Hitting/pitching league

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Jun 27, 2011
5,089
0
North Carolina
Have this idea, want to get feedback on feasibility.

Let's say I rent a couple of softball fields during the summer for live pitching/hitting. Advertise it.

Once/week, say Tuesday at 6 p.m. Or for older high school kids, I could make it during the day, like 10 a.m.

This would take place on each field:

2 pitchers, 2 catchers (catchers can be parents), 3 hitters.

Each pitcher goes through the 3 batters twice apiece (6 at-bats). That is 1 inning.

Each pitcher goes 4 innings.

Each batter gets 16 at-bats (a typical tournament in 90 minutes)

Each pitcher faces 24 batters (a typical long game)

No fielders, no running out hits, just very rapid fire.

Cost might be $10 to pay for field rental. Non-profit, just something good for local players.

What would make this work? How would I tweak it? What would make this attractive to pitchers and hitters?
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
I have a hard time combining P, C and hitters. All have different agendas.

I think pitching and catching are on thier own, focus on fielding and hitting.
 
Jun 27, 2011
5,089
0
North Carolina
I have a hard time combining P, C and hitters. All have different agendas.

I think pitching and catching are on thier own, focus on fielding and hitting.

Could be that they have different agendas. That could be an obstacle.

The problem that I wish to solve is based on this theory - Softball players do not get enough live hitting. Pitchers might get enough live pitching, but hitters don't get enough live pitching.

It's not because coaches don't value it. It's because it's not practical.

What if you made it practical?

Tennis is my background. Tennis players might play 150 points in 1 match. A point is not unlike an at-bat. It takes a softball player a year to get 150 at-bats. I know tennis players that have mediocre strokes that just never miss. They are masters of squaring up the ball. They literally play 1,000's of points a day. In tennis, you're almost always hitting live. In softball, it's hard to replicate pitcher vs. hitter - and that's the relationship that will decide how far you're going in this sport.

What if a softball player got 500 at-bats a year instead of 150? Would that make a difference? I think it would.
 
Oct 10, 2011
3,117
0
Maybe charge a little more and pay the pitchers? I'd pay to come to that for sure.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
May 13, 2012
599
18
One thought might be to get pc's involved. P goes thru their batters during the other pitchers turn pc could discuss corrections, etc. Same could go for hitting coahes. DD has seen same pc for 3 yrs. He has never seen her pitch. I don't blame him as it isn't convenient for him to cancel lessons just drive hour or more to see her. But if he could say put 3 to 5 pitchers in this he could be there and work with them as a lesson.
 
Jun 27, 2011
5,089
0
North Carolina
One thought might be to get pc's involved. P goes thru their batters during the other pitchers turn pc could discuss corrections, etc. Same could go for hitting coahes. DD has seen same pc for 3 yrs. He has never seen her pitch. I don't blame him as it isn't convenient for him to cancel lessons just drive hour or more to see her. But if he could say put 3 to 5 pitchers in this he could be there and work with them as a lesson.

Very good point/suggestion.

where is the competitive part? :)

It wouldn't be as competitive as a real game, and in some ways, that's good because you want to be able work on things live, but with not so much to lose. I've heard of more competitive set ups like this where they keep stats on things like line drives, etc. So you could mix in things to make it more competitive it that livened things up, or for those who want it.
 
May 5, 2014
93
0
Pacific Northwest
There is certainly a need for something like this.

My DD #2 and I were just talking about needing to get more live hitting in this evening. She is having a timing issue and needs to see more live pitching, but not a lot of opportunities to do so other than in tournaments. She hates the pitching machine. Her team will have the pitchers pitch to the team in practice on occasion but she is the #1 pitcher on her team and doesn't always get in the same amount of hitting or quality of pitching as the other players. Her PC does both her hitting and pitching instruction so she will have the pitchers throw to her hitting students a few times a year which is great, she gets to see some very good pitchers but this isn't often enough. I have her pitch to my DD#3 team every so often and pay her $25 for two 40 minute sessions. She loves making spending money and making it while getting in her practice is a double win.

Parents as catchers may not work don't know a lot of parents who will gear up for live pitching. You may need to offer some incentive to both the catchers and pitchers. I would pay $20 for 16 at bats if it was quality pitching.

The suggestion about finding a local pitching instructor to hold practice at the event is a good idea.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
As a PC I relish the opportunity to stand behind a screen next to my pitcher while they throw to live hitters. We do this in our TB practice but not nearly enough. The important part of this exercise for all concern would be to make sure you keep it at a realistic game tempo.
 

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