Question for parents of pitchers: Live hitting

[marriard]

We do this regularly ONCE you have pitchers who have some level of control. (i.e. we didn't let our fire-thrower/hits lots of batters do this until she was able to stop hitting girls every other inning).

Our most success was when we worked pitchers and catchers before practice and let it evolve into a scrimmage/pick up game as the rest of the team arrived for regular practice. Then it became fun and the worries about either pitchers or batters losing confidence didn't happen.

Other thing we do regularly within our org is that our pitchers regularly throw BP for the age group/team down from theirs. They again their work in and our younger teams love getting a chance to work against a quality of pitching they might not see on the weekend.

 

[JAD]

Sometimes at the end of our practices we will play a game of pitchers/catchers vs. batters. We have 4 pitchers, 2 catchers, and 6 batters. Whichever team has the most points wins and the losing team has to drag the field and sweep the dugouts.

 

[DOG310]

DD is a pitcher and this has worked well for us as a pitcher and hitter. Works best if you have someone calling balls and strikes to keep pitchers honest. Also, let players and parent know several days out if you are planning on doing this. Allows pitchers to plan their practice routines accordingly.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

One thing to consider BEFORE you do this, which I fully promote, is what kind of protection you might want to provide for your pitcher.

If you have ONE rock-star pitcher on your team and losing her for a stint to recover from a bad bruise (for example) is a very bad thing. you may want to consider a pitchers protective net.

 

[CoogansBluff]

...you may want to consider a pitchers protective net.

I don't know of anything that would protect a pitcher throwing full speed. I've got a bow net w/ a hole in it for front toss, but don't think that would work w/ a live pitcher.