Two Strike Approach
With two strikes, choke up, widen the zone and put it in play.
How it actually works. The menu is short and every good hitter picks from it. Choke up an inch. Go two in and two up, meaning a couple of small steps toward the plate and a couple toward the pitcher, which takes away the pitch on the outer edge and lets you catch the breaking ball before it finishes breaking. Cut the leg kick down to a toe tap, or get the front foot down earlier so you are never caught in the air. The swing gets shorter and the zone gets a little wider, because a called third strike on a pitch that close is the worst way to go out.
Why it is done, and when it is wrong. There is no single right two strike approach, and anybody who teaches one to a whole team is guessing. A big hitter might only choke up. A slap hitter might move up, spread out and give up his kick entirely. What every good one has in common is that he changes something, and the pitcher can see it. The reason it matters is simple: once you have two strikes the value of a big swing drops and the value of just putting the ball in play jumps. A ground ball can find a hole, move a runner or make a young infielder throw. A strikeout does none of that.
What people get wrong about it. Two ways to get it wrong. The first is taking the exact same swing on 0-2 that you took on 2-0 and calling it being aggressive. The second is going into protect mode too early, on 0-1 or 1-1, and giving away the one pitch you were going to get to drive. Early in the count you hunt. With two strikes you battle. Mixing those up is how hitters lose at bats they should win.
At Little League and travel ball. This is the fastest fix in youth hitting. Kids strike out a ton and youth pitchers throw more strikes once they are ahead, so a hitter who simply chokes up and moves up with two strikes starts putting balls in play right away, and at that level balls in play turn into errors and runs.
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