calling pitches

[Rocketech1]

Some random thoughts...
1) We strive for 60-65% first pitch strikes. Agree that 65% strikes (+ or - 5%) is the sweet spot. With "Strike" defined as swing and miss, called strike, foul, ball in play.
2) Some coaches call pitches trying to exploit perceived batters weaknesses. Yes, the smart coaches will track players at bats and try to exploit their weakness to gain an advantage.
3) Some coaches call pitches based on their pitchers strengths. Yes, not all pitchers are the same, good coaches know what their pitchers best pitchers are AND know if it is "on" today or not and adjust accordingly.
4) Changing the plane and location of pitches is a good idea - high inside/low outside, high outside/low inside. Yes, pitch and location variance is important and not used nearly enough, especially vertically.
5) Changing speeds helps throw off a batters timing - we strive to be able to throw three speeds fast/average/slow Love this advice. Good pitchers have two speeds, great pitchers have three speeds a) fast b) off-speed, and c) change-up.
6) Learning the umpires strike zone quickly can be a HUGH benefit to a pitch caller and pitcher. Yes, no two umpires have the exact same strike zone, being able to adjust quickly to the umpires zone will make you more effective.
7) Know the count and adjust accordingly. An 0-2 change up needs to be off the plate, while a 3-2 change up needs to be tight. Yes, Yes, Yes, pitchers need to know the count and expand the zone (i.e. work farther off the edges when ahead). Few things more frustrating than giving up a base hit on an 0-2 count. Waste pitches should be used more often.
8) If you use iScore or GameChanger the WHIP is a good stat to track. Less than 1.00 is very good. I would say that is extremely good. Anything under 2.00 is very good in my book
9) We strive for a 3-to-1 or better strikeout to walk ratio. Sure, but it really depends on the level of the competition. In college, 2/1 is very good, at 10U I have seen 4/1 be very good. 1/1 is never good.
10) If batters are crowding the plate, the pitcher needs to have the confidence to come inside. Also agree here. Lots of pitchers are afraid to come inside and tend to work away from the batter. I encourage them to throw more inside to set-up the outside pitch. You are occasionally going to hit a batter coming inside, it happens. If you never hit a batter, than you are probably not coming inside enough.

Some great observations here. I also added some random thoughts.

 

[MNDad]

I agree totally Little A, yeah we stressed on her mechanics first then hitting her spots followed by a change up, drop and curve but she picked up on the curve better than the drop for some reason so we exploited that more than the drop at first now we are just working on her hitting her spots with those pitches and practicing the spin for the rise with the proper mechanics but wont implement that this year. she's still got work to do on mastering the the others yet. nationals are here in Sioux falls next year for 14u so the plan is to get her to have the rise by then.

I love your PC and thinks he's one of the best in the midwest. He helped DD achieve great rise spin that totally 14U baffled hitters. A word of warning though, college coaches absolutely hated it. It's just too slow and is viewed more as a floating fastball waiting to get knocked out of the park by college hitters. What he started was still very worthwhile and three years later she has a pretty good riseball. It's nothing at all like what we thought was a rise ball back at 14U though.

 

[Rocketech1]

I love your PC and thinks he's one of the best in the midwest. He helped DD achieve great rise spin that totally 14U baffled hitters. A word of warning though, college coaches absolutely hated it. It's just too slow and is viewed more as a floating fastball waiting to get knocked out of the park by college hitters. What he started was still very worthwhile and three years later she has a pretty good riseball. It's nothing at all like what we thought was a rise ball back at 14U though.

Can you elaborate on this non-traditional riseball spin? I only know of two kinds a) backspin 6/12 (rarely ever achieved) and b) axis tilted upwards, bullet spin (most riseballs). Thanks.

 

[MNDad]

It's the 6/12 back spin, but the delivery is focused primarily on spin at the expense of speed. Its telegraphed easily and DD only threw it 49-50 mph. Her fastball at the time was in the 59-62 range. Sorry I can't describe the technique in more detail. I'll ask her about it and follow up.

Occasionally she still uses the earlier techniques an off speed pitch and just keeps it low. It's not her bread and butter like it was at 14U though.

 

[sluggers]

OILF: I have no clue what you are talking.

Yes, throwing a low fastball is difficult. So is throwing a drop.

taking the whole 'there can't be spin and it really is a FB, and the kids suck at it' to every pitch is just a waste of forum space

It is hard to throw real breaking pitches. Many people don't know the difference between a real drop and a low fastball.

If someone is telling the kid that she is throwing a drop when she isn't, it confuses the kid.

A lot of people on this forum have seen real drop balls and real riseballs. Perhaps you haven't.

We stop them from throwing that low FB. immediately when kids get to HS,

You actually don't let your kids throw low FBs? You prefer belt high FBs?

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

If someone is telling the kid that she is throwing a drop when she isn't, it confuses the kid.

Thought I'd correct that for you .....

If someone is telling the kid that she is throwing a fb when she isn't, it confuses the kid.

 

[xygent1]

Have you asked the pitcher? Whether one thinks it is a drop or low FB, the technique allows the pitcher to hit that spot, or at a minimum, feel comfortable trying to hit that spot. Why don't all the naysayers go out and throw one yourself? You will see how easy it is for a FB to become a flier, or in another way, how hard it is to throw a low FB. We stop them from throwing that low FB. immediately when kids get to HS, and we tell them to take that low FB out of the arsenal at clinics at about age 10 because the batters are midgets at that age. So taking the whole 'there can't be spin and it really is a FB, and the kids suck at it' to every pitch is just a waste of forum space IMO.

one thing that we do is use taped balls when practicing the different spins so we can definitively see the spin of the ball as for the drop we look for that straight up and down line when she peels to me that's telling me shes got the right spin now its just a matter of getting enough rev's to get it to bite. and to me when it breaks hard I would say its a drop sometimes it doesn't bite and I attribute that to the rev's are not enough mabey im wrong.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Ideal change up should be approx. 15-20 PERCENT (%) slower than max speed (and have a high enough spin rate so that it isn't easily distinguished from other pitches).

 

[xygent1]

thanks Green, shes definitely hitting those percentages then. Im going to pay closer attention to her spin though when throwing them I guess Ive never really concentrated on the spin just the speed im sure her PC has looked at it already but its never come up I guess.

 

[JJS]

Just thinking out loud here ..... if a pitcher throws a strike 25% of the time, and the batters are selective enough not to commit to a swing, that 25% target could lead to a lot of walks. A strategy of keeping the bat on the shoulder would win the game.

Obviously you must be counting on the batters not being selective enough.

In your opinion, in a live game, with a strike occurring either because "the batter swung" or "the batter didn't swing & the umpire called it a strike" ... what percentage of pitches would be 'strikes'?

Our pitchers are throwing about 70-80% strikes with 65-75% first pitch strikes. Those include swing and miss along with looking. Again our pitchers try not to throw the entire ball over the plate. We want a piece of the ball to knick the edge of the plate(our goal, not always accomplished). We hit our spots plenty. Our spots just aren't over the plate.

"Obviously you must be counting on the batters not being selective enough." - No. Actually, we just work the corners. If we get that call or get a swing we work a couple inches off the corners. We keep going, and going until we no longer get either a call or a swing. Then we bring it back in a couple inches. If you move the target in our out a couple inches off the plate at a time, you will be surprised at what you will get someone to swing at and/or what will get called a strike.