Fastpitch Softball Hitting Tips

Here are a couple of things I jotted down in an article....

Too often I see batter's approach the box with no clue. What do I mean by that? Well, basically they go up to bat with no thought as to what their job is in that particular at bat. They have no idea what it is their team needs for them to do. Half the time they are trying to kill the ball when they probably don't need to. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying aggressiveness and intent to smash the ball when you hit is a bad thing, but a batter is so much more valuable to their team when they understand the situation they're in and know what needs to be done in that situation and make it a point to get that job done. Here are some must do's for good hitting:

Study the pitcher to gain an edge
Anything you can pick up about the pitcher prior to going into the box can help give you an advantage. Does she always throw the first pitch a strike? What pitch does she like to throw when she's ahead of the count with 2 strikes? Does she move the ball mostly in and out or up and down? What is her "bread and butter" pitch? Does she have a tendency to throw inside vs outside? Up in the zone vs down in the zone? Does she tip off any of her pitches by how she delivers or prepares to deliver? Some pitchers look at the location of where they'll throw their pitch after picking up the signal from the catcher. If you can pick up the movement of their eyes from the catchers signal to their target, you may be able to tell whether the pitch will be thrown outside or inside. Picking up on any of these things can help give you and advantage.

Go in to the box with confidence
Whatever you do when you go into the batters box, don't show fear. Go into the box with confidence that you WILL hit the ball. Even if you're not sure you will, tell yourself you will. Keep saying it until you believe it. Start before you get to the box. Even if you don't feel confident, look confident, put a look of determination on your face. Do NOT let that pitcher see that you are worried or that you lack confidence. It will only give them more confidence when they throw and, as a batter, you don't want to help the pitcher in any way shape or form. Going in the batter's box with anything less than a confidence demeanor is helping the pitcher. Work on it with a mirror if you have to. Most importantly though, you need to have the right mindset when you get into that batter's box. It's so important that you are thinking "I'm going to smash this ball" rather than "I hope I don't strike out." One thing that separates great athletes from the others is that they'll go into situations KNOWING they're going to get the job done rather than HOPING they don't mess up. They are focused on making a positive result happen rather that worrying about a negative one.

Know the situation
To be the most effective hitter for you team, it's essential that you know the situation before getting into the box. What does your team need right at this moment? Does your team need to move runners into scoring position? Does your team need a hit? Or does your team just need to bring a runner home even if an out is recorded in the process? Bringing a runner home from 3rd base with 2 outs is very different from bringing them in with just 1 out. It's important that you know these types of things as a batter. With a runner on 3rd and 2 outs, you basically are going to need a hit to score that runner (or an error). With just 1 out however, there are many ways to score: passed ball, grounder to the right side, deep fly, base hit, etc. Know all of those options and keep them open. If the pitcher throws you a perfect pitch to hit on the ground to the right side, go for it. It's so much less pressure when you know all you have to do is hit a grounder than it is to be up there not fully understanding the situation and thinking "I have to hit the ball well because we need to score that run."



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Other than that, taking a deep breath and clearing your mind also helps. You don't what to have a zillion things racing through your head when you are trying to do one thing...hit the BALL.

If you must THINK about something, choose ONE thing and let that be the only thing in your mind when you go into the box.

It's also good to know what pitches you hit well. It's surprising how many players aren't able to tell you what their favorite pitch to hit is. Whether they like the ball inside, outside, high, low, etc. They are going into the box with no count and looking for "any strike" vs being more selective and really zoning in on knowing exactly what they are looking for when they are in the box. There's no need to go after a pitch you know you have a hard time hitting if you have no strikes.

Daddy---

I guess that struck a nerve. You've definitely got the sunglasses. LOL.

Mark: At what level have I employed my philosophy? I was and still am one of the best fastpitch softball hitters on the planet. There's a big difference between thinking you know what you're doing because you've read a book or watched a video, and really knowing what you're doing because you've faced the best pitchers in the world and hit over .400 for a decade.

These days I take kids who can't hit a barn with a banjo and turn them into good sticks. I teach them how to play the game and how to think in terms of helping their teams win from the batter's box and from the field. I turn them into players who don't have to depend on some goofy wannabe with the word "coach" on his shirt to tell them what to do.

