Hitting philosophy
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I rarely use a pitching machine except for when I shoot balls from home plate for outfielding practice. Medicine/soccer/basketballs are a never and the TCB or Heavy Balls I only use for warm-ups at tournaments where space is at a premium and very limited.
There's no substitute for live pitching/hitting which we do a lot of throughout Winter indoors. A close second is front toss from 20-25 feet away. At tournaments where space allows, we'll use the limited flight balls such as the Skilz balls for front toss, hit off of the tee into a net, hit side toss into a net and bunt for warm-ups hitting.
There's no substitute for live pitching/hitting which we do a lot of throughout Winter indoors. A close second is front toss from 20-25 feet away. At tournaments where space allows, we'll use the limited flight balls such as the Skilz balls for front toss, hit off of the tee into a net, hit side toss into a net and bunt for warm-ups hitting.
I agree yocoach....I asked this question because my assistant coach(new this year) questioned my philosophy in some aspects of hitting and drills... we are hitting the ball well as a team and thinks only 2 girls have good bat speed and so on....we do exactly as you stated.....live, front, sklz if space limited or no cage, side toss...thanks for input
In my opinion, a pitching machine is really only valuable for getting girls used to the speed they will see in a game. Our team has soft throwing pitchers, so the only way for our girls to work on catching up to the faster pitching the will see is off a machine. I try to not focus on whether or not the girls are squaring up the ball off the machine, but focus on timing and swing mechanics. The spin off the machine just creates an flight path that will not be seen from an actual pitcher. So just like any practice tool, the machine has it's place, but it isn't the answer for everything as far as team hitting goes. If I could only use front toss or a machine, I pick front toss every time.
DDs hitting instructor sits behind a screen at about 15 feet or so, throws a pretty quick slingshot pitch, seems to do a reasonable job approximating pretty fast pitching, DD seems OK on timing on fast pitchers (in fact, most of her timing issues are early rather than late). If I work with her, cannot simulate game speed without machine in any way shape or form 
PS rather than buckets, DDs instructor sits on one of those big inflatable exercise/yoga balls, seems a lot more comfortable to me than a bucket.
PS rather than buckets, DDs instructor sits on one of those big inflatable exercise/yoga balls, seems a lot more comfortable to me than a bucket.
Late to the party here but my thoughts on pitching machines has changed over the years. My DD hated them so I also hated them. I finally figure out why she hated them and she has been a better hitter ever since.
Pitching machines teach one very very critical part of hitting. When you see the ball out of the hand, your step/load should already be out of the way. I see lots of kids trigger their swing at front foot contact, but they have to get the foot down so early they are essentially timing a pitch that hasn't even left the pitchers hand yet. Those kids are susceptible to off-speed or slow to catch up to fastballs.
You know those kids right away because they can't hit a speedy pitch from a pitching machine. They rely on the windup and since you don't have one, they look way out of whack. Get the step/load out of the way 'early' and all thats left is a small weight transfer and a the swing. Very easy to determine those kids on a machine.
Pitching machines teach one very very critical part of hitting. When you see the ball out of the hand, your step/load should already be out of the way. I see lots of kids trigger their swing at front foot contact, but they have to get the foot down so early they are essentially timing a pitch that hasn't even left the pitchers hand yet. Those kids are susceptible to off-speed or slow to catch up to fastballs.
You know those kids right away because they can't hit a speedy pitch from a pitching machine. They rely on the windup and since you don't have one, they look way out of whack. Get the step/load out of the way 'early' and all thats left is a small weight transfer and a the swing. Very easy to determine those kids on a machine.
- Oct 2, 2017
- 2,283
- 113
100% Spot on. Most are waiting until the ball has left the hand before the start their forward move. Add to the complication, I think that young hitters get befuddled with the pitching motions of pitchers. They have a hard to time filtering all that out. We have been telling our team that you need to be already starting to get to your spot at or slightly before release. I think when they first start doing this, it makes them feel uncomfortable.
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I also use my pitching machine quite a bit. I'll set it up to pitch to particular spots in, out, up, down, etc. it's not just to let them see fast pitching. it's good for bunting, too.
- May 29, 2019
- 269
- 63
I think that you need to incorporate everything into hitting practices, especially with the more advanced hitters.
-We always break the swing down with tee work.
-Live pitching is most valuable but least available.
-From there, we hit front toss most often.
-I use the pitching machine much less than I thought I would when I purchased it. However, it is still very valuable. I use it to replicate game speed, movement, and when I need to pinpoint a specific location. I have the Hack Attack Jr that throws all the pitches
-I like heavy balls. I like to stand at about a 45-degree angle and have the batter focus on driving the barrel hard through the ball, and driving the ball back up the middle. This angle is good for working on barrel control through the zone and makes it easy to see if the hands are timed up through the swing.
-We always break the swing down with tee work.
-Live pitching is most valuable but least available.
-From there, we hit front toss most often.
-I use the pitching machine much less than I thought I would when I purchased it. However, it is still very valuable. I use it to replicate game speed, movement, and when I need to pinpoint a specific location. I have the Hack Attack Jr that throws all the pitches
-I like heavy balls. I like to stand at about a 45-degree angle and have the batter focus on driving the barrel hard through the ball, and driving the ball back up the middle. This angle is good for working on barrel control through the zone and makes it easy to see if the hands are timed up through the swing.
