You strike out looking for 1 of 3 reasons

When a player strikes out looking, it was because of 1 of 3 reasons.

A) He thought the pitch was a ball. This is the excuse that most players give. They take strike 3 and they turn and look at the umpire like he missed the call. Regardless of whether or not they actually thought the pitch was a ball, they blame the umpire with their body language.

B) He was fooled. When facing a very good pitcher, this happens quite frequently. You recognize the pitch as a strike but because you were looking for something else or maybe the pitch had late movement, you take it. This is simply a part of baseball and happens frequently.

C) The third and final reason that you take strike 3 is that your swing prevented you from hitting it. Longer swings prevent hitters from initiating their swing. They know that the inevitable would be a poorly contacted ball. Why swing when you know that the results would be poor anyway. Take the pitch and "roll the dice" with the umpires decision.

An often overlooked by product of a poor swing is how many times a kid takes a pitch. I have found that players with efficient swings will swing at many pitches that aren't strikes simply because they believe they can hit anything. The opposite holds true with respect to poor swings. A player with a poor swing will take take take. Why? He just can't get to certain pitches and it makes no sense to attempt to hit it if you know that you can't make good contact.