Now I'm going to disappear and leave you to yourselves, confident of two enduring truths: Good players can overcome bad coaching. Bad coaching cannot be eliminated.

I actually agreed with a lot of what itallgood said.

I started taking first pitches because I always popped them up. Sp I had a coach tat told me not to swing at the first pitch. Plus I was lead off and could hit with 2 strikes so it worked okay.

But when I got to college and EVERY local coach knew I took the first pitch by then, my coach started giving me hit and runs on the first pitch to force me to swing at it because it was almost always the best pitch I'd see.

The ONLY time I tell players to "look down" is when they're terrible at hitting the ball when they swing at high pitches. I even tell my daughter that she's free to swing at balls above her shoulders IF she can hit them well. But in her case she can"t so I tell her that she does not have permission to swong at those.

But I'm all for hitters swinging at pitches that may be a bit out of the zone if they know they can smoke it. Whay not? Why let it go to get a "ball" then have to swong at something you don't hit as well because it's a "strike?" I'd rather them swing at a pitch they KNOW they can hit even if it *might* be a ball than swing at one that they don't hit well just because it's "in the zone.". Of course with 2 strikes that changes.

I also agree with what itallgood said about nowing situation. This year we were in the 7th, down by 3 runs, 1 out, runner at 2nd, top of the line up up with a 3-0 count.

At this point we need BASERUNNERS more than anything because even if she launches one we're still losing and the bases are emptied for the D making their play easy.

The 3-0 count batter ended up grounding out. Yes she moved the runner to 3rd, but we really needed her on base. The pitcher was young, she was obviuosly worried about the meat of our order. Getting a second runner on with just one out puts a lot of pressure on the D. If they don't stop the ball, if they make a bad throw, if there's a wild pitch, if there's a passed ball, all of these can potentially huet them. It's a lot of pressure on the D, so why try sooooo overly hard with a 3-0 count? That comes from not knowing the situation. Had that batter got on, we would have had two of our fastest runners on, just 1 out and our 2, 3, 4 coming up to bat. So yeah' like itsallgood said, more selective at the end especially because sometimes the pitcher is getting tired by then. Of course if you have a big lead, then that's a different story.

I also agree that a lot of basecoaches try to do too much coaching between pitches. Convey a positivity that your hitter is going to get their job done. The same phrase can sound like a reminder or it can sound like instruction/panic. Reminder, not so bad, too much "instruction" not good - makes it seem like you think your batter needs all that help to do her thing. What do you think that does to her confidence in the box and the pitcher's/defense's confidence on the other side of the field?

Anyway, Keith, great tip on getting the batters to actually see what they are doing. Often times they think they are doing one thing, but visual evidence shows them otherwise.

Pitching Machine or Not?

As a parent I just observe and listen. I am very appreciative of the coaches that take the time out of there busy lives to help make my daughters better at what they love to do!! That is why I am so excited about this site so that I can ask the questions that I want to ask. This way I know that I am not offending my daughters coach by questioning what is going on. I don't want them getting offended and for it to affect my daughters. I have seen that way to many times where parents just don't back off. My question is: Do you agree for an 18 and travel team to be hitting in practice off the pitching machine or is soft toss and tee drills more effective. I would appreciate your thoughts.

Lori

itsallgood said:

I guess that struck a nerve. You've definitely got the sunglasses. LOL.

Mark: At what level have I employed my philosophy? I was and still am one of the best fastpitch softball hitters on the planet. There's a big difference between thinking you know what you're doing because you've read a book or watched a video, and really knowing what you're doing because you've faced the best pitchers in the world and hit over .400 for a decade.

These days I take kids who can't hit a barn with a banjo and turn them into good sticks. I teach them how to play the game and how to think in terms of helping their teams win from the batter's box and from the field. I turn them into players who don't have to depend on some goofy wannabe with the word "coach" on his shirt to tell them what to do.

Now I'm going to disappear and leave you to yourselves, confident of two enduring truths: Good players can overcome bad coaching. Bad coaching cannot be eliminated.

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Well that's all to be respected and I'm interested in your insights but I haven't seen your pitch selection philosophy be successful very often at any level and it's not consistent with what I've heard and read from elite hitters in both sports.

