There are a lot of difficult feats in sports but perhaps none more challenging than hitting a baseball. Running with a football and getting tackled is difficult but the actions involved are more predictable than hitting a baseball safely. Shooting NBA range three pointers in also hard, but without a defender in your way, you can get the range down with some practice. But try as they might, there are some athletes who have an incredibly hard time hitting a baseball. Here are three reasons why hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing to do in sports.
1.) The Ball Doesn’t Always Come in Straight- In addition to the straight fastball, there are also fastballs which can tail in or away from the hitter. Also, many pitchers posses a variety of breaking pitches. A curve ball has a different rotation than a fastball and will break down and away just prior to reaching the hitter. This makes hitting difficult.
2.) The Ball Is Changing Speeds- It’s difficult to pin down the timing of a pitcher when the balls are coming in at different speeds. A pitcher may throw a fastball at 90 mph but the next pitch could be a changeup that comes in at 6 miles an hour less.
3.) Even When You Hit It, You May Be Out- Even after you time the speed and pick up on the location and break of a pitch, you can hit it hard, and you will still usually be out. In baseball, you succeed if you get a hit 3 out of 10 times up, signifying just how hard it is to hit.
