Struggling to hit slow pitching ????

I remember Howard recommending top toss (stand on a bucket, cock your hand EEEE, drop the ball R) over side toss. So many people screw up the side toss thing.

-W

justwannaplay said:

My daughter hits the ball hard and far in travel ball but in middle school can’t seem to be able to understand the concept of hitting slow pitching?

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In this area, middle school softball is slow-pitch, too, and for that reason, most fastpitch players - rec and TB - do not play. We watched part of a game the other day, and there's no doubt my 10u rec team would've killed them.

I'm a firm believer in kids being allowed to choose their own sports, but if I'm a parent investing in the quality coaching or hitting instruction one gets with TB or even in a good rec program, then I would not be likely to sign the permission slip if DD told me she wanted to be on a slow-pitch softball team.

Hitting Slow Pitch Pitcher

Be warned, this is a very frustrating drill for most hitters until they find out that they can hit it hard to right field. The side effect is they will get more comfortable letting the ball get deeper in the hitting zone. And this will help them deal with slow pitches. And the power increase will be visible!

I am confused with your answer to hitting a slow pitch pitcher in Fast Pitch Softball. You say be warned, and at the end you say the drill will help. Don't you want the girls to get comfortable letting the ball get deeper in the hitting zone?

Mkral, when you talk about letting the ball get deeper, do you mean they move up closer toward the pitcher in the batters box and wait till the ball comes in deeper with the pitch to them? Or do they move back in the box allowing the pitch to come deep and they then swing at the pitch in front of them? Just confused and would like a break down of what is meant by letting the ball come deeper to the batter, because I too have a problem with my girls hitting off of slow pitchers and sometimes never even adjust to hitting them until the last inning win it is a 0 - 0 ball game then we run rule them with a lot of hits. Very frustrating!!

locojuedo said:

Mkral, when you talk about letting the ball get deeper, do you mean they move up closer toward the pitcher in the batters box and wait till the ball comes in deeper with the pitch to them? Or do they move back in the box allowing the pitch to come deep and they then swing at the pitch in front of them? Just confused and would like a break down of what is meant by letting the ball come deeper to the batter, because I too have a problem with my girls hitting off of slow pitchers and sometimes never even adjust to hitting them until the last inning win it is a 0 - 0 ball game then we run rule them with a lot of hits. Very frustrating!!

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1st thing that I think teams need to do if they haven't already is put the pitching machine away. Practice pitching to them at different speeds. Can't pitch? Then move up and front toss at different speeds, with a little practice you can front toss at probably 40 mph (a guess) and if you move up to 30 feet or so you can mimic a pretty fast pitch then work on a front toss change up. Also, a good drill is putting down 3 or 4 home plates. Start at a fairly long distance and put each plate down about 3 feet closer than the last. Have batters move from plate to plate as you front toss.

A timing word that my hitters all use in their head is kaaaaaaaaaa boom. Sounds simply, but it works. They are to start kaaaa at the very start of the pitch, and boom at swing or eerk at the brakes screatching on the swing if they are taking the pitch. Sounds simply, but it works

I never move my batters up in the box or back in the box. When I see girls standing up in the front of the box, they might as well tell my catcher she can't hit slow pitches, we will lob them in one after another. Batter way back in the box tells my catcher she can't hit speed, and probably a little nervous, so catch is calling them fast and inside.

Thank you makes a lot of sense about never moving them back or forward in the box, but it still does not answer my question about what is meant by letting the pitch come deep? Can anyone specifically answer what it means by letting the pitch come deep? Does it mean move up closer toward the pitcher in the batters box and wait till the ball comes in deeper with the pitch to them? Or do they move back in the box allowing the pitch to come deep and they then swing at the pitch in front of them?

Loco, here is something.... http://www.discussfastpitch.com/sof...-adjusting-inside-middle-outside-pitches.html

locojuedo said:

Thank you makes a lot of sense about never moving them back or forward in the box, but it still does not answer my question about what is meant by letting the pitch come deep? Can anyone specifically answer what it means by letting the pitch come deep? Does it mean move up closer toward the pitcher in the batters box and wait till the ball comes in deeper with the pitch to them? Or do they move back in the box allowing the pitch to come deep and they then swing at the pitch in front of them?

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It just means letting the pitch get farther, hitting it near your belly button, not swinging early. You see batters swinging too early on slow pitches and lunging out front trying to make contact with the ball.

obbay said:

this might sound lame but what DD has done successfully to compensate for slow pitching is fake bunt, then swing away.

It's not THE solution but it is one way to address a temporary problem.

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This also works for hard throwing pitchers. Good idea!

locojuedo said:

Thank you makes a lot of sense about never moving them back or forward in the box, but it still does not answer my question about what is meant by letting the pitch come deep? Can anyone specifically answer what it means by letting the pitch come deep? Does it mean move up closer toward the pitcher in the batters box and wait till the ball comes in deeper with the pitch to them? Or do they move back in the box allowing the pitch to come deep and they then swing at the pitch in front of them?

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A common problem that causes batters to reach for the pitch instead of letting it come in is practicing with a tee too far out towards the pitcher. The tee should be set just inside the front foot for a middle pitch.

As far as what is meant by letting the pitch get deep, it means to let the ball come in deeper towards the catcher. Draw a line or place a bat on the ground closer to the center of the batter's body and tell them not to hit the ball until it gets that deep.

The worse that will happen if the ball gets too deep is a hit to right field. And that's not a bad thing to practice.