pitching machine or no pitching machine? whats your theory?

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Jun 16, 2014
46
0
What are the pro's and con's using or not using a pitching machine?

Some coach's are completely against them and some use them. I have heard excuses because it pitches too straight, no movement on the ball, doesnt simulate a pitcher's movement, screws hitters timing up and so on and so on.

My vote - I am for them. Only way I would not use the machine is if you could do live pitching from full distance all the time. I feel if you teach them correctly on the pitching machine they can transfer that information to live pitching.

My DD's biggest flaw in her swing is starting her swing late, in which her coach doesnt use a machine and only pitches from half distance. She looks awesome in practice and off the tee but LATE in games.
 
Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
I own one but I typically only use it for deep fly balls...not pitching. I like bp off a live pitcher because the speed, location, spin, and timing are all a touch different. Where a machine puts it in the same spot and speed every pitch. The girls aren't learning how to adjust. All they get is timing. As as we all know pitchers are snowflakes (no two are identical) so, unless you have a high dollar computerized machine that can mix speed and location automatically.... pitch to them yourself. Even if from behind a screen at 15', IMO Its still beats a constant speed and location of a machine.
 
May 9, 2013
65
0
IMO, It has its purpose. You use a tee to teach mechanics, you can move to a pitching machine to also work on specific things where you need a consistency to the pitch, and then you need live pitching. Depending on how much time you practice and your ability to get good live pitchers for practice would determine if it would be valuable to have a machine but you shouldn't rely on the machine completely.
 
Jul 16, 2008
1,520
48
Oregon
I use one, and all the machines I have ever used did not place the ball in the same location every time, of course I use regular softballs as well. Single wheel Jugs machine.

Now you do not get the movement pitches per say, but depending on how I place the balls in there, typically like a FB release it will go high.
 
Jan 22, 2011
1,610
113
My experience is girls start picking up bad habits from a pitching machine if you don't have a coach there correcting their mechanics and/or when they get lazy. They start dropping their hands and swing just for contact if they aren't being watched.

I had a dad upset his daughter didn't the all-star team claiming she could hit 70mph pitching. I'm sure in a 70mph batting cage she could stick the bat out and make contact with some percentage of the pitches.

I use my pitching machine for flyballs and teaching bunting.
 
Jan 25, 2011
2,282
38
I pitch to my dd, I figured since my dd was going to Hillhouse for pitching lesson and he would teach her and I on how to pitch, it rubbed off on me. I can now pitch like never before. I wish the men's fastpitch league was still going in our area. I hate pitching machines, it is to easy to hit off. I can change locations and speeds on my dd and give her different looks of pitchers motions with live pitching. But if you can't pitch with any speed or accuracy, then I guess a machine would be better then fluffing them in there. We start out on the tee with 50 to 100 or so swings and move right to live. This is her first year at 16u and she is killing the ball. 0 & 2 count is nothing to her, she can foul off what she doesn't like at will and work the count. She worked over a pitcher a couple of weekends ago on a 13 pitches at bat and ended up getting a walk. I feel it is because of her confidence at the plate from all of the live pitching and me telling her that there isn't a pitcher alive that she can't hit off of. Her TB team uses a pitching machine at one of their stations, but she skips that station.
 
May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
I haven't used one for teaching hitting for over 30 years. When i coached at the community college, the whole pitching machine, batting cage was new to me. It did zero to prepare the girls to hit.

Then, I saw my DD's HS coach use one every day. Same results.

My Jugs is in pieces in the garage and I haven't used it for anything for 7 years.
 
May 6, 2014
532
16
Low and outside
As a hitter, machines drive me absolutely nuts. No one ever has the exact same timing between the time they show you the ball and the time it gets spit out of the machine; sometimes it gets hung up in the chute, whatever. Bottom line is, about a third of the time I wind up way ahead of the pitch. It gets worse the faster you crank it up.
 
Feb 7, 2013
3,188
48
Pitching machines are way down on my list. The problem with a single wheel machine is that the ball comes out with backspin and produces a relatively flat pitch that normally is the same speed and same general location. The other problem is the dimpled ball doesn't act like a real softball because it doesn't have seams, isn't leather, and doesn't create the same spins and movement as live pitching.

The positives is that you can adjust the speed so the batters get used to faster pitching, you can use it for specific drills like bunting, and you don't need a team pitcher to do some hitting practice.

With that said below is my list from best to worst.

Live pitching with pitchers trying to strikeout batters.

Front toss from about 15 to 20 feet away throwing to different locations and some changeups.

Tee work (underrated)

Soft toss from the side.

Pitching machine.

Dry swings.

Hitting stick.
 
Feb 7, 2013
3,188
48
Pitching machines are way down in my list. The problem with a single wheel machine is that the ball comes out with backspin and stays produces a relatively flat pitch that normally is the same speed and same general location. The other problem is the dimpled ball doesn't act like a real softball because it doesn't have seams, isn't leather, and doesn't create the same spins and movement as live pitching.

The positives is that you can adjust the speed so the batters get used to faster pitching, you can use it for specific drills like bunting, and you don't need a team pitcher to do some hitting practice.

With that said below is my list from best to worst.

Live pitching with pitchers trying to strikeout batters.

Front toss from about 15 to 20 feet away throwing to different locations and some changeups.

Tee work (underrated)

Soft toss from the side.

Pitching machine.

Dry swings.

Hitting stick.
 

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