the runner over, work the pitcher, etc and know how to adjust that strategy as the count develops. Also don't be afraid to use the defensive swing with 2 strikes, even if you know the ball is hittable. It's not a guaranteed if you put it in play and you can regularly get hits with a defensive swing (especially power hitters with the outfield playing back).

[AUY2K]

@ rixmithco:

I played the entire Spring Training season using the keyboard. I thought I would pick up an XBox 360 controller to improve upon my pitching. I was already at the top of the Grapefruit League in ST with the Braves and I was hitting HRs and striking batters out without any issues all with the keyboard. So I was excited about the possibilities of fine tuning my skills with the controller.

I was in for a rude awakening. I played a couple of games last night just to test the controller. I got the hang of pitching and got it down to almost where I left off with the keyboard. Hitting was a different story. I struggled just for a base hit the entire night losing two games back to back only scoring 2 runs the entire evening. I left the computer frustrated and ready to turn back to the keyboard so I could generate some offense again.

Then I decided to search the forums for some advise...glad I did!

After reading through your post I loaded up MLB 2K10 and started my Braves season anxiously waiting to get a crack at Lilly who would be pitching for the Cubs...

This one piece of advise propelled my hitting abilities by leaps and bounds with the XBox 360 Controller!

"Hitting for Power - pull back on the stick far enough so that your hitter moves into his ready position."

Just after the 1st inning I knew I had it down with 3 hits logged into the stat book. I went onto beat the Cubs 6-1 with a 3 run HR by McCann and then another 3 run HR by Diaz!!! I litterally jumped up in sure joy! My whole attitude about using the controller has made a 180 degree turn from last night.

Thanks so much for posting those tips!

[ixcuincle]

I think I can hit home runs now, but do you need to aim with the left analog stick too? Or can you just swing the right analog stick down and up?

[jorodedo]

It helps to adjust the pitching/batting camera view to your liking. The default view is really tough to hit from. Try it.

[MarkB]

One thing I found out from reading more about the hitting system is that having the thing where you get a circle in the zone before the pitcher starts his wind-up (might be labelled as Batter's Eye in the options, not home so I can't tell right now) will really hurt your hitting unless you're right every time. Basically, with that on, you're supposed to guess where the pitch will be. If you're right, great, you'll probably get a hit, but if you're wrong, your power will be drastically toned down, and you won't get anywhere near as many hits. I gained around 20 points on my average, as well as 2 homers and around twice as many extra base hits, in a few days after turning that off.

[ming]

No left stick here, user HR slider at 45 and Im leading the NL in HRs with Garrett Jones. Doumit is in the top 5 with about 2 weeks left before the AS break. I think the key is to start with easier sliders and tweak them as you go. Pitch speed lower than 65 or even 60 is important too because you can learn to get walks and force the pitcher to give you what you want. I use power swing early in the count, but "cut down my swing" with deeper counts and hit for contact. The cool thing about not using the left stick is that you get alot more opposite field HRs.

[LandShark]

I personally use a xb360 controller, as I found playing on the keyboard to be a frustrating mess of figuring out what keys did what.

I sometimes use the left stick if I'm in a specific situation, like angling it up for a sac fly or to the right behind the runner into right field for a hit'n'run. Sometimes if I tend to be hitting fly balls and need a regular hit I'll angle the stick down a little to help the ball land safely, or if I see a hole in the defense I'll point it towards where they ain't.

But honestly, the left stick only influences where the ball could go, it's not a sure-fire hit placer. The timing of the swing and the height of the pitch are really the only ways to consistently put the ball into the part of the field you want. Usually you'll find using the left stick works in situations where you didn't want it to, like foul balls or flyouts, or at least blame it on the left stick use, but when you use it and it works, you'll nod to yourself as a good move.

It took me awhile to figure out that having the right camera setup is key to being able to see the ball in and knowing when to swing. I personally use Camera 3 with 10 on zoom and 10 on height, which helps me spot the high pitches and usually anything that goes outside, though low balls tend to either be obvious or a leap of faith. Using that setting works well with overhand and 3/4 arm pitchers, but you might have an initial shock adjusting to sidearm and submarine pitchers though you'll adjust once you get the timing down for them. For me, having the batter's head at the same level as the pitcher feels natural and a good position in which to decide if a ball is hittable or not.

Additionally, you REALLY have to watch the ball from delivery to the plate, just like the real deal. Often there'll be gut checks whether or not you lay off the pitch or take a swing at it, but once you start figuring out the speed and correct swing times, it can be really fun to play the Crash Davis inner monologue game of "Throw that **** again meat, you throw that weak-*** **** again."

Failing that, if you're doing the MyPlayer feature, you really need to jack up your Batter's Eye stats. Pump them up to at least 80, then start on Contact, and finally Power. The flashing sides of the strike zone might a little misleading in making you think the pitches are balls, but when you see the whole strike zone flash, you know it's an invitation to wind back and give it a power swing if your swing timing is right. I just got done with a 38-game hitting streak with my guy in the minors (damn knuckleball pitchers) after getting them up to 75 each, and all the time I left my contact and power stats at 54.