Paticience at the plate

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Mar 9, 2015
321
18
DD in high school and is a solid hitter but this slower pitching always has her stumped. Any suggestions on drills to work on letting the ball get deeper to the contact point instead of way out front? Faster pitching does much better. Here are some things we've been working on over the winter:

1) front toss, varying speeds and locations
2) tracking ball to catcher
3) tee work for different pitches
4) reviewing videos from her high school winter ball
 

TMD

Feb 18, 2016
433
43
Moving up in the box against a slower pitcher is pretty common. Is she also slowing down her swing against slow pitchers, or just meeting it too far out front? One other thing I've heard about (but admittedly not tried) is having a girl use a slightly heavier/longer bat against the slower pitcher - 1 in/1 oz. I'd definitely want to try it out in a non-game situation first to make sure it won't mess up the overall mechanics. I can't see how 1 inch or 1 ounce can mess things up too much, but the extra length/weight may have just enough impact on her swing speed/timing to work well against the slow pitcher.

...(he says with all of the confidence of someone who has never actually tried this)
 
Sep 17, 2009
1,637
83
In fastpitch or baseball, it's good to think about: the load times the pitcher, the swing times the ball.

With a very slow pitcher, there's no longer the requirement to time the pitcher at all.

Simply stay in stance that will allow the hitter to load-and-go even AFTER the ball is released. See the ball in flight. Time the ball. Swing.

Just like you'd do in soft-toss or in pre-game whiffle swings. Or think about a slow-pitch softball player. They do nothing on the pitcher "wind-up" they see the ball in flight, time it and hit it.

Self-talk cues at the plate like 'see the ball, see-the-ball, swing' can help with timing, as does taking that extra time to exaggerate stretch/pullback....
 
Mar 9, 2015
321
18
She's a righty. Took some of these comments to her before the high school game tonight. First at bat drove high line drive to fence, her other two at bats we solid gap shots. Not sure what adjustments she made but did performs lot better. Will post additional feedback once I talk to her.
 
Mar 14, 2011
785
18
Silicon Valley, CA
I think front toss is good. If you have whiffles or those small yellow "whiffles" I am guessing she like 97% of everyone else will pull whiffles if you just go out and throw her some. Challenge her to drive whiffles super hard and as far to the opposite field as she can. Try it yourself, it's quite hard. At first she will hit some pop ups with massive amounts of spin. That's good, that means she's getting it. Before too long she'll get a hold of some.
 
Jan 24, 2009
617
18
The short answer is to teach her timing. Hitting is timing. When she knows how to time, velocity alone will make little to no difference.
 

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