Hitting Faster Pitching

Well the time has come for my 12u team to venture into 14u. We are an 05 team but instead of hanging around 12u to try to play 06/07 teams, we want to face teams that we know are going to be a tough test. That being said, we will most definately see faster pitching.

I am one of those coaches who fell into the mantra of we only swing at strikes. Unfortunately it has created an atmosphere of the girls trying to identify strikes and then swing at them, which severely limits their ability to catch up to the faster pitching. From now on, it is no longer "only swing at strikes" but "we swing at everything except for bad pitches". I am thinking this will have them ready to swing, but if it looks bad, then lay off.

Also reading some old posts on this forum, I have run nto a few ideas that I am requesting a little more clairifcation/info on.

1. "pulling the bow back" - I am assuming this is just making sure they are loaded when the pitcher steps on the rubber???
2. "tipping and ripping" - not too sure what this entails
3. getting a running start - not too sure what this entails either.

We hit the ball very well against average pitching. But when we face a girl who can bring a little speed (50 and up), it is clear that I don't have them well prepared. So I am hoping that reaching out to you guys/gals on here will prepare me to teach these girls how to be even better ball players than they are.

Thank you very much in advance!!!

take them to the cages and crank that machine up - Slowly though. Then bring it back down to 40 or change up speed. Fun Stuff for sure!

Do you know a pitcher who can throw 50+ that would be willing to throw some batting practice for you? We do that a couple times a year, and my DD has volunteered to do it for younger teams in the past.

Have an 06 DD that plays MS ball and some 14U but mostly 12U. From my limited experience with moving back 3 feet the timing lines up close to the same. They may throw harder but. Movement is a lot better though.

Ken Kramer said:

Well the time has come for my 12u team to venture into 14u. We are an 05 team but instead of hanging around 12u to try to play 06/07 teams, we want to face teams that we know are going to be a tough test. That being said, we will most definately see faster pitching.

I am one of those coaches who fell into the mantra of we only swing at strikes. Unfortunately it has created an atmosphere of the girls trying to identify strikes and then swing at them, which severely limits their ability to catch up to the faster pitching. From now on, it is no longer "only swing at strikes" but "we swing at everything except for bad pitches". I am thinking this will have them ready to swing, but if it looks bad, then lay off.

Also reading some old posts on this forum, I have run nto a few ideas that I am requesting a little more clairifcation/info on.

1. "pulling the bow back" - I am assuming this is just making sure they are loaded when the pitcher steps on the rubber???
2. "tipping and ripping" - not too sure what this entails
3. getting a running start - not too sure what this entails either.

We hit the ball very well against average pitching. But when we face a girl who can bring a little speed (50 and up), it is clear that I don't have them well prepared. So I am hoping that reaching out to you guys/gals on here will prepare me to teach these girls how to be even better ball players than they are.

Thank you very much in advance!!!

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Ken, I coach both pulling the bow back and tipping and ripping in the same action. In doing that, it gives us a running start. One of the handouts, and one that didn't draw too much mention when I posted it here, is I teach hands first, hands last. What I mean and explain is that we are tipping and ripping as we pull the bow back and then, we keep the hands back as the hips lead. Think of the pulling the bow back as a cue where you have the young ladies take their hands backwards away from the pitcher but really only a couple of inches. It isn't drastic. At the same time, the tipping action happens. In that way, their hands aren't dead. So, running start. I will try to upload video of BB hitting doing this when I get time. Send me a pm if you have other questions.

I like to tell them yes yes yes no. Plan that all pitches will be strikes. I also like to teach them that the strike zone gets smaller with every ball the pitcher throws. In other words if it 2 and 0 or 3 and 1 look for a pitch you can drive. Its ok to take a strike outside knee high. Why ground out to the 2nd baseman with 0 or 1 strike.

