The ball must be “well hit” for a hitter to be rewarded and it must go to the proper field location illustrated on the color coded balls. If a right handed hitter hits the ball more to the center of the field, they would also be rewarded. For example if they are hitting the “red ball” inside pitch that says “left field” and they hit the ball to left center field they would get rewarded. If they hit this same pitch to the pull side, example to the left field corner they would not get rewarded. The reason for this is it is better for a hitter to stay inside the ball longer vs. getting around the ball and pulling it more. The same goes for left handed hitters.

A “well hit” ball is a hard hit ball with backspin or a slight carve in the ball, sharp one or two hop through the infield or a line drive. Fly balls and weak ground balls are not well hit. This includes deep fly balls because more often than not at the higher levels, they become outs. Keep in mind “well hits” will vary from hitter to hitter and will be determined by each hitters physical strength.

If you are wondering why I don’t credit a player for a well hit ball with “top spin,” (which is perfectly okay in a game) it’s simply because we want to raise your bar and strive towards excellence. It’s kind of like a gymnast that wants to be the best. Who is more polished, the one who lands and wobbles back and forth or the one sticks the landing every time? Once again, in a game “top spin” is perfectly okay however the ball is stationary on the batting tee and if you hit 8 of 10 well hits with top spin that means your bat is starting to come up at the point of contact and we want you to finish through the ball longer which will create back spin and more cary (distance) to the well hit ball.