Now one last thing. By pressing down and then up on the right stick, you will perform a power swing. The angle at which you move the stick down does not matter, but the angle at which you move it on the upswing does determine horizontal PCI placement. When exercising the power swing, your player will be given a bonus to power at the expense of constricted timing windows. Use at your own caution.
Ok. So now that we have a better understanding of the mechanic, how can we use this knowledge to help us at the plate. Well, for one thing, do not select between the normal swing or contact swing pre-pitch. Because the contact swing is simply an extension of the normal swing mechanic, your ability to track the ball’s release should then determine your right stick placement. If you see a pitch on inside or outside of the strike zone that you just can’t lay off, flicking the stick to the right of left will provide you with the best chance to make contact. But if the pitch is inside the strike zone, just subtly aim the right stick up and to the right or left in varying degrees to match the pitch’s horizontal movement. Simply put, wherever the pitch takes you, so goes your thumb.
Finally, make sure to study the “Swing Info Display” after each pitch. As mentioned in my zone hitting guide, by holding the right trigger and selecting left or right on the D-Pad, the swing info display will reveal hit timing and pitch location results. But most importantly, it will display your PCI, which is only available post-pitch when using analog hitting. Over the course of a game, you can analyze how closely the PCI aligned with pitch location and make adjustments accordingly. But remember, the vertical placement of the PCI is solely a product of player ratings, so you don’t need to wonder why you didn’t make good contact when the you timed the ball well and matched the right stick with the horizontal motion of the pitch. That was the computer’s fault.
Ok. That’s all for this week. When breaking down the mechanic to its core components, we realize just how different the mechanic functions versus how it was originally expressed by the creators of the game and subsequently understood by the community. We also realize that this year’s rendition of analog hitting is not synonymous with a button press, and instead functions as a middle ground between timing and zone hitting. And of course, we can leverage our newfound knowledge to take advantage when at the plate and take our game to the next level.
Analog Hitting. Swing the right stick. And let it rip. Simple.
@MLB15theShow great great great video…gives me so many answers to why it says good and green and batter makes no contact