A Tense Muscle is a slow muscle

A big thing I used say to my hitters throughout the year is, "relax and release" However I now think that the over emphasis off "Release Point" is one of the causes of higher tension level or anxiousness at release point. You just need to relax and trust your eyes. It is over exaggerated but I believe most hitters thought process is similar to: "The pitcher started moving, find the ball, find the ball, here comes the ball finally, I'M GOING TO CRUSH THE BALL! Chili Davis has a great line, "Big thoughts lead to big swings" You are not trying to hit a double/ hit it far, you are trying to take a good swing and be accurate with the barrel. The pictures below are the sequence of Seagar's big game tying home run in the World Series off Justin Verlander. If you watch his facial demeanor until contact it stays relaxed. "A tense muscle is a slow muscle" and the most important muscles to hitting are your eyes. Most amateur hitters tense up their body at release point and widen or bulge their eyes.  This slows down your reaction and makes tracking the ball harder. The calm, confident internal self talk is pivotal to staying relaxed and trusting your eyes to show the body the swing it needs on that pitch.

These are the two most important frames that you need to be relaxed and calm to allow the eyes to focus and do their job.