Outside pitch

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Sep 9, 2014
75
6
Hello all my dd is having a little problem hitting the outside pitch it seems that she is swinging to early. Any good drills that she can work on to help with that??

Thanks
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
I will soft toss outside and want her to hit it to RF. Switch it up a little bit but will throw outside and more more outside.
 
May 23, 2015
999
63
The most important question is how is she missing the outside pitch? Hitting location pitches is an easy fix once you know what the problem is. 99 out of 100 times it's being too far off the plate
 

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
The most important question is how is she missing the outside pitch? Hitting location pitches is an easy fix once you know what the problem is. 99 out of 100 times it's being too far off the plate

I think the reason so many girls have trouble with the outside pitch is not their setup location relative to the plate or something as simple as swinging early although it often appears that way. i think it is an inability to "stay in their backside" and let their arms extend through contact, so many girls have some version of "shift then swing" or "drop barrel then swing" and so many lack extension through the ball at contact that their mechanics simply prevent them from generating enough early power and prevent them from being able to reach an outside pitch effectively. You really need a "deep woosh" and the ability to let the arms reel out a little to various locations to get the bat up to speed in time and get it to the right location to hit the outside pitch with any power.

There are two drills I like in this regard that I combine, the first is attack oppo, you can search the forum for the term and it will bring up a lot of info with clips. The second is what is called the command drill. They are very closely related but the idea of combining them is to have a drill that is sudden and teaches a hitter to remove slop from their swing, get loaded and launch immediately to a ball on a tee that is set up to mimic an outside pitch. The feeling this gives you is that your backside (right hand side) for a RHB is fused together with coiled and stretched muscles and the hitter swings from this position to an outside location immediately. It also give the feeling of staying back because if the hitter shifts their weight then their bat path with not be able to hit the outside ball with any power.

For a kid that has not done a drill like this, they will have slop int heir swing and it will not be as sudden as it should be. it is hard to see this so a good way to test is to change from a tee to just dropping a ball from about her head height and seeing if she can make contact. In a swing that has most of the slop removed at this starting position a batter can hit the ball before is hits the ground, in a swing with slop she will consistently swing over the ball because she is taking too much time removing slop. After some practice they will get the feel that they need to be coiled and fairly slopless and then they can make contact.

So there is really no easy fix to this, the real answer is if a kid has a good sequence and is using their backside correctly then they can get to the outside pitch with power and learn how to hit it, but if they are out of pattern then they really have no hope of having good plate coverage, they could adjust by getting closer to the plate but then they just move the hole in the zone and will probably be dead low and inside or on the hands.
 
Sep 9, 2014
75
6
Forgot to mention she is a lefty slapper. Her main problem is that she pulls almost everything she makes contact but mostly with the tip of the bat. Thanks to all!!
 
Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
Here's what I have been teaching and it's been working pretty well with a few of the players I coach. On the outside pitch maintain the hinge angle of the bat and wrists and do not roll that top wrist. A lot of people will say "let the ball get deep". I don't know how you can judge "deep' by 6"-10" when something is traveling at 50+ mph. If you maintain the hinge angle and then extend through - then the ball is deep and going opposite. If you roll your wrists at contact you immediately advance the bat head about 6", the ball is no longer deep and you hit it off the end of the bat. Thoughts?
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
Biggest mistake most batters make is trying to pull an outside pitch, resulting in a weak grounder back to the pitcher. Do tee work and get her to drive the ball to opposite field.
 
Sep 9, 2014
75
6
Here's what I have been teaching and it's been working pretty well with a few of the players I coach. On the outside pitch maintain the hinge angle of the bat and wrists and do not roll that top wrist. A lot of people will say "let the ball get deep". I don't know how you can judge "deep' by 6"-10" when something is traveling at 50+ mph. If you maintain the hinge angle and then extend through - then the ball is deep and going opposite. If you roll your wrists at contact you immediately advance the bat head about 6", the ball is no longer deep and you hit it off the end of the bat. Thoughts?

I like that concept! i will try that too... thanks
 

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