Stacie, I agree with caveats. If a hitter doesn't hit the low ball well and does hit the high ball well that's a problem to work on but until it's fixed, they have to hit what they are good at hitting. In the long run, I'd rather have a walk on high pitches since the obp for that is 1000, UNLESS, the hitter can drive that pitch, a lot, over or at least to, the wall. If she's just a singles hitter, in most situations, take the walk. An example would be Danyele Gomez. Pitch her up and in and the pitcher needed a new ball. In ANY case, look for a pitch in your hot zone with no strikes. If your hot zone is in the ump's strike zone that's a huge advantage as opposed to having your hot zone up above the ump's strike zone. I'm NOT an advocate of taking a pitch that's in your hot zone whether it's the first pitch or not. Having said that, too many kids think their hot zone is high when in fact they love that pitch but can't hit it.

The ULL clips on this link are Gomez. http://home.mindspring.com/~rmk/

Stacie,

I felt like I was pretty deliberate in saying to lay off high pitches WAY out of the strike zone! Please re-read my post and see for yourself.

People like ITSALLBAD, have no interest in sharing ideas, they come on boards like this to stir things up! Do you really believe he's the greatest hitter in men's fastpitch?

If you watch softball, you will see AT LEAST one hitter in every game from 10U through college swing at a pitch that misses the strike zone by at least 6 inches UP! That's a problem. If you don't mind your hitters swinging at those pitches AND you have a 12U team...PLEASE come to beautiful Nashville, TN! LOL

Keith

bigdaddy said:

If you watch softball, you will see AT LEAST one hitter in every game from 10U through college swing at a pitch that misses the strike zone by at least 6 inches UP! That's a problem. If you don't mind your hitters swinging at those pitches AND you have a 12U team...PLEASE come to beautiful Nashville, TN! LOL

Keith

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I watched a high school playoff game last night that should have been won about 5-1 get lost 1-0 because, IMO, the losing team chased high pitches they should have taken forcing the pitcher to come down in the zone. She had a good drop, a plus drop curve and a spiral spin "rise" I wouldn't have let her throw for a strike either. Didn't need to anyway since the losing team was hacking. If they had taken all pitches above the waist they would have been on base a LOT more and gotten pitches they could drive. About three kids on the losing team I would have told to look belly button down with less than two strikes knowing they would be hacking at least a ball above that. The rest I would have told to look thigh down with less than two strikes knowing, again, they would be hacking at least a ball above where I told them to. And we would have won that game. Pitcher I described is going to a mid level D1 but if she can't develop backspin on her rise I don't think she will be successful against good teams more than once through the line up. Drop didn't look THAT good and the drop curve was being chased less than I would have thought.

Lori's Question

Lori,

My question is:
Do you agree for an 18 and travel team to be hitting in practice off the pitching machine or is soft toss and tee drills more effective. I would appreciate your thoughts.

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I have found all three can be effective in progression. I like to use tee work to warm up individual elements of a swing, soft toss to reinforce the tee work and location hitting and machine to warm up eyes, bunting, swing speed consistency and at the very end of a lesson or work out, BP. I would prefer a live pitcher for BP, but not real practical in a lesson setting. I use this repetition with all age groups.

Too Tough to tell

Marc Dagenais said:

We have great people with great knowledge here. Let's share some great softball hitting tips.

Any softball hitting tip that you thing is important to share or cues that you have used successfully.

Let me get started...

"Wait longer for the ball to come in"

Rationale: One of the big problem I see with with hitting in softball is that batters don't wait long enough - especially against slower pitching. They are always ahead and are out of their power position at contact.

What is your or are your best tip(s)?

Marc

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Man, this is a hard one. My daughter has hit 280 foot homeruns on pitchers throwing between the high 50's and the mid 60's. The slow pitchers have killed her. We have tried a few things but the only thing we are doing now is having her relaxed in almost an up and down position with her bat sitting on her shoulders. We are going thru the thought patterns on what pitch she is getting to sit on and which pitch she wants to crush. I have her bunt and just slap hit a little just to get her used to seeing that speed. It is going to kill her and me if she doesnt get the division one opportunity because of this hitch. If anyone out there has ideas we are always looking for improvement.