Aggressive at the Plate or make the pitcher work?

[Thing1Thing2]

It seems we have some aggressive hitters on our team and while its awesome when they rock the first pitch to the outfield... it is sometimes aggravating when the side is out in 5 pitches. As a mom of a pitcher... I see her work and at this age she is more of a strike out pitcher (so her count is already gonna be high) But it seems when we are up to bat, our inning ends very quickly... And I'm like...."man wish that pitcher got to stay in the sun for a bit!!" Our DD's are also aggressive, thanks to their Dad he likes them swinging on the 1st pitch, bc he thinks its usually the best pitch to swing at. What is y'all's opinion?

 

[CoachAl]

A couple of things to consider. I have always taught "aggressive but smart" when it comes to hitting. We try to get our players to understand they need to take what a pitcher is giving them and work within their own hitting zone - regardless of how the umpire is calling balls and strikes. However, they also have to understand they are looking for pitches they can hit hard. This is where a lot of kids get into trouble IMO. A lot of players will get over anxious and just try to get the bat on the ball. They may put the ball in play, but we as we all know weak groundballs and popups are not going to cut it.

I have no issues at all with a player swinging at the first pitch, especially if we are facing a pitcher with very good control and multiple movement pitches. There are coaches I know who tell their pitchers to throw down the middle on the first pitch because they know a lot of players are coached to not swing at that first pitch.

It really is a balance and players do struggle with it at times. We just try to get them to understand that we need both - aggressive attitude to go right at the pitcher, and a smart presence at the plate to recognize pitches they can handle and how they can best attack a particular defense.

 

[James Smith]

DD is a P and leads off, she swings at strikes. First pitch strike is going to be hit, might be an out but it is going to be hit. No freebies for the pitcher, she is going to earn it. Yes we have been 5 pitches and done, we also have had 15 swings.

 

[CoogansBluff]

DD is a P and leads off, she swings at strikes. First pitch strike is going to be hit, might be an out but it is going to be hit. No freebies for the pitcher, she is going to earn it.

If the pitcher throws an inside strike at the knees on the first pitch and the batter swings and grounds it to the shortstop, that's not good, IMO. Do you want your daughter to swing at all first-pitch strikes? I'd prefer the leadoff hitter wait for a middle-of-the-zone strike on the first pitch. Unless you feel that the pitcher is exceptional and will never give you anything over the plate.

It seems we have some aggressive hitters on our team and while its awesome when they rock the first pitch to the outfield... it is sometimes aggravating when the side is out in 5 pitches. As a mom of a pitcher... I see her work and at this age she is more of a strike out pitcher (so her count is already gonna be high) But it seems when we are up to bat, our inning ends very quickly... And I'm like...."man wish that pitcher got to stay in the sun for a bit!!" Our DD's are also aggressive, thanks to their Dad he likes them swinging on the 1st pitch, bc he thinks its usually the best pitch to swing at. What is y'all's opinion?

This discussion comes up a lot. Many will disagree, but I don't see much point in trying to make the pitcher throw more pitches. The main goal is to get on base. If the pitcher winds up throwing more pitches, fine, but it's not worth letting fat pitches go by and getting behind in the count. Batters should be selective on the first pitch and let certain strikes pass in hopes of getting a better pitch later. But if the first pitch is in the batter's happy zone, as I believe Ted Williams used to call it, batter needs to jump all over that. It's frustrating when a batter pops up on the first pitch, but I don't hear people complain when they line the first pitch into center field.

 

[James Smith]

A little bit of topic but kind of the same thing. DD’s teams do not have a take sign. We have players that will not swing on a 3-0 count no matter where the pitch is. DD is going to swinging unless you yell to her and tell her not to swing. It works for her and taking 3-0 seems to work for some of the other players.

 

[CoachKevin]

I don't mind if kids swing at the first pitch IF it is in the zone they are looking at. I did have to talk to 1 girl last game about that though. Pitcher had just walked 2 batters, our girl swings at the first pitch, grounds into an inning ending DP. Sometimes the situation requires you to be very selective.

 

[MsDinosaur]

Both, LOL. The batter should be as aggressive as heck when the ball's in the zone she wants, but if the pitcher's throwing stuff that's hard to hit well, then she should foul them off and make the pitcher work until she makes a mistake...or the batter does!
:-D

 

[Rocketech1]

but if the pitcher's throwing stuff that's hard to hit well, then she should foul them off and make the pitcher work until she makes a mistake...D

One point I would like make is that there is a very fine line between fouling a ball off, hitting a line drive, and striking out. No one is that good a batter that they can intentionally foul off pitches until they see a pitch they like and then get a base hit. It's a fallacy I see posted here quite a bit.

To the OP, in general batters should be looking for a particular pitch and location and if they get it on the first pitch by all means go after the ball. I much prefer an aggressive batter at the plate. Good batters will fail two out of three times, that is ok. Be an offensive batter not defensive unless the pitcher is struggling to hit her spots.

 

[ncgolf]

It seems we have some aggressive hitters on our team and while its awesome when they rock the first pitch to the outfield... it is sometimes aggravating when the side is out in 5 pitches. As a mom of a pitcher... I see her work and at this age she is more of a strike out pitcher (so her count is already gonna be high) But it seems when we are up to bat, our inning ends very quickly... And I'm like...."man wish that pitcher got to stay in the sun for a bit!!" Our DD's are also aggressive, thanks to their Dad he likes them swinging on the 1st pitch, bc he thinks its usually the best pitch to swing at. What is y'all's opinion?

I would have a stat that tracks balls put in play on either first or second pitch. If the stats back up that swinging at first or second pitch gets your girls on base then by all means keep it up. My opinion and I tracked that stat was your strikeouts decrease but the on base and batting average drops dramatically .. on base because you do not walk or even get a hit batter. Girls at anything below high school are aggressive but not yet smart and for the most part swing at poor pitches. What I also found out is most girls are not confident two strike hitters .. they will go out of their way to not get into that situation. What we are trying to do is make them confident two strike hitters which means developing an eye for pitches and location. If OBP is less than 300 for either first or second strike balls in play then it is not working .. for that girl. Some girls can do this but the only way to tell is keep track of success/failure.

 

[humpty]

If the pitcher is throwing a lot of strikes go up there and be aggressive. If she's struggling make the P work.