halskinner
Banned
- May 7, 2008
- 2,642
- 0
COACH HAL’S ‘SHOOTOUT’.
This is a game and drill that I use with all my students regardless of age or experience level.
One of the things this game does is to increase a pitcher’s reaction time to a self-defense situation, a hard hit line drive coming straight at them and that was my line of thought when I first came up with this and started my students doing this.
I see it as a drill that now serves MANY purposes for me as an instructor. My students all simply see it as a very fun game. They don’t care that I see it and use it as a drill and they look forward to it at our sessions. They even ask to play it many times when I don’t bring it up.
Here is how it works. It requires 2 pitchers of similar age and ability.
Each pitcher stand facing each other at whatever their regulation pitching distance is, minus 5 feet.
Each pitcher is wearing their glove and has a softball size wiffle ball in their throwing hand.
Both pitchers have the ball and glove at their side and are in the pitching position as if they were standing on the rubber taking the call.
Both pitchers are staring at their opposing pitcher across from them.
A third person, (coach, parent or player) is standing off to the side out of their view while they are staring at the other pitcher.
The third person loudly claps their hands together.
The instant the pitchers hear that clap, they fire off the fastest pitch they can throw at their opponent, both pitchers firing at the same time.
Whichever pitcher’s ball gets to or hits the other pitcher first, wins that round.
First priority; THROW A FAST HARD STRIKE.
Second priority; DEFEND YOURSELF AND STOP THAT BALL COMING AT YOU FROM HITTING YOU! Get the glove on the ball!
For a very young beginner, this can be a little scary for the first few pitches. However, once they realize they are not going to get hurt when the wiffle ball hits them, they will get a huge grin on their face. They will have a blast and you will be pleasantly surprised when you see how fast they can speed up their overall motions to try and win at this game.
Make sure their mechanics do not go down the drain when playing this game as they try and speed everything up. Many will take a shorter stride length to try and be a little quicker, make sure they keep what they have learned correct, just do them faster.
I use this drill to speed up new beginners motions and that of more experienced pitchers too. It works really well for me in that respect.
After playing this game a few times, even the very young ones get really quick at defending themselves and blocking that incoming ball. In a very short while they will get REALLY good and REALLY fast at defending themselves at a ball coming at them TWICE AS FAST AS ANY HIT BALL EVER WILL.
If you have a pitcher that is “Gunshy”, from being hit by a batted ball, this is a great way to re-instill their confidence. Make sure they realize they are defending themselves from a ball coming back twice as fast as any hit ball will.
My students have even more fun with this when I step in to play and they get to go up against the ole coach! They like it so much that I can use it as incentive for them to work hard and stay focused at our sessions.
WARNING; NEVER PLAY THIS GAME WITH ANYTHING OTHER THAN A PLASTIC WIFFLE BALL (the kind with all the holes in it) OR A PAIR OF ROLLED UP SOCKS! Do not use a softball, tennis ball or ANYTHING else.
Now, how does a pitcher use this on the lines of tactics? Not hard to figure this one out.
If the pitcher’s normal motions or pre-motions are somewhat slow, every so often the pitcher simply thinks to herself “Time to play ‘Shootout”. For that pitch, she takes the call, brings the hands together and EXPLODES into the fastest motions she can, with NO HESITATIONS AT ALL, just like when she plays ‘Shootout’.
The batters get used to a pitcher’s motions and pre-motions and they use it to time the pitch. All of a sudden, for this pitch, the ball is being delivered faster than they expect it to happen and the batter reacts badly.
It’s a very fun game. It improves a pitcher defense and self-defense reaction time and it has a great impact on the batter’s timing.
I will be perfectly honest here and say that I ALSO use this drill/game as bribery with many of my students, especially the youngest ones. One of the first things that they will say when they arrive is, "Can we play shootout today?". My reply is on the lines of "As long as you work hard and stay focused, I think we can find a few minutes at the end". No matter how focused they do or do not stay, I always find 3 or 4 minutes at the end to play a quick round of shootout when they ask to. If they DO start to lose focus, I simply ask them if they still want to play shoot out. That snaps their attention and focus right back to working hard.
Like I said, this game serves me as an instructor in MANY useful ways. Yup thats right, Its a ''Sneaky' tool.
