Trouble with the slow ball

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Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,168
38
New England
it starts upstream in the headbone area. our 3rd base coach is always talking to batters about watching for a change up. it plays in 2 heads. one is the batter's and one is the pitcher's. many times pitchers will stop throwing change ups once they think they've lost the element of surprise or they'll throw them out of the strike zone. start hitting them and they're done.

I always loved helpful third base coaches when calling pitches. They should've been awarded many assists.
 
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
Three choices when faced with offspeed/change-up/slower pitching.

1. Don't swing. (While this make work at younger ages it's horrible for the players long term. I do see why coaches take this approach though.)
2. Guess. (If you guess change-up/off speed you can use your fastball swing if you start your sequence later. Not the best approach but can be effective.)
3. Build resistance into your swing. (The best approach. Start your sequence at the same trigger point for every pitch. Recognize change-up and keep resisting. Don't stop your swing process to wait for the ball!)
 
Feb 4, 2015
641
28
Massachusetts
At the "A" level in 16u I have a pitcher that throws a 45 MPH change up on the outside corner....
coaches said. "Let it get deep!", "Wait for it!", "Scoot up in the box!"...

We have the same pitcher and it drives the coaches crazy. They get so upset with girls either K-ing or beating the ball into the ground!
"Scoot up in the box" is my favorite because it just puts them even further out of their comfort zone.

In all honesty, my DD has also sometimes commented about pitchers being too slow to hit it. She's also learned that is something I really don't care to hear about.
 
Oct 3, 2011
3,478
113
Right Here For Now
Is there any drills besides the obvious of just pitching slower to them in the cage to help with them adjusting their timing to hit slower pitching? Seems like everyone has this problem but no solutions.

I took a 2x4 sheet of plywood and cut out an 8 inch x 24 inch slot in the middle of it. I then built a stand to hold it. There are 2 timing mechanisms involved. 1 is timing the swing which many players do simply by doing tee work. It entails timing the swing from the launch point to the contact point. However, the second timing mechanism involves timing the ball. By using the board I made and varying the pitch speed from 15 or so feet away, the only thing the batter sees is the ball releasing from the hand at the last few seconds. Therefore, it's imperative that they time the ball and initiate their swing on time. this has helped my team tremendously when it comes to change-ups or off-speed pitches.
 
Mar 24, 2014
450
18
I took a 2x4 sheet of plywood and cut out an 8 inch x 24 inch slot in the middle of it. I then built a stand to hold it. There are 2 timing mechanisms involved. 1 is timing the swing which many players do simply by doing tee work. It entails timing the swing from the launch point to the contact point. However, the second timing mechanism involves timing the ball. By using the board I made and varying the pitch speed from 15 or so feet away, the only thing the batter sees is the ball releasing from the hand at the last few seconds. Therefore, it's imperative that they time the ball and initiate their swing on time. this has helped my team tremendously when it comes to change-ups or off-speed pitches.

Thanks. Can you provide any pictures not sure exactly how this is used?
 

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