Why do most right handed throwers bat right handed?

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I throw righty but bat lefty FYI.

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I do too. I'm old, though, so it doesn't matter.

Think it's just common practice. I bat right and throw right. But if I'm shooting pool I shoot lefty.

In most people, it also is disadvantageous in that the dominant (right) eye is not the lead eye. I think most kids pick up a bat and do what feels most natural to them, and that's the short answer to your question.

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I don't see why it would be that important.

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Being a left handed batter gives you an advantage against right handed pitchers because breaking balls break towards you, not away from you.

Because a majority of pitchers are rightys, a left handed bat has more value in the lineup.

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1. your power leg is the one you want to plant from i.e right leg


2. you derive your power from your legs and your back arm which is your right arm

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I'm left handed but right footed, and I bat lefty/throw lefty.

That being said, in soccer I would often get thrown in at left wing because my left is about as strong as my right and I could cross with it.

And, I rake in Chicago style softball/homerun derby/you name it.

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dominant hand leading the bottom of the bat

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This is how Hank Aaron batted until he played minor league ball. He once said he should've tried switch hitting at a young age.

it’s a very difficult skill to master; most players just aren’t ambidextrous enough to be able to be successful at it.

Almost all people are both hand and foot same dominance. Right handed, right footed - so it's your entire body and coordination is about batting right if you throw right.

Very people are ambidextrous - and very few people do one thing right and the other thing left unless they really work at it. And the population of righty to lefty is about 80%-20%.

Which is why it is an advantage to be able to bat from the left side. Since most people aren't left-handers in the entire population - there are fewer left-handed pitchers of course.

Baseball is a sport that distinctly rewards left-handed hitting. Traditionally cited as an explanation for this is the fact that the left-handed hitter is an extra step closer to first base, but the research of John Walsh (see the References and Resources section below) indicates this isn’t a significant issue. The genuine reason is simply that the left-handed hitter generally enjoys the platoon advantage, since the majority of pitchers are right handed.

Because of the left-handed hitting advantage, baseball attracts more than its share of left-handed athletes, or at least athletes ambidextrous enough to learn to bat lefty. The proportion of left-handed batters (including switch-hitters batting lefty) at the major league level is always far greater than the 20 percent that a random sample of the population would yield; indeed it’s generally more like 40 percent.

ANd: The positions that demand right-handed throwers yield a higher and more stable proportion of right-handed batters.





So you have an 80/20 % ratio just like the general public.

As for switch hitters:



As you can see not much higher - and obviously a very specific skill learned early childhood or ambidextrous people...or the rare right hand left foot person.

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your power leg is the one you want to plant from i.e right leg

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Not sure. Most right handers kick right footed. Think soccer. In that case your plant leg would be your left leg.

Left handed batters also have a left footed plant leg. Right foot steps forward on the swing.

I'm not sure about the other positions but it would be tough to turn a double play as a second baseman. You would have to catch the balk then turn completly around to make the throw to first.

I guess it depends on if you naturally prefer to pull a bat through or push a bat through.