Hitting then saying sorry - any tips to stop DS hitting in the first place??

[widdle]

My DS is coming up to 2 and is deep in the hitting phase. Pretty much every day he will hit me, his dad, friends etc - then he will immediately come up and say sorry and kiss whatever body part he hits (he also does this to flowers he has stepped on )

Every time he hits we always say "No hitting - that's not nice" or something similar. Yesterday he hit his little friend over the head with a toy car. I took the car off him, picked him up, said "No hitting - poor friend" - then he said sorry and they had a hug.

All very good in terms of him saying sorry but it doesn't stop him from hitting in the first place! It's as though he thinks he can hit then just say sorry. Any tips or will this phase die out soon? TIA

Bump bump

This may sound silly but does he know why he shouldn't hit? He obviously knows that he needs to apologise if he hits which is great but does he know that it hurts?
Maybe try explaining that hitting hurts, like when he falls over or bumps himself and that's why he shouldn't do it. Just a thought.
Sometimes we teach our kids the correct behaviours but they don't really understand why.