CoachFP, I agree that the answer changes from batter to batter, etc., particularly what pitch is working that day.
I have not been on the mound in a long, long time and very little then. But, I understand your point about experience. I have been calling pitches and working with pitchers and catchers for about ten years now. It does become second nature after awhile. That is true of any endeavor as one gains expertise.
The problem is transferring that expertise (not claiming to be an expert here, it’s just a general term). As one begins to know what to do they lose the conscious thought process that they once had in gaining experience. What happens is an expert develops triggers or cues that allow the process to run in the background. In hitting, hands to the ball is a good example. The cue works for THE hitter because he engages his body in a certain way that produces positive results. His experience allows him to trigger a positive response without think through all the details. When he tells someone the cue that works for him that person doesn’t have the same experience and can interpret it to mean almost anything with wildly different results.
I have begun to encourage our catchers to call pitches – initially in scrimmages, pool games, etc. I realized that we needed a framework to discuss various situations and outcomes. I knew that situation X called for a drop outside, but I was going to have to tell the catcher WHY when they called something else and it produced a ripped double. All my pitchers and catchers know that I hate giving up hits on 0-2 and 1-2 counts. But, I realized there are two problems with a 0-2 or 1-2 pitches should NOT be FAT strategy.
1. If a pitcher is thinking, “I can’t throw anything fat”, they may do just that. The reason is the brain cannot process can’t and don’t into an action. Studies have shown that the brain will drop those words and the thought manifests itself as, “Throw something fat”. I have seen it happen on too many occasions not to believe it.
2. The pitcher thinks, “I have to throw something out of the strike zone”. And promptly throws a wild pitch.
While these are the extremes, what happens most often is a waste pitch, or more to the point a wasted pitch - a pitch that has no effect on the batter, or worse moves the batters attention right to the spot for the next pitch or moves the batters attention to a neutral position. This is where the four pitch mentality comes into play. Pitch 3 in a 0-2 count will typically be off the plate but not wasted. It needs to be close enough to produce a reaction in the batter. Why throw a pitch that has no purpose? What does a pitch way out of the strike zone do for the pitcher’s AND catcher’s state of mind? What did it do to the batter? A waste pitch will always cause you to lose some control over the situation. And you will always throw the next pitch at a disadvantage. So, why waste a pitch! Why throw 5 pitches when 4 will do? If we are confident we have the batters attention where we want it after two pitches lets get ‘em on the third pitch.
The other aspect of this framework is ball flight, but this post is already too long to go into it. I am trying to teach these ideas inside a four pitch mentality framework so that our pitchers and catchers know what to do.
I have not been on the mound in a long, long time and very little then. But, I understand your point about experience. I have been calling pitches and working with pitchers and catchers for about ten years now. It does become second nature after awhile. That is true of any endeavor as one gains expertise.
The problem is transferring that expertise (not claiming to be an expert here, it’s just a general term). As one begins to know what to do they lose the conscious thought process that they once had in gaining experience. What happens is an expert develops triggers or cues that allow the process to run in the background. In hitting, hands to the ball is a good example. The cue works for THE hitter because he engages his body in a certain way that produces positive results. His experience allows him to trigger a positive response without think through all the details. When he tells someone the cue that works for him that person doesn’t have the same experience and can interpret it to mean almost anything with wildly different results.
I have begun to encourage our catchers to call pitches – initially in scrimmages, pool games, etc. I realized that we needed a framework to discuss various situations and outcomes. I knew that situation X called for a drop outside, but I was going to have to tell the catcher WHY when they called something else and it produced a ripped double. All my pitchers and catchers know that I hate giving up hits on 0-2 and 1-2 counts. But, I realized there are two problems with a 0-2 or 1-2 pitches should NOT be FAT strategy.
1. If a pitcher is thinking, “I can’t throw anything fat”, they may do just that. The reason is the brain cannot process can’t and don’t into an action. Studies have shown that the brain will drop those words and the thought manifests itself as, “Throw something fat”. I have seen it happen on too many occasions not to believe it.
2. The pitcher thinks, “I have to throw something out of the strike zone”. And promptly throws a wild pitch.
While these are the extremes, what happens most often is a waste pitch, or more to the point a wasted pitch - a pitch that has no effect on the batter, or worse moves the batters attention right to the spot for the next pitch or moves the batters attention to a neutral position. This is where the four pitch mentality comes into play. Pitch 3 in a 0-2 count will typically be off the plate but not wasted. It needs to be close enough to produce a reaction in the batter. Why throw a pitch that has no purpose? What does a pitch way out of the strike zone do for the pitcher’s AND catcher’s state of mind? What did it do to the batter? A waste pitch will always cause you to lose some control over the situation. And you will always throw the next pitch at a disadvantage. So, why waste a pitch! Why throw 5 pitches when 4 will do? If we are confident we have the batters attention where we want it after two pitches lets get ‘em on the third pitch.
The other aspect of this framework is ball flight, but this post is already too long to go into it. I am trying to teach these ideas inside a four pitch mentality framework so that our pitchers and catchers know what to do.
