DD can hit against good pitching, but struggles against bad/slow...

[aec4444]

DD plays against girls throwing hard (10u), say 40+. She hits well, drives it for power, etc etc.

Then we go against lesser teams who don't throw many strikes and/or throw slow and she struggles. She pops the ball up or hits grounders to SS-3B..

It seems like she's not keeping her weight back and waiting for the ball to get her. am I right? Is there more?

 

[quincy]

Have her try to drive the ball into RF.

 

[shaker1]

DD plays against girls throwing hard (10u), say 40+. She hits well, drives it for power, etc etc.

Then we go against lesser teams who don't throw many strikes and/or throw slow and she struggles. She pops the ball up or hits grounders to SS-3B..

It seems like she's not keeping her weight back and waiting for the ball to get her. am I right? Is there more?

Wouldnt worry much with how she hits against bad pitching. As long as she hits the good stuff you should be ok

 

[aec4444]

Wouldnt worry much with how she hits against bad pitching. As long as she hits the good stuff you should be ok

My concern is confidence. I hope we see some decent pitching soon. The league we are in is a little down this fall. She moved down from her club due to us moving and having a lot going on and I hope it was the right choice. The few games we had against good pitching she drove the ball but now she's got some hits but mostly grounders nor hit super hard. Today was really slow and the coach wanted them swinging at anything close since we were winning by a lot....

She also took on pitching which she's not really good enough to do at the club. Hope it's not too much.

 

[#7sDad]

We had a little of the same problem when my DD was playing club and then also playing on her town travel team where the pitching is spotty. I told her to try to treat it like front toss batting practice. Just sit back on it, relax, and just concentrate on timing and seeing the ball. It got a little better, never great. I think it's just tough when you don't get many good pitches, and those that are strikes come in like slow pitch. Her coach having her swing at bad pitches won't help her drive the ball well either; but she could pretend that she's in a two strike count and having to protect. We tried to put things into practice scenarios that will help her club at bats, and not worry so much about hits/outs.

Sounds like you need to find her a new club once you get settled from the move! good luck!

 

[tmolina]

I say teach her to work on bat speed with a short compact swing. then regardless of pitch speed she will have a great chance of being successful. When she knows she is facing a slow pitcher she just waits longer and explodes thru the zone all in one motion. When she is facing fast pitching she swings like normal, and if the fast pitcher throws her a change up and she can recognize it she still has the bat speed and hand speed to get it thru the infield fairly hard..

 

[aec4444]

Had a tournament today. 2 poor teams and s good team. She walked all ABs against the bad teams (6). She wants her pitch and will wait, which against bad pitching means a walk.

In the middle game the girl was throwing hard. She was 2-2 with the only 2 hits of the game for her team. It was like her timing was on again.

 

[quincy]

, not a lot of timing when they are just walking her.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

I find it funny when a player parent say they can't hit slow pitching. Truth is they can't hit the fastest 5% either (not many can, and you don't see them often).

So the reality is that they can hit average pitching. As a coach I tell them they have a mechanical issue they need to sort out. Nine times out of ten they don't understanding timing and how to resist.

Just my observation.

 

[casedawg51]

We feel her pain. My daughter has very fast hands through the zone and struggles with slower pitchers in 14U TB. She actually hits better late in tournaments when the better pitchers are throwing.