10u hitting faster pitchers

[SB45]

I think it is kind of timing, but I believe it is more lack of movement. Especially the young players you described, tend to stand still...recognize the pitch and then start their swing. It's not usually that their swing is too slow, that they lack the timing, they don't see the ball, etc... It may be mechanics, especially if they drop their hands. But if the mechanics are okay, I would look at their hands as the pitch is approaching. If they are waiting to make a negative move until they recognize the pitch...they likely don't make it to contact in time. I explain it like this...at some point during the pitch you make a decision to swing. You are always faster to react if you are moving. At that point in time when you make that decision to swing, if you are not moving, you will be slower to the ball. At the point when you decide to swing you should be in the middle (end) of a negative movement with your hands...they are moving away from the pitcher usually while your front foot is striding forward. Point is you are moving and your hands are getting ready to swing. Every pitch. The decision is NOT whether or not you swing at that pitch...it is whether or not you finish the process you have started. This is a very simplified way of looking at it, and is skipping a ton of details. At that age, I wouldn't go into details anyway. The points should be...you will be quicker if you are moving...as the pitcher is stepping towards you, you should be stepping towards her and most importantly, your hands should be separating from your body away from the pitcher in a slow, controlled movement...ready for a fast, aggressive reaction to the ball. I find if you get young hitters hands moving on every pitch...they have very little trouble getting to faster pitchers and they hit much better...unfortunately, they lack control to stop the movement and they swing at more bad pitches too. I would prefer the over aggressiveness and try to learn to control it, than a girl not able to hit anything or standing there watching strikes.

 

[Eric F]

I'll bet money the hitters are waiting to see if the pitched ball is going to be a strike or a ball. Against faster pitching that's not going to work. There's also bad swing mechanics......

I have seen this more times that I can count, and I haven't been in the game all that long. Especially in rec ball, where the pitching tends to be slow and wild, players tend to have lots of time to read the pitch and determine strike/ball/is-it-going-to-hit-me? It's not unusual for them to assess the is-it-going-to-hit-me? thing before even considering whether or not it's a pitch they should be swinging at. As pitching gets faster, there isn't enough time to judge location and THEN start the swing process. The swing process must get started before location is known...on EVERY pitch.

Miggy provides a great demonstration here...

 

[Greenmonsters]

I think it is kind of timing, but I believe it is more lack of movement. Especially the young players you described, tend to stand still...recognize the pitch and then start their swing. It's not usually that their swing is too slow, that they lack the timing, they don't see the ball, etc... It may be mechanics, especially if they drop their hands. But if the mechanics are okay, I would look at their hands as the pitch is approaching. If they are waiting to make a negative move until they recognize the pitch...they likely don't make it to contact in time. I explain it like this...at some point during the pitch you make a decision to swing. You are always faster to react if you are moving. At that point in time when you make that decision to swing, if you are not moving, you will be slower to the ball. At the point when you decide to swing you should be in the middle (end) of a negative movement with your hands...they are moving away from the pitcher usually while your front foot is striding forward. Point is you are moving and your hands are getting ready to swing. Every pitch. The decision is NOT whether or not you swing at that pitch...it is whether or not you finish the process you have started. This is a very simplified way of looking at it, and is skipping a ton of details. At that age, I wouldn't go into details anyway. The points should be...you will be quicker if you are moving...as the pitcher is stepping towards you, you should be stepping towards her and most importantly, your hands should be separating from your body away from the pitcher in a slow, controlled movement...ready for a fast, aggressive reaction to the ball. I find if you get young hitters hands moving on every pitch...they have very little trouble getting to faster pitchers and they hit much better...unfortunately, they lack control to stop the movement and they swing at more bad pitches too. I would prefer the over aggressiveness and try to learn to control it, than a girl not able to hit anything or standing there watching strikes.

A simple way to present this concept is "Yes, Yes, NO" v "Yes, Yes, YES" (or Yes, Yes, GO) i.e., start to swing at EVERY pitch and only stop if the pitch isn't "good".

