Timing issues vs slow pitching

ez_softball said:

Arod essentially plants the stride foot in rhythm for a fastball and then he resets on the off-speed pitch, re-strides on-time with his actual swing mechanics. This same approach for my daughter has been key in adjusting to slower pitching and change-ups. We call it a "toe touch" that allows her to stay balanced and launch at different times based on pitch speed.

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Imo he is only able to reset like that due to how slow the ephus pitch is. Here is Bonds adjusting for a more typical off-speed pitch:



Is her toe tap like Victor Martinez, Wilin Rosario,etc?

That said, hitting off-speed pitches is a lot more difficult (or should be at least) then just hitting off a pitcher who is throwing slower. In MLB hitters have to sometimes face a starter throwing high 80's and the next
inning face the closer throwing 99.

Look at Acuna here and you can sort of imagine how he would deal with it. Faster pitcher his front foot would get down a bit earlier. Slower pitcher he would "hover" with that front leg a bit longer:

https://twitter.com/Braves/status/989600632662179840

Yes - mental... we have used a simple plan to approaching pitching... And technically it is probably ugh, but it has worked for us... It believe it works because we do have an approach to follow so they go up there with a plan.

We divide pitchers into three groups:
- Can't pitch, but is
- Rec level/Lives On One Pitch
- Travel and above

First for slower pitchers, we don't do that stupid "Move up in the Box" BS. I want to hit a strike and moving up or back just moves the height of the pitch you have to hit that IS a strike so especially when you are facing slow pitching, a strike pitch if you are up front is going to be high.. which leads to pops up. Still hit strikes.

Can't pitch:
- We never swing at the first pitch. Ever. You have lots of time to have a good look in the box, so after you have had a good look, you are going to crack the meatball if you get one. If you don't you are going to walk anyway.

Rec level/Lives on One Pitch:
- We have lots of time... We never swing at the first pitch and we are going to go deeper in the count because we have no fear of a strike out because contact isn't going to be a problem. We are going to get at LEAST 3 balls we can drive in an at bat - and if we don't we are going to walk. The deeper you get into a count, the more and more likely this pitcher is going to get into the 'I have to throw a strike' mode and throw one right over the plate. This works for the One Pitch pitcher as well. You just sit on the one spot/one pitch because you know you get 3+ of these per bat.

Travel and Above:
- We see these all the time. They know how to bat against these - drive the first good pitch you see because it might be the only one you see in an at-bat.

Your plans may differ - but this is our plan against the varying levels we see in HS ball.

pattar said:

Imo he is only able to reset like that due to how slow the ephus pitch is. Here is Bonds adjusting for a more typical off-speed pitch:

Is her toe tap like Victor Martinez, Wilin Rosario,etc?

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I'll grab some video tonight (if she doesn't get rained out). She doesn't do it in the cages with the machine, side or front toss, so it think it's inadvertent. When I showed her, she didn't know she was even doing it.

pattar said:

Is her toe tap like Victor Martinez, Wilin Rosario,etc?

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My daughters version is similar to what Rosario's current swing looks like. With that being said it isn't identical the major difference is my daughter doesn't start with an open stance like he does. He resets to a neutral position at toe-touch with a decent hip coil and launches from there which is similar to my daughter. Not saying that approach is for everyone but my daughter has always been a great fastball hitter with this approach she has made hitting an off-speed pitch a strength and not a weakness.

My DD is one of the few, now, that has zero issues with slow pitching. She once was. I gave her ONE simple cue, "9u". In other words, go back to 9u baseball to where you didn't load until the ball was already in the air. It was the fast pitchers that ruled the mound because kids didn't know to start their swing pattern before the ball was in the air. Every now and then if a slow pitcher is on the mound, I'll just yell to her "9u!" when she's in the on deck circle. Everyone is different, but that one cue made all the difference for my DD.

I'll just yell to her "9u!"

Yeah that will help. Not so much.

I have noticed good hitters when facing slow pitching have anxiety waiting and often peek.(look out to where the ball is going and taking eye off the ball)

What works for one may not work for others. Sorry for attempting to help with what works for one. But yeah, my DD absolutely sucks, so point well taken. God I hope she can finally break a 200BA this weekend!

Surprisingly what works for C is me not talking about it. If she has a bad game hitting she ends up in the garage hitting off a tee on her own. If I try to talk to her about it she gets even more in her own head.
That being said, aside from one game we’ve seen pretty good high school pitching so far this season but in past seasons we’ve had the same issues issues that K is having.

Have seen this a lot. Hate to see good players struggle with poor pitching but it happens. It is very hard for a player who works on her game to “get beat” by a player that has never worked on her pitching. First step is to re-frame this issue in her head. Make sure she understands this happens to good players, she is STILL that good player and her great swing lives within her and has gone no where. Emphasize there is no mechanical problem but she just hasn’t made an adjustment quite yet. Keep quietly reminding her that she is a good player because I would be surprised if she isn’t doubting herself. Her worst nightmare is coming true: failing in front of all her friends and family that don’t get to see her kick rear in a high level tournament 6 hours from home. She has to remember what kind of player she is and that it’s still “in there”, it hasn’t gone anywhere.

Just like Murph dog said, there then becomes a point to not talk about it anymore. Don’t let it become “a thing”. Just go to work on it in the cage.

Always maintain the attitude that she is a predator of little yellow balls. Always.

Just like above posts, change speeds on front toss constantly. I take sections of front toss and pitch like there has been a pitching change and the new pitcher is completely different. They get better at being adjustable. And don’t be afraid to throw short sessions of “travel ball” pace pitching that she is conditioned to hit. Remind her why she is a good player by putting her both in challenging situations but also situations where she can be successful. The performance on both will merge together with time.

Have you ever worked with the “slow and early” cue? What we do is work on the “slow” part of that cue and work on “slower” while maintaining explosiveness. Work it on the tee and then work on it with front toss.

The other one I like is the tee “command drill”. Work on a slow and early load, hold that load until the parent or coach says “hit” or whatever. Vary the “hit” command timing. You can then work from front toss and have her load “too” early and hold that stretch until it’s time to “hit”.

Good luck and I wish you well. It will get better.

justanotherguy said:

My DD is one of the few, now, that has zero issues with slow pitching. She once was. I gave her ONE simple cue, "9u". In other words, go back to 9u baseball to where you didn't load until the ball was already in the air. It was the fast pitchers that ruled the mound because kids didn't know to start their swing pattern before the ball was in the air. Every now and then if a slow pitcher is on the mound, I'll just yell to her "9u!" when she's in the on deck circle. Everyone is different, but that one cue made all the difference for my DD.

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This is pretty spot on.

Basically, when the pitcher is extremely slow, then you can bypass the "timing of the pitcher" and simply move on to "timing the ball".