Here is something that proves yes yes yes no is a good plan. Set the pitching machine up and after a few good hits by the player, secretly pull the plug and load the next ball. The ball will bounce on or before the plate and without warning the hitter won't swing. Pitching machine mentality, trust your instincts. A hitter trying to decide whether its a ball or strike, and then decides its a strike, is almost always late.

Couple of suggestions..
Since you mentioned the mental….
1. saying ”only swinging at strikes” and now “swing at everything except for bad pitchers”. This is the YES, YES, YES if strike…YES, YES, NO if its a ball. Getting your players in this mental pattern is a good thing. (just seen Rolling Hard mentioned it).
I believe the first time I every heard it was from Sue Enquist on youtube speech on mental game. I think she says something like..."this is the only decision you have to make". Even have them try to say it out loud as they do it…it can be humorous...and you may notice when they are mentally way off on timing.
2. Get them to be mentally comfortable with faster speeds. Let them know that when they get the barrel on a faster ball…it gets hit harder AND its not all about them and the big bad pitcher that throws hard ….but them and the BALL…regardless of who the pitcher is and regardless of the pitching style. The ball never changes...its just the ball.
3. Pay attention to whether they swing under the ball a lot with faster balls. Unless its a drop, most faster balls usually "fall less". Players consistently swinging under the ball may to have to get a slightly exaggerated feel of a higher barrel/hands (however you teach) when they swing.
4. Teach them to lay off high balls...till the umpire has totally proved that he is going to call them.
5. Teach them to trust their swing and believe in themselves.

DANCE WITH THE PITCHER…BUT TIME THE BALL

3. A couple good practice routines to consider.
Routine 1. Take a couple cones (preferably flat ones so you don’t have to go stand them back up all the time…put one half way …between the pitchers/coaches release point/or the machine… and home plate. Have it stay there…. put another about 1/3 between that and home plate towards home plate. Have your player hit..and then have her move the cone closest to her…. to where she feels she needs to be going into her swing…. she can move it closer to her or more toward the one at the 1/2 mark. Each time…make her move it till she has it and is smoothly going into her swing with the speed she is working with, give her a few reps when she gets the spot..to build confidence.

Later change speeds…have them move cone till they have it. Work some slow pitches too.

Have a player…on deck… working this timing out with her swing…. then fine tuning it when its her turn.
Have a 3rd player in the dug out without a bat…shifting weight back and forth (dancing) just trying to get a rhythm with the pitcher/coach or whoever is feeding the machine.

Personally...I want them to load…early enough to have front foot coming up or up (depending on the player)when the ball is released…. and going into their swing without interruption…depending on the speed. I go into this as a timing strategy a little more… with my girls… but this is basically it. Do note though…I work them…on developing a strong rear leg, good balanced of mobility/stability of the rear hip and a strong functional core .....so they can control their body, timing and swing.

Routine 2. Take a “throw down plate” ..put it a few feet in front of home plate.. and have them move up taking swings and move back taking swings…. working on loading & timing. Works good for front toss too..and helps them learn to adjust. They have to work out loading a little earlier or a little later without the visual cues the above routine offers. Same process with on deck player..and 3rd person in dug out as above.

i agree with Tango too...I remember being concerned when my DD moved up and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

They have to be very productive with their hands. Learn to shorten their swings, remove unnecessary hitches, looping, overloading, etc. Keep their swing simple and quick so that can read the pitch longer, and then be quick to the ball when it's a strike. Younger players tend to have longer swings because of the slower pitching.

Well we played up this weekend for our first 14u tourney with nothing but 05 and 06 players. Went from 15 strikeouts over 4 games last tourney to only 6 this one. The swing at everything except bad pitches really seemed to resonate with them. We actually won one of our pool games against a true 14u team.

My daughter has all the power in the world, but "makes up her mind to swing" very late in the pitch with all of her hits going to the right half of the field, but the new swing away mentality had her pulling the ball on inside pitches and driving some back up the middle.

Thank you to everyone who offered advice. I used most of it in a few practices leading up to this weekend and it really helped.

Good job coach!