Have fun with it because your pitchers most definitely will.
This is a game and drill that I use with all my students regardless of age or experience level.
One of the things this game does is to increase a pitcher’s reaction time to a self-defense situation, a hard hit line drive coming straight at them and that was my line of thought when I first came up with this and started my students doing this.
I see it as a drill that now serves MANY purposes for me as an instructor. My students all simply see it as a very fun game. They don’t care that I see it and use it as a drill and they look forward to it at our sessions. They even ask to play it many times when I don’t bring it up.
Here is how it works. It requires 2 pitchers of similar age and ability.
Each pitcher stand facing each other at whatever their regulation pitching distance is, minus 5 feet.
Each pitcher is wearing their glove and has a softball size wiffle ball in their throwing hand.
Both pitchers have the ball and glove at their side and are in the pitching position as if they were standing on the rubber taking the call.
Both pitchers are staring at their opposing pitcher across from them.
A third person, (coach, parent or player) is standing off to the side out of their view while they are staring at the other pitcher.
The third person loudly claps their hands together.
The instant the pitchers hear that clap, they fire off the fastest pitch they can throw at their opponent, both pitchers firing at the same time.
Whichever pitcher’s ball gets to or hits the other pitcher first, wins that round.
First priority; THROW A FAST HARD STRIKE.
Second priority; DEFEND YOURSELF AND STOP THAT BALL COMING AT YOU FROM HITTING YOU! Get the glove on the ball!
For a very young beginner, this can be a little scary for the first few pitches. However, once they realize they are not going to get hurt when the wiffle ball hits them, they will get a huge grin on their face. They will have a blast and you will be pleasantly surprised when you see how fast they can speed up their overall motions to try and win at this game.
Make sure their mechanics do not go down the drain when playing this game as they try and speed everything up. Many will take a shorter stride length to try and be a little quicker, make sure they keep what they have learned correct, just do them faster.
I use this drill to speed up new beginners motions and that of more experienced pitchers too. It works really well for me in that respect.
After playing this game a few times, even the very young ones get really quick at defending themselves and blocking that incoming ball. In a very short while they will get REALLY good and REALLY fast at defending themselves at a ball coming at them TWICE AS FAST AS ANY HIT BALL EVER WILL.
If you have a pitcher that is “Gunshy”, from being hit by a batted ball, this is a great way to re-instill their confidence. Make sure they realize they are defending themselves from a ball coming back twice as fast as any hit ball will.
My students have even more fun with this when I step in to play and they get to go up against the ole coach! They like it so much that I can use it as incentive for them to work hard and stay focused at our sessions.
WARNING; NEVER PLAY THIS GAME WITH ANYTHING OTHER THAN A PLASTIC WIFFLE BALL (the kind with all the holes in it) OR A PAIR OF ROLLED UP SOCKS! Do not use a softball, tennis ball or ANYTHING else.
Now, how does a pitcher use this on the lines of tactics? Not hard to figure this one out.
If the pitcher’s normal motions or pre-motions are somewhat slow, every so often the pitcher simply thinks to herself “Time to play ‘Shootout”. For that pitch, she takes the call, brings the hands together and EXPLODES into the fastest motions she can, with NO HESITATIONS AT ALL, just like when she plays ‘Shootout’.
The batters get used to a pitcher’s motions and pre-motions and they use it to time the pitch. All of a sudden, for this pitch, the ball is being delivered faster than they expect it to happen and the batter reacts badly.
It’s a very fun game. It improves a pitcher defense and self-defense reaction time and it has a great impact on the batter’s timing.
I will be perfectly honest here and say that I ALSO use this drill/game as bribery with many of my students, especially the youngest ones. One of the first things that they will say when they arrive is, "Can we play shootout today?". My reply is on the lines of "As long as you work hard and stay focused, I think we can find a few minutes at the end". No matter how focused they do or do not stay, I always find 3 or 4 minutes at the end to play a quick round of shootout when they ask to. If they DO start to lose focus, I simply ask them if they still want to play shoot out. That snaps their attention and focus right back to working hard.
Like I said, this game serves me as an instructor in MANY useful ways. Yup thats right, Its a ''Sneaky' tool.
Have fun with it because your pitchers most definitely will.
