Why do girls stand at the front of the box?

[ArmWhip]

Let's look at this from the prospective of pitching. Pitching coaches encourage pitchers to leap out as far as possible, to get right on top of the hitter. I have never heard a pitching coach say that spin pitches are more effective if you stay as far away from the hitter as possible to give the ball more distance to break. Moving the pitching rubber 3 ft further away from plate must have really helped pitchers and hurt hitters.

 

[Mrek]

How many people on this thread are men? These comparisons with MLB and Mens Fastpitch are a bit silly.

Girls stand toward the front of the box to get plate coverage with the barrel of the bat. 90 percent of the girls (and women) we are discussing here are 5' 7" and below. Standing at the back of the box does not allow these girls to get to the outer half with any authority. (FYI, girls and women are generally not as strong as boys and men, NOTE I said "generally"). My DD is a pitcher, if she sees a batter at the back of the box who is not 6 feet tall with a 34" bat, she will dominate them on the outer edge with curve, drop and change (for a righty) and screwball for the lefties. Better to be able to get the barrel to pitches and adjust to the speed difference. I don't really see a lot of girls hit bombs off the end cap.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

The problem batters face: more time = more break on the pitches......why do you think there is such a delima about moving from 40' to 43'? It is essentially the same thing when the batter moves from the back to the front of the box!

Yup ... the trade-off is more side-to-side plate coverage versus time. You have to have side-to-side plate coverage, and you want as much time as you can get. First things first ... figure out how deep in the box you can be and still have full plate coverage .... and that's pretty much what Jim is trying to get at.

For many of my hitters the answer has the front foot in front of the plate a bit.

 

[Dtwn92]

FWIW, I usually learn more from the debates and discussions than I do from the answers themselves. You got a problem with that LOL

Na, no problems. You are absolutly correct. This thread has been very imformative and a good read.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Let's look at this from the prospective of pitching. Pitching coaches encourage pitchers to leap out as far as possible, to get right on top of the hitter. I have never heard a pitching coach say that spin pitches are more effective if you stay as far away from the hitter as possible to give the ball more distance to break. Moving the pitching rubber 3 ft further away from plate must have really helped pitchers and hurt hitters.

IMO, it hurt the pure power pitchers but helped the junkers

 

[stiksdad]

I teach all my hitters to set their lead foot at the back corner of the plate,, always.

 

[mad hornet]

I usually taught our hitters to go even with the plate. That is until we faced a pitcher whose dropball literally fell off the table right at home plate. She was killing us with it so I told our kids to move up in the box to hit it before the drop. By the 11th inning we were teeing off on her. Still not sure if moving up in the box helped as I'm sure she was getting a little tired at that point.

 

[jbooth]

Fine and dandy but I have been around softball players for years and none are taught where to stand front to back due to covering the plate. The issues are being able to catch up with fast pitching or delay hitting slow pitching AND to avoid break.

Like was posted, this discussion is based mainly from people who have never hit off a fastpitch pitcher in competition.

If you pitch the ball straight the hitters will hit it both from 40 to 43. Hitters are taught to read spin, not stand in the back of the plate and "see" break, because then it is too late to hit it.

Anyone who teaches rigid placement (esp in face of it not working) in my opinion is not giving the player tools they may need to be successful both in sport and life.

Sure you "read" spin, but not every pitcher's pitch moves the same way. You also need to "see" the break. And, I HAVE faced fastpitch pitchers. I never stood at the absolute back of the box. My front foot plant was at or just a few inches in front of the front edge of the plate. From there, I could get the barrel to any part of the strike zone. If I saw that the pitch was going to go through the zone I could get to it.

Maybe moving up helps on breaking pitches, but I'm not convinced. Especially, the curve that comes at you and breaks across the plate. IMO, moving up, hurts you on that one. If you're back, you can see that pitch break across the plate and hit it after it breaks. I've done it. If it breaks over the outside corner, you hit it the same as any pitch that's going over the outside corner.

My logic is based upon the fact that regardless of the type of pitch, if it passes through the zone, and I am in a position to get my bat to that part of the zone, I should be able to hit the ball. I'm not saying it's easy, or that I will hit it well, but I can hit it. IMO, it is a bit easier to hit any of those if I have longer time to read and react.

Moving up may catch it at a better point in its path, but I don't have as much time to read it and get to it.

I think it all boils down to personal preference and whether you have success doing whatever you do.

My question is; what difference does it make how the ball is passing through the zone, if the bat and ball meet in the zone? The real question is; what position will allow me to read and react to where in the zone the ball will be, and where I need to put the bat.

IMO, the extreme front of the box does not give the best advantage to be able to read and adjust to all possible pitches.

 

[shockcoach]

If you're back, you can see that pitch break across the plate and hit it after it breaks. I've done it. If it breaks over the outside corner, you hit it the same as any pitch that's going over the outside corner.

Why wouldn't you want to hit the ball before it breaks to the outside, while it's still in the sweet spot of the zone?

 

[jbooth]

Why wouldn't you want to hit the ball before it breaks to the outside, while it's still in the sweet spot of the zone?

Well sure, but now you're positioning yourself for one type of pitch. Isn't it wiser to put yourself in a position that gives you a good chance to hit all types of pitches? Moving up gives you an advantage on 2 or 3 pitch types and locations, but hurts you on several others. I'd rather have a good chance at all, than a very good chance on some, traded off with a poor chance on others. Plus, if I'm the defensive coach and I see you move up to take away that pitch, I simply won't give it to you. I'll throw the pitches that you now set yourself up at a disadvantage for. If you move around in the box, I'll just throw the opposite of what you're setting up for. That's why you should pick the best spot for all pitches, and then always setup there.

I suppose you could say that by moving up you got an advantage by taking away one of my pitches, but you also gave me another. My point is; by moving around your trading off. You're sacrificing one thing for another, and you're tipping off to the defense, what you're trying to do. IMO, setup in one good spot, and stay there. Now, the defense has to figure out what you can't hit, and you've giving yourself equal chance at all of their pitches.

Everybody always says that it's so much harder to hit fastpitch than a baseball, mostly because of the shorter distance, yet moving up in the box, makes the distance even shorter. That is illogical to me. As someone else mentioned. You'd complain if the pitcher cheated and planted her foot closer to the plate, yet you're willing to move closer to her yourself!?!