Being "Aggressive" in the box

Throwing this out there...DD's coach is always talking about being aggressive in the box, which essentially means swing at every strike. So we having innings that are 3 pitch innings because the top of the line up will swing at the first pitch they see and get out in various fashion. DD is a patient hitter. She won't swing at the first pitch unless it is the pitch that she can drive and likes best. She has no problem getting two strikes on her and working the pitcher, hitting fouls, until she gets her pitch. She has no problem working the pitcher deep into the count. Sometimes it works, sometimes the pitcher gets her. Her pitching coach works a lot on inside and outside pitches and doesn't work the middle of the plate - how many good pitches throw a lot down the middle on purpose? She can hit the inside pitch effectively, but loves the just below that wait high on the outside corner. Her goal is to make the pitcher thrown that pitch by working her deep and fouling off what she can. She gets hits on other locations, but that is ideal for her. She loves to let it get deep and drive it to the opposite field.

So she lets the pitch down the middle go from time to time because that is not the one she drives the best. Her coach goes all nutty when she does it. Keeps telling her she has to be more aggressive. Hitting coach likes her style and tells her to go with it.

Any preferences? Pros and cons to both?

As long as she is not striking out who cares. Need to look a t Krat and BB% to see how someone is doing. Your coach would go nuts with my dd. I think she is over 84% full counts per plate appearce. She makes a pitcher earn her pay with all the foul balls and leads every team she has played for in BB.

Screwball said:

Depends how many hittable pitches a pitcher throws. If the down the middle pitch is rare and only on the first pitch, you have to go for it. The coach should build the line up based on these styles so there is not 3 free swingers together, esp at the top.

FYI: Coaches can't really tell a down the middle pitch from the bucket or bench anyway.

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Her coach sure thinks he can...

DDs HS coach is a football coach who got the job because he's friends with the AD.
DD has the best eye I have seen and is also maybe the best two-strike hitter for her age group that I have seen. always works the count.

Coach decides he wants girls to be aggressive at the plate which means if you don't swing at the first two pitches you're going to get an earfull and you better not watch the 3rd strike go by either. DD seldom struck out but this coach has taught her it's better to go down quickly than to make the pitcher work. opposing pitchers catch on quickly and throw garbage until they have 2 strikes.

Your DD should nod and smile and do what she does best.

GTRH8R said:

..DD's coach is always talking about being aggressive in the box, which essentially means swing at every strike.

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That's stupid advice and/or bad coaching, IMO. Your daughter's approach sounds great to me. I also like Screwball's advice as well. Your patience depends partly on the quality or style of the pitcher.

I think the idea of working the pitcher in fastpitch is overrated. I don't care how many pitches the pitcher throws. But I do think it's important that batters understand the game that's being played between pitcher and hitter. The batter wants to hit a certain type of pitch. Knowing when to swing and when to take is a huge part of hitting. Knowing how to play your hand is important. Swinging at every strike is foolish unless the pitcher is really painting the lines with great stuff. Then just swing hard in case you hit it.

"Aggressive" to me means "ready to attack". I don't think aggressive means swing at every strike. Hitters should be aggressive on their pitch in a location that fits their strength. "Ready to attack" a pitch and location. As long as she is ready both physically and mentally in the box, she is being aggressive.

As long as she is ready both physically and mentally in the box, she is being aggressive.

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tell that to her coach.

Hitters should be aggressive on their pitch in a location that fits their strength. "Ready to attack" a pitch and location.

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Do you mean pick a spot or area where you want a pitch and attack that part of the zone and if the pitch isnt there then pull off? Is that why alot of people suggest changing your approach when you have 2 srikes because you cant be as choosy?

The strike zone is pretty big, it makes more sense to pick a small area and hope for a pitch in that location, then expand if you get two strikes on you.

This is something that I will quite often say to my team. It is usually because I am seeing a couple players that, for whatever reason, are struggling and unsure at the plate. It is one of those phrases that you can say to a team without singling out individuals. So it's group therapy. I don't mean that everyone should swing at the first pitch. But, honestly, more girls should. I would guess that in 50-60% of the at-bats I see, the best hitters pitch happens on 0-0 counts. So by always taking, you might just as well start with an 0-1 count.

It's probably only true for my team, but statistically, 5 of my highest 6 batting average players are in the bottom 50% of pitches seen/ plate appearance. Or conversely, only 1 of my top hitters sees a lot of pitches. My worst 2 batting average players lead the team in pitches seen. So what benefit is there to going deep in a count? Statistically, on my team, none.

In my years of coaching HS players, typically, if a girl is watching very many pitches, it's because she is lacking confidence or aggression. She is afraid she will make a mistake so she won't swing. So telling them to be aggressive is trying to get them over their hurdle.

Would you rather he was encouraging them to be passive?

Would you rather he was encouraging them to be passive?

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No, he should be encouraging them to be smart up there. DDs coach is not very smart and clearly is intimidated by smart girls so that's the last thing he would be telling them!

In the super regionals or the WCWS, in an interview, Patrick Murphy was asked if he was encouraging his players to be aggressive because a lot of them were swinging at the first pitch they saw. his response was something like "Not really, but if they're going to swing at it, they better be sure its a good pitch!"