Cannonball
Ex "Expert"
- Feb 25, 2009
- 4,887
- 113
I was watching a couple of college games recently and I noticed something that few teams are doing but were things that a lot of teams seemed to do in the past. A young lady had stepped out of the box after jerking a long foul balls that left the stadium. She looked at her bat with what I would call extreme focus and then said changeup. I could read her lips as she said it. The next pitch was a changeup and she was ready for it. I tried to instill in my dd the idea that a hitter has to understand what a pitcher is trying to do to them. IOWs, know how they get her out. To be forwarned is to be forearmed. IOWs, have that plan.
For my dd, we developed a routine. She would step out of the box, talk to herself, look at her bat, turn it 3 times and get the barrel where she wanted, take a deep breath and then enter the box. What she was said to herself varied. Was she guess hitting at times? Heck yes. I would suggest that most of the time, she used educated guesses. For example, I posted one of her home runs on this site. My dd and the pitcher had what might be described as an unfriendly rivalry. The pitcher tried to stare her down in that at bat before she stepped into the box. My dd stepped forward and spit at the pitcher. Then, her thought, or what she said to herself was "don't be late." She knew that the pitcher was going to throw something as hard as she could throw it. My dd was not late. If an at bat in a regional game, she knew that she was not going to get a pitch to hit after getting two strikes on her. He comment to herself was to, "foul off anything close."
IMO, this type of routine helps set a mindset that is positive in nature and prevents hitters from taking a negative approach or where they hope to get a hit. Also, this type of routine enables a hitter to have a better idea of how to build a plan for an at-bat. When I was in HS, I kept a notebook on all pitchers. I knew how they got me out and, to be honest, I was arrogant when I stepped into the box. I knew I had a working knowledge of what they did to hitters. My dd did the same.
I want to wrap up this long post by saying that if you look at the mechanics of hitters, most have a lot of ability and mechanically don't need much of a tweak. It is the mental approach that is lacking. It is the lack of a routine that builds confidence and a positive presence when they enter the box.
For my dd, we developed a routine. She would step out of the box, talk to herself, look at her bat, turn it 3 times and get the barrel where she wanted, take a deep breath and then enter the box. What she was said to herself varied. Was she guess hitting at times? Heck yes. I would suggest that most of the time, she used educated guesses. For example, I posted one of her home runs on this site. My dd and the pitcher had what might be described as an unfriendly rivalry. The pitcher tried to stare her down in that at bat before she stepped into the box. My dd stepped forward and spit at the pitcher. Then, her thought, or what she said to herself was "don't be late." She knew that the pitcher was going to throw something as hard as she could throw it. My dd was not late. If an at bat in a regional game, she knew that she was not going to get a pitch to hit after getting two strikes on her. He comment to herself was to, "foul off anything close."
IMO, this type of routine helps set a mindset that is positive in nature and prevents hitters from taking a negative approach or where they hope to get a hit. Also, this type of routine enables a hitter to have a better idea of how to build a plan for an at-bat. When I was in HS, I kept a notebook on all pitchers. I knew how they got me out and, to be honest, I was arrogant when I stepped into the box. I knew I had a working knowledge of what they did to hitters. My dd did the same.
I want to wrap up this long post by saying that if you look at the mechanics of hitters, most have a lot of ability and mechanically don't need much of a tweak. It is the mental approach that is lacking. It is the lack of a routine that builds confidence and a positive presence when they enter the box.
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