Timing issues vs slow pitching

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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Westwind said:

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.

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FiveFrameSwing said:

The "slow and early" cue is about being on time without being rushed prematurely and taken out of a good hitting sequence.

When facing a faster pitcher than normal, a hitter can "slow the game down" by starting their motion 'earlier' and 'slower' ... the two need to go together ... if you start 'earlier', then you need to do this 'slower'. The 'earlier' is about when the hitter starts their motion. The 'slower' can often be thought of as the speed of initially weighting the rear leg ... i.e., their is an equal and opposite pulse from the ground back into your rear leg ... start too fast and you'll pay the price for it.

It works the other way around as well. When facing a slower pitcher a hitter can approach that at-bat 'later' and 'faster'. Again, the two are related ... by starting 'later' you will tend to start 'faster' to make up for starting 'later'. For a slow pitcher, one may need to start so 'late' that the start is after the pitcher's 'release'. That is what justanotherguy's 9u cue promotes ... starting 'later and faster'.

So yes to "earlier and slower" ... but when facing ultra slow pitchers the relationship works in the other direction as well ... "later and faster".

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Westwind said:

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.

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#7sDad said:

What you and Westwind described is what's happening. She's starting as she normally does (early/slow), but instead of holding that, she begins to leak forward. We're working on starting later to maintain the same cadence on a slow pitcher as a fast pitcher, and working on improving timing.

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#7sDad said:

This is spot on. She's pretty good at maintaining a positive attitude, but I can tell it's wearing on her. She had some pretty high expectations for herself this season, and it's not turned out that way... so far. Thanks for the drill advice. We'll give this, and the bounced tennis ball a go.

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#7sDad said:

HS season started and DD is having issues with slow pitching. It's much slower than she sees in showcase, where she more or less just reacts. With the slower pitching, instead of just staying back and waiting, she's "leaking" forward which creates a weak swing and pops up or weak grounders.

We've tried throwing front toss at much slower speeds, moving front toss farther away to simulate a longer wait time, and she looks great. But get into a game, and she's out in front and toe touching too early, leading to a weak front side.

I've even suggested approaching it like whiffle ball where you just sit and wait and then rip it because these pitchers are basically just laying it in there. DD's teammates who only play HS are feasting off this pitching and DD just looks clueless. She's getting increasingly frustrated (which isn't helping her mentally) because she put in a ton of work over the winter and really wanted to do well.

Any suggestions? I truly believe this is more mental than mechanical, but open to any ideas, cues, approaches, etc.

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