10u Team hitting

[Muss24]

I need some advice if possible. I am coaching a 10u girls fastpitch. I have been doing jugs pitching machine, soft toss, and small ball. The girls hit the heck out of the ball during these hitting drills. Then here comes the downfall. I get the girls in a game and they can't hit a ball. Is this a confidence issue? I am at a loss. Do I need to do live pitching to them to give them real game experience. I would appreciate any advice or drills to help my team out. Thanks

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I learned to put the pitching machine away. I haven't used it in 25 years and I teach hitting lessons daily.

Build your hitters from the ground up. Which means get them in an athletic stance, and a little pigeon toed. A drill that I use to get the feet, hips and torso moving is the "infield throw drill." Put them in the box and put a ball on both hands, near their back shoulder. Have them load and throw, staying low. Of course, there is a lot more to it than that, I will look for video of the drill.

Yes, to live pitching and soft toss from the front. They have to learn to track the ball. Also, if they can't throw overhand and if no one is working with them at home, you are fighting the same battles as the rest of us. Good luck.

I see it is your first post. Hopefully, you have been reading here. If not, you have a lot of stuff that you can pour through on this site.

 

[SBdad]

Back off from using the pitching machine and do soft toss then do live pitching. Kids get use to the machine throwing strikes most every time and they don't worry about getting hit by the ball. When they face a pitcher (especially a hard thrower) that is a little wild, then they get scared and have a tendancy to step out.
More live pitching at practice will help build their confidence more.

 

[Ken Krause]

I find that using the small balls with kids who have bad swing mechanics often makes those mechanics worse. They do whatever it takes to hit the balls, even if it turns pretty ugly.

Make sure your hitters are aggressive at the plate. Often times young hitters look to see if the pitch is a strike before making a decision to swing. By then it's usually too late. Instead, they should assume it's a strike and plan on swinging at it until they see otherwise.

One other thought. Make sure they are focused on the process of hitting rather than the outcome. When they focus on the outcome they often get uptight. Instead, have them go the plate with a plan of hitting the ball hard, and then whatever happens after that happens.

 

[sanchosj]

Hitting

I find that using the small balls with kids who have bad swing mechanics often makes those mechanics worse. They do whatever it takes to hit the balls, even if it turns pretty ugly.

Make sure your hitters are aggressive at the plate. Often times young hitters look to see if the pitch is a strike before making a decision to swing. By then it's usually too late. Instead, they should assume it's a strike and plan on swinging at it until they see otherwise.

One other thought. Make sure they are focused on the process of hitting rather than the outcome. When they focus on the outcome they often get uptight. Instead, have them go the plate with a plan of hitting the ball hard, and then whatever happens after that happens.

I would use my pitchers to pitch batting practice or find a pitcher to pitch to them in live situations.This does take a lot of time.

 

[redhotcoach]

I coach both 10 and 12u teams...I found a huge amount of the 10u's are as Ken said, not ready for a good pitch. I make them watch five frame swings slo mo videos of the college girls, paying close attention to when they are loading and tow touching (long before the pitcher releases).

Yes to live pitching. It helps, but be patient, it doesn't happen quickly and they still regress often.

Mechanics......yes that is a lot of it, but I have a few rec girls that everytime they come into the box they swing at almost every pitch and swing like its a knat in front of them. Two of them hit almost every at bat.....drives the other girls nuts

 

[coachdan]

I find that using the small balls with kids who have bad swing mechanics often makes those mechanics worse. They do whatever it takes to hit the balls, even if it turns pretty ugly.

Make sure your hitters are aggressive at the plate. Often times young hitters look to see if the pitch is a strike before making a decision to swing. By then it's usually too late. Instead, they should assume it's a strike and plan on swinging at it until they see otherwise.

One other thought. Make sure they are focused on the process of hitting rather than the outcome. When they focus on the outcome they often get uptight. Instead, have them go the plate with a plan of hitting the ball hard, and then whatever happens after that happens.

I Agree with Ken

Tell hitter not to decide to swing but decide not to swing. In other words start your swing on every pitch and if its a ball stop your swing.

 

[StacieM]

I agree with a lot of what the others said above. Put the pitching machine away. Use the tee and other drills to work proper swing mechanics. Put them through hitting situations where they have to see the ball, make a decision, then perform the appropriate action (live pitching, colored ball drill, etc).

Many coaches take the decision making process out of all the hitting drills they do, then wonder why, in a game their team can't hit. A big part of it is because their practice hitting is completely different from game hitting. In practice, there's no decision making involved. In the game, they must suddenly make a decision on each pitch, in just fractions of a second, and then execute. Leaving the decision making out of practice hitting is a major, but very common oversight, by coaches. You're asking them to do something in a game that they NEVER do in practice.