So...down to the wire at the plate, DD has all the right mechanics...but she has bad pitch selection (not always...this could be why she's been labeled "inconsistent" in the past). How is this "fixed" or "trained"? What drills can we do to help her with this? I will be asking her hitting coach tonight. It's so nice to finally get communication from the coaches on this...prior coaches never told us anything.
Bad pitch selection
- Thread starter maksoftball
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IMO, she has to get more live pitching practice, you can do drills until the cows come home but the only way to get discipline at the plate is from live pitching. Now the live pitching can include drills like there is a runner on second move her over, two strike and the ump has called outside knees all game, etc.
This should be a very good thread. People spend so much time on mechanics that the mental strategy gets overlooked or suffers. I go as far to say coaches/teams spend less than 10% of hitting practice on the pitch selection, and 90% on mechanics. Which I think is a huge mistake. 1. Tracking: is the ball going in/out or up/down
2. Decision: once you can learn to track successfully.....you don't have to swing at every strike......but you want to swing at strikes you can hit well. ( Ted Williams ---A good hitter can hit a pitch in a good spot three times better than a great hitter can hit a ball in a questionable spot. )
3. Sitting: you have to be watching the pitcher, know what her go to pitch is on certain counts, know what pitch she throws the most often to other batters because you'll probably see at least one too, sit on it ( wait ) when you recognize it your already mentally prepared to drive it.
4. Counts: 3-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-2 you know the pitcher must come into the zone or real close to it.
0-1, 1-1, 0-2,1-2 you can bet the pitcher will stay away from the zone
These are just a few of many.
In practice Im a big live pitching guy. I take a good portion of practice learning to track the ball. Easiest way to start this method......
1. Batter in the box. ( no swinging )
2. I call out pitches ( breaking ) or spots so the batter knows what's coming. So she can focus on how that pitch looks.
3. Next the batter does not know what's coming and must call out pitches back to me after the delivery. ( still no swinging )
4. Batter is only allowed to swing on outside pitches and must "take" anything else. ( strike pitches )
5. Batter is only allowed to swing on inside pitches and must "take" anything else. ( strike pitches )
6-7. Batter works same for high/low
8. Batter acts just like a game scenario. Has to take 1-7 and work the count for a walk or hit away.
I rotate all my batters through this, and all my pitchers so they can see as many different "types" of pitches as possible.
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Now that my DD has been pitching for several years, our pitching lessons have become a lot more about 'situational pitching' vs. mechanics. Our goal is to get my DD comfortable enough to throw "any pitch, any count" and know where to put it. That is what won Greg Maddux a couple of Cy Young awards!
- May 17, 2012
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I have told my teams to not think of balls and strikes when they are batting. They are swinging until they decide not too (it's a ball they can't hit). Balls and strikes are subjective, I want them swinging at 100% of strikes and 30% (made up number) of balls as well.
A ball that is 1/2 inch out of the strike zone is still hittable. On a called third strike I often hear, "That was a ball, not a strike!". My answer is it doesn't matter, "Could you have hit it?".
The answer is almost always yes.
I am dealing with 10U and 12U so your millage may vary.
A ball that is 1/2 inch out of the strike zone is still hittable. On a called third strike I often hear, "That was a ball, not a strike!". My answer is it doesn't matter, "Could you have hit it?".
The answer is almost always yes.
I am dealing with 10U and 12U so your millage may vary.
Haha, well...........I actually started it first year 10u. ( let me add it was a challenge and not as productive as I might like to post on here ) I would bring in an 12u to pitch to them for the lessons, just as you stated my pitchers were not consistent enough to throw exactly where I was calling. The second year 10u it got a little better, still using 12u pitcher and adding time with our own for the drills.
First year 12u it all started coming together. S-l-o-w-l-y. Second year 12u much much better. Using our own pitchers 75% of the time. I'd borrow a 14u to come the other 25%.
First year 14u ( still doing the drills ) we won our first A class state champ. Scored 42 runs to 17 allowed for the tourney.
Last year in middle school we scored 214 runs and allowed 25 over 22 games. That's averaging almost 10 runs a game.
Second year 14u ( freshmen HS ) we won our second A Class state champ. Scored 52 runs and allowed 9 for the tourney. ( that was one of those weekends where EVERYTHING went our way, we all know that doesn't happen often.........but we wish it did )
For the second year 14u summer season we scored 256 runs and allowed 96. Bracket record was 33-9, I didn't include pool games in record.
Sophomore year was when my DD tore her cuff, so she didn't play but maybe 8 innings the whole calendar year. I was in a softball shock coma during that time and have no stats for the year. ( HS coach still doing the drills with the team as mentioned earlier )
Junior year, DD is healed up and ready to roll. HS scored 288 and allowed 141 over 51 games.
No hitting stats for this summer team wise, I'm just a parent sitting in the crazy dad section now.
I included some stats and pics so you can see how effective the mental training of your batters can be. We might not do much, but we WILL bang the ball. Sure you want good mechanics, but you need good "thinkers" in the box to balance the equation and make them even more successful.
