3 Common Hitting Myths That Are Holding You Back

I’m sorry to say this, but baseball is full of people who mean well yet simply don’t know enough to help you. Being able to sort through what works and what doesn’t is critical—and at Ignite, we strive to be your guide through that process.

Here are three commonly taught hitting beliefs that might actually be keeping you from becoming the hitter you want to be:

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 “Don’t drop your back shoulder.”

While it’s true that a hitter’s back shoulder can get too low relative to pitch height, the idea that “dropping your back shoulder” is the root of most problems is usually incorrect.

Every pitch you swing at in the strike zone requires your back shoulder to work down some.

• On a high pitch, your shoulders work on a flatter plane.

• On a low pitch, your shoulders work on a more vertical plane.

Watch any high‑level hitter and you’ll see this pattern.

Here’s what often happens:

A hitter faces a pitcher with a high‑spin four‑seam fastball at the top of the zone. They strike out or pop up—just like most hitters do against that type of pitch. They return to the dugout and hear, “You dropped your back shoulder.”

Next time up, they try to keep that back shoulder excessively high. The result? Either a hard ground ball slammed into the dirt or a pop‑up off the back of the ball.

If they pop up, they think, “I must have dropped my back shoulder again,” and the cycle continues.

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 “Stay back.”

Every single day as a hitting coach, I hear athletes say, “My coach told me I’m lunging forward and that I need to stay back.”

Honestly, “stay back” is my least favorite cue in baseball.

Why? Because if you asked 10 coaches what it actually means, you’d get 10 different answers. It’s not specific enough to be helpful.

Here’s the truth:

 We want our lower body to move forward during the stride phase of the swing.

 We want our upper body to stay back and load.

When an athlete hears “stay back,” they often keep everything back during the stride. But the lower body must transition forward at some point—so it ends up happening at the last possible moment, with too much force, which actually creates the lunging movement we were trying to avoid.

Instead, if the lower body goes forward early during the stride, the hitter doesn’t need to force that transition during the actual swing. This puts them in a much better position and actually allows them to lean back slightly while rotating—which is ultimately what most coaches are trying to get to in the first place.

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 “Try to hit a backside ground ball.”

This one is tricky because, in certain contexts, I actually like this cue.

Used the right way, it can help a hitter stay on a tough high pitch:

• For baseball players: a high four‑seam fastball with lots of spin.

• For softball players: a rise ball that keeps climbing.

But here’s the problem—many coaches apply it as a one‑size‑fits‑all approach. They say, “I did this when I played, so you should too.”

That’s like Albert Einstein walking into a sixth‑grade class and saying, “The only math worth learning is the theory of relativity.”

You need a certain level of swing quality before “backside ground ball” becomes a useful cue. Otherwise, you know what happens? You get a steady stream of 20‑hoppers to second base.

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Final Thought:

If you’ve been stuck on these myths, it’s time to rethink your approach. At Ignite, we work every day to give athletes the tools they actually need—not outdated tips that sound good but don’t work.

What’s a hitting myth you’ve heard that never really worked for you? Drop it in the comments—I’d love to hear your experiences!