Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dominated this postseason, and his swing is perfectly built for crushing high fastballs. His early forward move and elite barrel path let him get behind high pitches and do real damage — which is exactly how he produced one of the best playoff runs in recent memory.

Great hitters don’t try to cover the whole strike zone—they pick a part of the zone they can win in and attack it. Once fundamentals are solid, the real skill is knowing your strengths, choosing a zone, and forcing pitchers to throw where you can do damage.

Many hitters struggle with swing flaws that don’t actually come from their mechanics. The real issue is often the visual system — the eyes and inner ear aren’t tracking the ball well enough for the hitter to execute the movement under game speed. Vision and vestibular training can dramatically improve a hitter’s ability to make mechanical adjustments that hold up against live pitching. If a swing looks great in drills but breaks down against velocity, the underlying problem may be sensory, not mechanical.

In baseball and softball hitting instruction, many athletes struggle not because they lack ability, but because they’ve been given advice that sounds helpful but isn’t biomechanically accurate. Three of the most common hitting myths are: “Don’t drop your back shoulder,” “Stay back,” and “Try to hit a backside ground ball.”

These cues are widely taught, but they often push hitters into movements that reduce adjustability, lower contact quality, and create the exact problems coaches think they are solving.

• Myth 1: “Don’t drop your back shoulder.” High-level hitters do let the back shoulder work down, and the plane depends on pitch height. Trying to artificially keep the shoulder up usually leads to pop-ups or ground balls.

• Myth 2: “Stay back.” Hitters actually need the lower body to move forward during the stride while the upper body loads back. The cue “stay back” often makes hitters delay their forward move, causing sudden lunging.

• Myth 3: “Hit a backside ground ball.” This cue can help on certain high pitches, but when applied universally, it teaches hitters to roll over early and produce weak ground balls.

Modern hitting development requires understanding how elite hitters actually move, not relying on outdated cues or well-intentioned myths. At Ignite Baseball, we focus on evidence-based swing principles that build adjustability, power, and consistency—not shortcuts that hold hitters back.