hit placement

[aneasy643]

I've recently began coaching (assistant) with a new 12U TB team. 2 02 players and 8 03. The head coach has never played the game and it's quite frankly clueless. The other assistant is a bully. Great pair! Anyway, they yell at the girls for everything. One thing that is really bothering me is that the girls are told that their hard hits aren't good enough because they weren't placed correctly. Pitch and location are never considered as far as I can tell. Actually teaching this hasn't crossed these coaches minds either. So my question is at what age is hit placement actually something that can/should be worked on? In my eyes were not ready but maybe I'm wrong?

 

[coach james]

Sounds like you already know what you need to do....
But these guys are most likely yelling to instill authority. Placement is very difficult for a batter. When Sally is instructed to put the ball in right field when the pitcher is throwing inside drop balls, its almost impossible for a 10u kid to accomplish this... as said above most college kids can't do it consistently.
Do they understand the angles of going with the pitch? Inside balls are hit in front of the stride foot, middle pitches at the front foot and outside ones are hit deep into the plate... until these guys understand this basic concept of placement your players will be getting worse, not better. They will find ways to "cheat" their swing to achieve the coaches desired outcome. They will cast and wrist roll in order to hit the outside pitch to Left field for example. I'd be shopping for a new team quick!

 

[aneasy643]

That's just it they have no clue how to aim. Let alone aim with power. The girls are for the most part just beginning to hit consistently with power. They have no real understanding of that. I think at this point it's too much to primarily focus on. Am I wrong should they not only be learning this heavily but executing 90% of the time? They are 11. Just starting to play 12U but still actually 10U.

 

[marriard]

I've recently began coaching (assistant) with a new 12U TB team. 2 02 players and 8 03. The head coach has never played the game and it's quite frankly clueless. The other assistant is a bully. Great pair! Anyway, they yell at the girls for everything.

Your real question is really "What am I doing here (and probably your DD as well I guess)?"

If you believe the above first part of your post, then why are you planning on putting yourself (and your DD) through this? Even if it is just your perception of the coaching, this is not going to end well.

(BTW, our 12U-A team don't aim - they do try to go with the pitch and that is how most of them are taught i.e. inside pitch try to drive to left, outside try to drive to right, middle over 2B - but where the ball actually goes... well most college players can't put it to a gap at-will)

 

[CoogansBluff]

(BTW, our 12U-A team don't aim - they do try to go with the pitch and that is how most of them are taught i.e. inside pitch try to drive to left, outside try to drive to right, middle over 2B - but where the ball actually goes... well most college players can't put it to a gap at-will)

That about sums it up.

I don't know what these coaches mean by ''placing'' hits, but if that means trying to punch the ball over the second baseman's head, or grounding one through the hole at short, then I say forget that at this age and just work on meeting ball squarely and knocking crap out of it.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Anyway, they yell at the girls for everything. One thing that is really bothering me is that the girls are told that their hard hits aren't good enough because they weren't placed correctly.

Ah. You've got to love the 'coaches' who learned all they need to know about this game from watching coed slow pitch.

Unless they're bunting or slapping, the goal is to hit the ball HARD.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

Ah. You've got to love the 'coaches' who learned all they need to know about this game from watching coed slow pitch.

That's exactly what I was thinking too when I read this. I hate these kinds of bloviators.

I look back on DD's HS "career" and the biggest difference between TB and HS was the existence of "great" HS pitchers that just were great at hitting the outside corner with a plain-jane fastball. 99 percent of HS players try to pull the outside fastball. These same "great" HS pitchers can't even make it in D3 later with this same tactic - why? - because at college level kids have the ability to go with the pitch.

It was my experience with DD's TB career that "going with the pitch" was taught way too late and way too ineffectively. To me at 16U TB-A there should be ZERO "casters" in the batters box if coaching is doing its job.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Doug Romrell]

I've recently began coaching (assistant) with a new 12U TB team. 2 02 players and 8 03. The head coach has never played the game and it's quite frankly clueless. The other assistant is a bully. Great pair! Anyway, they yell at the girls for everything. One thing that is really bothering me is that the girls are told that their hard hits aren't good enough because they weren't placed correctly. Pitch and location are never considered as far as I can tell. Actually teaching this hasn't crossed these coaches minds either. So my question is at what age is hit placement actually something that can/should be worked on? In my eyes were not ready but maybe I'm wrong?

There are a lot of fantastic coaches out there who never played fastpitch softball, so having never played the game doesn't necessarily mean anything. Further, there are some coaches out there who did play the game who aren't all that good at coaching.

Of course, being clueless and bullying are very serious problems. Seems to me that the questions should be, "Where is the next best team TB team? When would be the best time to move to that team?"

 

[FP26]

Some of this is dependent on age, experience, and commitment also. I coach a 14u B team made up of girls with differing levels of each. My Dd and several others are willing to hit several times per week and do a decent job hitting the ball where it is pitched. Some others only practice once a week and this is a greater challenge for them. Several people have referred to "timing" as the holy grail of hitting and this concept is extremely important when going with a pitch.

What some coaches also fail to understand is that one of the pitcher's most important jobs is to disrupt the hitter's timing. If the hitter fails to hit the ball properly, it could be a problem with the swing. But it is also possible that the pitcher simply threw a good pitch.

 

[aneasy643]

Your real question is really "What am I doing here (and probably your DD as well I guess)?"

If you believe the above first part of your post, then why are you planning on putting yourself (and your DD) through this? Even if it is just your perception of the coaching, this is not going to end well.

(BTW, our 12U-A team don't aim - they do try to go with the pitch and that is how most of them are taught i.e. inside pitch try to drive to left, outside try to drive to right, middle over 2B - but where the ball actually goes... well most college players can't put it to a gap at-will)

Right on the money there. We've found ourselves in a pickle. I'm having a hard time just walking away- been 3 weeks. DD really likes her teammates, well mostly. That's a different thread all together. I've gotten to know some of these girls and I don't want to leave them to the wolves. And thanks for the reality check. I was beginning to think I was missing something--12U players perfecting skills college level athletes don't always have. Glad I'm on the right page. Thanks.