For our friends on this forum.......
If I'm shifting the whole field for a pull, why wouldn't you pitch all inside in her spot? The trap has been set, why would you not spring it? Let her pull it?
I'll chime in on my opinion tomorrow.
center vs left or right field
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For our friends on this forum.......
If I'm shifting the whole field for a pull, why wouldn't you pitch all inside in her spot? The trap has been set, why would you not spring it? Let her pull it?
I'll chime in on my opinion tomorrow.
For our friends on this forum.......
If I'm shifting the whole field for a pull, why wouldn't you pitch all inside in her spot? The trap has been set, why would you not spring it? Let her pull it?
I'll chime in on my opinion tomorrow.
Because you are pitching to her strength. She will probably try to pull it anyway no matter where it is pitched. That is what all the major leaguers do, but I only faced one girl like this. If you can't hit to RF, in most cases you aren't going to play DI. So if you throw her away, she will roll over it and hit it weakly to the left side. This is especially true on something like a drop. Set her timing to something hard, and get her out on junk.
I will tweak the OF depending on my pitcher. My #1
throws hard and can consistently throw to
the outside of the plate, high percentage of balls hit to RF, I
put the fastest OF in RF, she also will have an opportunity
for put-out at 1B. My slower, #2 pitcher who relies on junk,
the fastercorner OF plays in LF. The best overall OF plays in CF
throws hard and can consistently throw to
the outside of the plate, high percentage of balls hit to RF, I
put the fastest OF in RF, she also will have an opportunity
for put-out at 1B. My slower, #2 pitcher who relies on junk,
the fastercorner OF plays in LF. The best overall OF plays in CF
Only have come across 1 batter like this. Shifted both the infield and outfield all the way to the right, basically the only person left of 2nd was the 3rd baseperson playing SS. They still hit the tar off the ball; we were just trying to hold them to a single. Fun seeing good hitters and being jealous they are not on your Team.
Fun seeing good hitters and being jealous they are not on your Team.
- Oct 10, 2011
- 3,117
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This morning my daughter saw this up on the screen and said, "Hey Dad, this guy sounds like he's talking about me...weird" LOL I told her it was me. Anyway, it sounds like she just needs to keep working hard and that all of the positions are a great place to play. She's about 6th fastest on the team out of 12, but does have a monster arm- I think she'll be happy just to get on the field.
I did something similar for 4 years each, for two different pitchers. One painted the outside corner with drops and changes and fastballs, the other also threw a curve ball. My RF saw the most action, and one girl had 2 balls hit in the air the whole year to LF. I only had 8 reasonable varsity level players, so I buried the 9th girl in LF. There were balls that were topped and pulled to the left side, but they were all ground balls.
After the freshman year of them shifting on DD I went back to the cages. It was not easy "reprogramming" her mind to wait on the outside pitches and thump them. After I had a couple of strokes, and a few calls to child services.............she finally can hit away.
So that's what I try to remind the coach. If lil Sally has been known to pull for years, don't be surprised if she hasn't learned to adapt just like mine.
Also if there is a baserunner on, I want the ball on my "covered" side of the field. With that shift we have the pitcher, SS, 3rd, LF, CF , RF all on the same side that allows for minimal holes. JMO, I'll take my chances pitching on her hands as oppose to far and away.
Again, I don't like this shift. But if the HS coach is going to use it, I'm going to voice my experience on how it should be executed to it's fullest potential.
Last edited:
- Apr 1, 2010
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For our friends on this forum.......
If I'm shifting the whole field for a pull, why wouldn't you pitch all inside in her spot? The trap has been set, why would you not spring it? Let her pull it?
I'll chime in on my opinion tomorrow.
Ok, I'll bite.
I wouldn't give her a pitch in her favorite location because then she'd be more likely to go yard or bounce it off the fence and it wouldn't matter how well my outfielders were positioned to catch or cutoff the ball in left?
Ok, I'll bite.
Instead of me posting "in her spot", I should have said "in her area". And we are not going to be lobbing some meat up there either. She's going to have to earn her way on battling curves, drop curves, inside drops, and don't make me say the F word.....................a moving fastball.
But after your post and Mr Steve's, I might be more inclined to work outside with a RH pitcher. Fighting a RH batter inside with a RH pitcher may not be the best option in this scenario. ( because is sure doesn't work for the other teams with RH pitchers )
Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Let's think this through. You're shifting her to left because she can't (as opposed to won't) hit to right. In essence, you're highlighting her weakness by shifting, but then pitching to her strength if you throw her exclusively inside to try to get her out. Shift her to left, and then tempt her to try to do something she can't (or can't do very well) by pitching her outside. 90% of the game is mental, the other half is physical. Even if you are going to try to get her out by throwing outside, you do need to come inside on some pitches - just make sure those pitches are far enough inside so they can't be hit fair. Feed the monster and encourage the pull - nothing like an inside change hit over the fence 40 feet foul, followed up by a 9-hopper to SS on a rolled over low and outside heater. Play mind games - shift her every other at bat and you may end up with a very confused, frustrated, and ineffective hitter.
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