 

[Eric F]

[video]https://youtu.be/JWWcXUMUILI?list=PLLo_t691U8DVQCriImV9Kt44VdEI6iFi r[/video]

 

[Cobb_of_Fury]

Aabsolute first thing test to be sure they are not using a too heavy bat - this tends to be a problem in the younger ages - parents want to try to get two ore three years out of that $300 bat so they tend to buy up

 

[SB45]

[video]https://youtu.be/JWWcXUMUILI?list=PLLo_t691U8DVQCriImV9Kt44VdEI6iFi r[/video]

Great video. I would say that the "yes, yes, NO/GO" is the best answer to the original question...that is the mental part, make sure the physical part follows...that the body, especially the hands, are starting the swing process before getting to the GO/No GO decision point. To the original question...this is more important than how you physically practice it...but I would suggest front toss or live pitching over a machine. But focus on the mental & physical aspects of starting the swing process on every pitch.

 

[Greenmonsters]

A simple way to present this concept is "Yes, Yes, NO" v "Yes, Yes, YES" (or Yes, Yes, GO) i.e., start to swing at EVERY pitch and only stop if the pitch isn't "good".

See this old thread to determine what a "good" pitch is

http://www.discussfastpitch.com/sof...isual-approach-strike-zone-go-zone-count.html

 

[Seattlecoach]

I agree that the problem usually stems from waiting to decide if they should swing or not. That is why a fast machine isn't helping... they are going to swing at every pitch so they can start early. You HAVE to incorporate the decision making process (swing, no swing) when practicing for them to get the timing down.

 

[GoCaboNow]

I have seen this more times that I can count, and I haven't been in the game all that long. Especially in rec ball, where the pitching tends to be slow and wild, players tend to have lots of time to read the pitch and determine strike/ball/is-it-going-to-hit-me? It's not unusual for them to assess the is-it-going-to-hit-me? thing before even considering whether or not it's a pitch they should be swinging at. As pitching gets faster, there isn't enough time to judge location and THEN start the swing process. The swing process must get started before location is known...on EVERY pitch.

This is what we worked with dd on last winter going from 10's to 12's. She an her team struggled with fast pitching since at first year 10's they did not see very much of it. It still takes some discipline for them to start their swing on every pitch, but at almost a year now they are starting to do it more often now.

DD is a pitcher. Periodically, we run across teams where their coach is yelling fast hands when their batters are up. This always means an easy day for dd as I usually also see how quiet the batter's lower half is during delivery of the pitch. Kids that don't move their lower half are almost always late, or have to guess too early. Against better teams we never hear "fast hands" and they have more batters moving with the pitch.

 

[Ken Krause]

With that said, I am not a huge fan of pitching machines, most wheeled machines pitch the ball with perfect backspin (with little movement) and to the same location most of the time. I don't think most teams do enough live pitching and that is where most of the hitting practice should be.

To solve the problem of the ball always going to the same spot and flying straight to it, don't use the dimpled balls. Golf balls are dimpled so they will do exactly that - fly straight, true and far if struck correctly. It has to do with reducing the friction in the air as I recall. They're also symmetrical so no matter how you put them in they will always do the same thing.

Instead, use the seamed machine balls. They go all over the place depending on how you put them in. At least they always have in my experience. My guess is that the seam catches enough of the wheel to deflect the ball a bit as it comes out, so it's not always in the same location. Especially if you have it cranked up. Much more of a realistic experience.

Of course, as I always say the value of the machine is generally determine by the person who's loading the balls. If they make an arm circle and then fumble to put the ball in all the timing is gone and the machine practice will be worthless. The feeder has to be focused on putting the ball in cleanly. It also helps to have an arm circle speed that approximates what it would take a pitcher to throw at that speed. If the arm circle is slow as molasses and the machine is cranked up to 60 mph+ it's not going to do you much good either. There's an art to using a pitching machine, which is why most people have unsatisfactory results with it.

That said, most of the time I use front toss from 15-20 feet or so as has been said elsewhere in this thread. It solves a lot of those issues. Just be sure to use a screen in front of you, because if you are successful in getting your girls to hit that ball can start coming back awfully fast. Even at 10U.

But I will use a machine now and then to give the feel of seeing the ball over a long distance at high speed, or to do the Barry Bonds drill, or to prep girls for HS tryouts when they will have to hit off a machine so it's not a foreign experience to them. And then I use the seamed balls. I don't even own any of the dimpled ones.