First Hitting Lesson

[finalcloud]

So this Sunday I'm taking my DD for her first hitting lesson. She has made great strides this spring: getting a hit in every game, fielding, throwing, and for the heck of it changing bats without me knowing. A former assistant coach of mine recommended a hitting coach in the local area. After seeing the results we decided to give the lesson a try.

Anything I should be looking for in the instructor? Questions I should ask? Or should I just let her do her thing for the 30 minutes but just be a dad during that time.

Also, am I crazy for getting my 7 year old a hitting lesson?

 

[djcarter1966]

Probably (crazy that is )...odds are she is still willing to listen to you and looks up to you so that is one major thing you have in your favor, at 7 you can do some easy things to make sure she does not develop bad habits. If you just get her to feel herself as she strides her leg forward to pull hands back and then not drop the bat down and drag it flat all the way through the zone; you are better than half way home.

Just sit back and listen....pull out the good stuff and come back next month for a status check...no need for weekly sessions and stressing her out at this point

 

[reagansdaddy]

My DD started when she was 9 and for probably the first year or so the lessons were more for me than for her. What I mean by that is that I had very little knowledge and learned how to help her beyond the most simple advice like "keep your eyes on the ball."

For the last year or so, DD is 12 now, the lessons are really for her. Her coach is an awesome woman and I love it when DD is exposed to strong, positive, female role models. Certain things just hit better coming from our hitting instructor than they would from me. Nothing wrong with that, either.

 

[finalcloud]

Willing to listen?!?! At 7, in her mind, she has already figured out the world. DW and I are only around for her entertainment.

Seriously I'm just going to sit back and watch at the lesson. Take some videos and pictures, if permitted. I'm happy that she has made a great jump from Fall to Spring. Even other coaches have pointed that out. Her interest in just watching college games on TV has gone up.

Off topic but sit on the hitting topic. Last night I did a batting cage session at the park; had to close the concession stand so I need something to do. I held the ball on the two seems and put a little spin on it. Not only was I able to get the ball in the zone better, the girls were making more contact. Anyone else have tips for better pitching in coach pitch?

Grip

More of the two finger grip

 

[djcarter1966]

In coach pitch my advice is anything that lets you put the ball over the fat part of the plate on a consistent basis.

Biggest thing for coach pitch guys or girls is DO NOT lob the ball or throw it with any kind of arc, if you want to throw it slow that is fine but it still has to be fast enough to be on a straight line. For most hitters actually throw it as fast as you can while maintaining control and them still able to catch up to it.

 

[finalcloud]

Maybe that was it. I was putting a little something on each pitch and kept it down. I just need it not to rain Thursday so I can work on it more with the team.

 

[marriard]

In coach pitch my advice is anything that lets you put the ball over the fat part of the plate on a consistent basis.

Biggest thing for coach pitch guys or girls is DO NOT lob the ball or throw it with any kind of arc, if you want to throw it slow that is fine but it still has to be fast enough to be on a straight line. For most hitters actually throw it as fast as you can while maintaining control and them still able to catch up to it.

Yep, hard and flat. You are doing them a huge favor as they move from coach pitch to kid pitch by doing this. Also hard in, hard out- so when they do hit it, the ball goes further.

The other thing is to NEVER look at the batter when you pitch. Make sure they are looking at the ball (not you) by moving it around so you can see their eyes move, and then find a target and throw it to it. If you look at your batter you will have the tendency to throw towards them rather than over the plate. Made this mistake early in my coach pitch career and I hit my DD once. 6 years later it still gets brought up occasional.

 

[ANNASDAD]

My DS is in the 6th grade now, but back many many years ago when he was in the 3rd-5th grade his elementary school had 5 different baseball teams. The coach on my sons team knew me from ball days and ask me to pitch. The first practice a few moms made a point of telling me I threw too hard, I told them to just wait. We got to schedule our own practices so we had 4 or 5 before the first game. We went undefeated two years in a row and only lost 1 or 2 games total in those three years. Why?? Pitching !! Every dad on those other teams lobbed the ball like a slow pitch and the ball would just drop in front of them. After the 2nd or 3rd game of each season I went from throwing flat & straight to throwing really hard, all the kids trusted me and every kid on those teams were just killing the ball, even the little girls whose moms complained to the AD about how hard I threw. All those moms shut their mouth and for the next two years went out of their way to try to get their kids on the team I would be pitching for. I felt sorry for the kids on those other teams because I knew a lot of those kids and some were really good players who just couldn't hit sorry pitching.

marriard makes a great point, hard in, hard out ! I told those moms fast in, fast out but you get the point. Do NOT lob the ball, you kill their timing. YOU can consistently throw the ball hard, you can't throw a consistent lob.

 

[RichK]

Hard, low and flat. If they are late on those pitches you can teach them out to start a little earlier, which will be much easier then trying to teach them to hit an arced pitch.

If they are having a really hard time and probably won't hit the ball hard even if they do, move closer and maybe go down on one knee.

If all else fails, try to hit their bat with the ball lol

 

[finalcloud]

Another successful weekend of softball is in the books. Here is a quick video. I was very surprised my DD took to the instructor so well.

https://youtu.be/SC3ukLqRdD8

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