Every pitch starts with a 3-2-1 countdown so you're set, followed by a short variable pause before release — you always know a pitch is coming, but you can't groove its exact moment. Then the ball flies from the mound to the plate: press SWING (or Space) at the exact moment it crosses the contact point.
The result flashes right on the field, with the ball frozen exactly where it was when you pressed — an early swing shows the ball still up in its flight, a late one shows it at the plate.
After each result, the same button becomes NEXT PITCH — press it (or Space again) to continue. No mouse travel needed between pitches.
Your timing error is the gap between your press and the true contact moment, in milliseconds. Negative = early, positive = late.
Contact grades (Standard windows): Barreled within ±25 ms, Solid within ±60 ms, Foul within ±120 ms, anything worse is a Whiff. Not swinging at all counts as a Take. Strict windows halve all of these.
Pressing before the release just shows a reminder — it isn't counted or penalized. Only your first press after release counts as the swing.
Speed Mix:
Single Speed: every pitch at your chosen speed (with slight natural variation). Learn the flight first.
Two-Speed: fastballs mixed with offspeed pitches about 12 mph slower — the classic timing problem hitters face. The results break down your error on each.
Fully Mixed: every pitch a random speed in the range. The hardest honest test of pure ball-flight timing.
Notes:
This is a stylized drill for the interception-timing half of hitting. Its sibling, the pitch recognition test, trains the identification half — real hitting combines both, and neither replaces live batting practice.