Hitting a baseball is certainly a very challenging skill to develop. Many in the sporting world consider it among the most difficult techniques to fully develop. The irony behind the difficulty of the skill is that the top people in the sport say you should go to bat without thinking.
It's because great hitters are made during practice. Hitting takes a great deal of hard work and proper mechanics. If you weren't born with it you can develop it; if you train smart.
More time is wasted on teaching ineffective batting technique than anything else in sport. It's quite obvious that a hitter needs a clear head when batting. So why the heck would a coach yell 10 commands at a hitter when he's hitting? All this does is cause confusion and poor contact.
The key is to keep it simple. Focus during practice. The best results come from training your body on one aspect of the hitting process at a time. When you've done enough work to engrain that into your muscle memory then you can move on to the next part of your swing that needs help.
Standing at the plate can bring on nervousness, but it's important to stay calm and relaxed. Your body must be able to react very quickly. When the muscles are pre-tensioned there is a delay to react which robs acceleration and velocity. Part of staying relaxed includes not grabbing the bat tightly when batting. Keeping a relaxed hold on the bat will help relax the body which will improve reaction time and hitting power.
The body core and legs are critical for proper hitting form. Concentrate on the use of the lower body. The most famous sluggers use the body most effectively by moving from the core outward - engaging the hips, legs and having great form throughout. Also, don't "squash the bug." This is terrible advice and robs the hitter of virtually all of his power.
Last, but certainly not least, work on your baseball-specific vision. Learn how to track a projectile (i.e. baseball). Learn to anticipate where the ball will go. Your vision ability when hitting is vital. If need be go get a full eye examination. After all, you can't hit what you can't see!
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