Any tips for a player that's new to the game?

[AJ91]

Just bought the game. Don't really know the sport of baseball, but I played the demo and liked it. Any tips on actually playing good in MLB The Show 11?

[Perfect Zero]

First, get acquainted to the rules of Baseball. As this is the deepest baseball game ever created, it involves a lot of the rules of baseball. Take a bunch of fielding, pitching, and hitting practice before you start any mode.

For hitting, one HAS TO TAKE PITCHES. That's one of the hardest things that players have to do, because many of the pitches look good to hit. For your first game, I would suggest taking the first two pitches of every at-bat just to see how the pitches work. As you get better, you'll learn where pitches break and what to do with them.

For pitching, don't wind up to the max all of the time. Hit the yellow line and don't pass it unless you are going for a hard strike out. Remember to change up pitches, and don't be afraid to throw a ball or two to a free swinger.

Last but not least, HAVE FUN! Too many people who threaten to break the disk or whine on these boards are people who either A) don't understand that focus is key on this game, or B) feel like the game is somehow cheating them. Just have fun, understand your losses, and celebrate your victories.

[RazorbacksIHSV]

First thing I did was switch analog hitting to button. I find it much better and easier.

[Bobhead]

Don't come here. You'll get swallowed up.

No but seriously. Just try to tune everything out, and learn the game at your own pace, in your own way. Try all 6 of the hitting and pitching control schemes, and see which ones you prefer.

Pitching is fairly easy in this game. I literally needed no practice at all, I just jumped into franchise and started playing. However hitting can be the death of you if you do not practice and maintain focus, as it is extremely difficult in this game.

Recognition mode within Practice Mode is by far the best way to practice hitting, I'd just keep doing that over and over. First just ignore the directions the game gives you, and just focus on hitting every pitch you get. Then start practicing recognizing the pitches in time to only swing at the ones you are supposed to (usually fastballs).

I'd stay away from online play and guess pitch until you feel comfortable, since the former has lag issues that will keep your sense of timing off, and the latter is a crutch that will hamper your learning curve. Both are very fun, and guess pitch is a great tool to use, but you should avoid using it for the first few weeks or so that you play the game.

You can also try something I did: turn the pitch speed slider up (yes, up) to about 7 or 8, enter a practice mode, and put the controller down, and just focus on mentally guessing what each pitch looks like, and try to get it to where you've recognized the pitch before it is 3/4's of the way to you. Then pickup the controller and practice hitting it. You will probably miss a lot of pitches, but that's okay, because no one actually plays the game with pitch speed that high. I have it at 5, and most people have it lower. The higher pitch speed just makes fastballs more obvious, which may help you figure things out at the beginning.

[nomo17k]

There are loads of good info on this forum after you start finding out what specific part of your game needs work.

So I'd just start playing the way you want in the beginning. Maybe start a season or RTTS... whatever you like. I'd set difficulty levels all to Rookie to see how you fare. You might also want to lower the pitch speed slider to minimum if you are not seeing the pitch very well and striking out too much.

Since it appears that you are new to the sport, I'd also recommend reading online tutorials and strategy guide (it is available during an exhibition game, for example). The latter gives you some of the basic intro on how to play better baseball, so if you are not familiar with the sport it may help you understand things better. But don't be overwhelmed by the details... even if the stuff don't sink in right now, I think they will help you enjoy the game better once you remember how to look for it.