Cage hitting VS Live game Action

[bigblue]

Any Ideas ? How do I get the girls to hit in a game the way they hit in a cage. I understand that game action adds a total different prespective. And keep in mind in the cage we vary the speed and move the ball around so its not just down the middle ever nor the same speed.

Some girls are great cage hitters but why ? is it fear of being hit or not producing ?

Any ideas or suggestions would be grealty appreciated that I could translate to my team.

Thanks BigBlue

 

[Hitter]

Any Ideas ? How do I get the girls to hit in a game the way they hit in a cage. I understand that game action adds a total different prespective. And keep in mind in the cage we vary the speed and move the ball around so its not just down the middle ever nor the same speed.

Some girls are great cage hitters but why ? is it fear of being hit or not producing ?

Any ideas or suggestions would be grealty appreciated that I could translate to my team.

Thanks BigBlue

BigBlue

I do not use a pitching machine for batting practice however we use it for timing and rhythm.

It is termed the Barry Bonds Drill as he is the one who showed a friend of mine who use to do camps with Griffey at the Griffey International School of Baseball in the late 90's.

He starts off by using a fielding glove on the top hand and catching balls from the pitching machine. He starts off by standing back beyond where the catcher sets up and then advances one step after each catch until the ball can be caught correctly and then begins to reverse his steps backward.

It is pointed out to see and track the ball into the glove and to load and step while doing it.

For softball it is critical that the person feeding the machine do it correctly! Hold a ball in the feeder tube with your left hand and another ball in the right hand and do an arm circle with the ball in the right hand and at the K position feed the ball that is already at the throat of the feeder tube. Explain to your hitter to think slow to load and soft to step as this takes place and to load at the K and step with you see the ball in the wheel or wheels of the pitching machine.

Many times the person feeding the machine makes the hitter late by not feeding the machine correctly throwing off their game speed timing and rhythm in my opinion.

At the end of the demonstration he said he would put the glove on the end of the bat and tell the kids if you can catch it with the glove you can catch it with the bat and track it as long as possible. We know we can see the bat and ball collide however it is good training.

When doing it off a machine we set it at 55 MPH and advance if it is in a private cage as far forward as we can hit it UNTIL you get about 15 feet in front of the machine and then it could get dangerous as to the ball bouncing off the tires or wheels or going back through the feeder tube.

In a public cage you can only step about 15 feet in most cases or you be in harms way of the other hitters.

Start off taking the balls down the middle, then step away for opposite field and then move in for pulling the ball.

Just like in pitching the pitchers work you in then out or up then down however practicing hitting a ball coming the same way is a waste of time in my opinion and throws off any game instincts that you have built into the hitter.

Same way with front toss! If you pump the ball it throws off their timing and that would never happen in a game.

By starting in the back you work low to high and slow to fast and reverse going high to low fast to slow.

Thanks Howard

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Thanks Howard. Those are some very good suggestions.

I want to echo that I also never use pitching machines for batting practice, due to the reasons that BigBlue stated. I have never seen a batter improve by going to the batting cages.

I know that is a pretty big blanket statement, but what is learned in the cages does not transfer to the field.

My DDs HS coach alway used the pitching machine at practices and their hitting really deteriorated.

I own a jugs machine and only use it for pop flies, etc.

Encouraging girls to hit at home, off a tee, is the best hitting practice that I have found, when you aren't able to throw to the girls from the front.

Even throwing softies to the girls, overhand, is better than using the cage machines in my opinion.

 

[PEPPERS]

I’ve used the drill on our kids as Hitter described, you can tell the kids from the start with good swings it shows pretty quickly.
A great drill by the way.

I’ve put my daughter in a baseball cage 75 MPH at 35 feet. My intention was to slow the game down for her and getting used to the smaller ball I hoped to help her seeing the larger ball and the faster speed. Still as the coach at Alabama advised he did not like the machines the only way to create timing is at 43 feet from a live pitcher.

 

[Hitter]

I’ve used the drill on our kids as Hitter described, you can tell the kids from the start with good swings it shows pretty quickly.
A great drill by the way.

I’ve put my daughter in a baseball cage 75 MPH at 35 feet. My intention was to slow the game down for her and getting used to the smaller ball I hoped to help her seeing the larger ball and the faster speed. Still as the coach at Alabama advised he did not like the machines the only way to create timing is at 43 feet from a live pitcher.

PEPPERS

Pat would say that as he has people on staff that can actually throw a ball across the plate!

We actually set the machine at 37 feet to account for the stride as the release point for most pitchers remains constant however the left to right is left up to the umpire! LOL!

When you saw Crystl in Georgia did she demonstrate the Matrix Drill?

She would have started off by ready, set, separate to toe touch, elbows, parallel to contact...just wondering?

Thanks Howard

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Good input here.

I believe BigBlue wishes to transfer the mechanics demonstrated in BP into the game swing. I always seem to pick up one kid each year that can perform well in BP but doesn't transfer their BP swing into the game.

This article touches on the topic ...
Why are my good swings that I have in practice not showing up in games?

Would appreciate more thoughts on the topic.

 

[PEPPERS]

PEPPERS

Pat would say that as he has people on staff that can actually throw a ball across the plate!

We actually set the machine at 37 feet to account for the stride as the release point for most pitchers remains constant however the left to right is left up to the umpire! LOL!

When you saw Crystl in Georgia did she demonstrate the Matrix Drill?

She would have started off by ready, set, separate to toe touch, elbows, parallel to contact...just wondering?

Thanks Howard

Pat is a good pitcher in his own right, I’ve seen him pitch batting practice one time myself. I could pitch myself, not as good as Pat, but my illness will not allow me to do so YET.

She used this drill with the kids I don’t recall her going over it in the coaches clinic. I have like 8 pages of notes that I have been referring back to. She covered so much it was hard to remember everything.

I left the clinic wishing she gave lessons closer to us so she could monitor my daughters progress, as she applies the information she learned.

 

[bigblue]

Guys

Thanks for the responses. I will definetly try to implement the drill suggested. Also the article by Five frame is helpful....

Bigblue...........

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Many of the commercial machines are not hand fed, so it is difficult to use them correctly. I don't see how the commercial places stay in business around here, where we can hit outside 300 days a year.

I do like to use my Jugs Soft Toss, when working by myself or setting up a station. I can rig it to come from the front, if I want to.

I also like those little "machines" that spit out the small plastic golf balls.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

BigBlue

I do not use a pitching machine for batting practice however we use it for timing and rhythm.

It is termed the Barry Bonds Drill as he is the one who showed a friend of mine who use to do camps with Griffey at the Griffey International School of Baseball in the late 90's.

He starts off by using a fielding glove on the top hand and catching balls from the pitching machine. He starts off by standing back beyond where the catcher sets up and then advances one step after each catch until the ball can be caught correctly and then begins to reverse his steps backward.

It is pointed out to see and track the ball into the glove and to load and step while doing it.

I remember reading an article about a drill used by Pete Rose and how he would point the top of the bat at the pitching machine and would practice stopping the ball with the very end of the bat. As you can imagine the margin of error and skill required to make contact is very impressive. This drill helped him in tracking the ball to the bat and improved his hand / eye coordination.