Getting a rec team to hit

[CoachMikey]

The problem with rec league is that you don't get a lot of good pitchers throwing good pitches. Hitters tend to get restless and chase bad pitches. A good drill is to set up a net halfway between the mound and home plate and toss it to them. This promotes speed and their reaction will have to be quick. I tend to stay away from pitching machines since in my opinion it screws up their timing.

 

[CoachJD]

PS - I also started handing out candy for any ball put into play in games...didn't matter if they were put out or hit a homerun. That honestly might've been the bigger catalyst.

My HS-aged girls played out of their minds and won the summer league championship in the league we were in, and I'm certain it's because I told them before the first game of the championship that the winners get hoodies.

 

[uncdrew]

I've done a couple seasons of coaching 10u rec and I'll be doing more in the fall. A lot of our practices are batting practice in stations, so getting in a lot of reps, but what seems to be the biggest issue is hitting against a live pitcher.

We were doing cages once a week, a lot of tee work, and soft/front toss, the girls hit fine in those situations, they hit at least, but against a live pitcher it's so hard. No one seems to hit. So I figured I would have our pitchers do some live pitching every practice, but the parents are against it and the kids are too. The pitchers feel like they are missing out on the rest of practice. Parents are worried about injuries (not sure why pitching 50 extra pitches a week will lead to an injury? But ok).

I wish I could pitch well enough that it would be like a live pitching situation, but I just can't. I feel like the girls on my team get better at fielding, I have a decent handle on that, but unfortunately if they don't hit the ball we don't win games. I almost feel like I should try to find some older girl and pay her to come pitch at practices.

Is there anything that anyone has found that can help girls improve hitting off live pitching that you can do in a season? I would love to see some improvement there at the end of the season, and I'm just not really seeing it.

The best thing I ever did for my girls/team was learn how to pitch.

Just like your pitchers, if you work on a windmill pitch 4-5 times per week you'll get pretty good, pretty quickly. And certainly can pitch at 10U rec speed.

 

[PJR202]

The best thing I ever did for my girls/team was learn how to pitch.

Just like your pitchers, if you work on a windmill pitch 4-5 times per week you'll get pretty good, pretty quickly. And certainly can pitch at 10U rec speed.

I started getting pretty good at windmilling off a basic step, then the HS coach came up to bat with a ghost advanced and hit a laser at my face. I managed to move my face a little but I already had my throwing hand up for protection. Caught me on the outside of the hand between the base of the pinky and the wrist. Nothing broke but my hand and arm turned brown halfway to the elbow. My daughter said "when it hit, a puff of dirt came off your hand." LOL

My ability to squeeze probably dropped 80%. I couldn't even carry a jug of milk for 6 weeks, and 15 months later my wrist still hurts at certain angles. I'll still pitch, but not to a 300lb man with a trampoline bat. And I work on my reflexes now before I workout.

 

[uncdrew]

Not only will I not pitch to an adult, I won't let any adults bat at any of my practices or workouts or "let's go to the field and get some reps".

And yes, we adult pitchers need to learn the windmill with either the arm out to the side or the quick "jump back" to get safely back behind the screen. I do the former.

 

[PJR202]

Not only will I not pitch to an adult, I won't let any adults bat at any of my practices or workouts or "let's go to the field and get some reps".

And yes, we adult pitchers need to learn the windmill with either the arm out to the side or the quick "jump back" to get safely back behind the screen. I do the former.

It was a one time thing, too. He stepped in and took about 5 swings. For MS we still short toss without a net. That's how small and un-dangerous we are. I wouldn't try that with the HS girls.

I won't bat off our our pitchers and I prefer to hit infield without a trampoline bat. There's a demarini CF I'll use but it's 31" and old as dirt. We also have a fungo, but as the pics predict, my wrist isnt receptive to something that top-heavy.

I'll hit off the machine once in a while if an adult is running it and no one else is in the infield, but I deliberately set myself up to pull everything. Hitting dingers over a 225 fence is great for maintaining my awesomeness to the players.