Hitting Spots

[mkral]

Can some of you give me some of your more productive drills for hitting spots.
We have been pretty good but now all of a sudden we are struggling for some reason. It appears mechanics are still solid but DD is not hitting spots like she was.
I was just wanting to see what others do with their girls to get some other idea's to maybe jump DD out of her rut.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Ade's Dad]

First off,I am not a pitching coach but my DD has been pitching nearly three years and I have been very involved in the process . When her control starts south I start to concentrate on her mechanics ,is she standing tall at release ? I have found that if she has trouble north and south she may bend forward a little on some pitches to adjust her height instead of changing her release point. East and west she will be stepping too far left or right . She does best if she only steps two inches right or left of the center of the power line for inside corner or outside corner. It's not something we have to work on a lot but seem to revisit every couple months .

 

[mkral]

Thanks Ade's Dad!! My DD is not missing by much but she is missing. I believe her mechanics are pretty sound but that being said we try to work on that all the time by devoting one practice a week to just mechanics and spin. We have been a little soft on that for a few weeks and I think it is time to get her back to into that routine again. I agree mechanics are the key and it never stops amazing me how really small mechanical issues or changes can effect the pitch big time. My back ground is a lot like yours. I am not a coach but I have been there from day one trying to soak up what I could and just be there for my DD. She needs me right now to get her through this and we will get through it just like we have in the past. I thank you for your post. Your insight is very helpful and a needed read for me!!

Mike

 

[Poseidon]

One of the drills I use for training location of pitches is playing a game of Tic-Tac-To. Think of the strike zone as a Tic-Tac-To grid and have her vary the location of her pitches so she fills out the lines.

Michel

 

[Madsdad]

We were doing a fun drill this past winter. I would hang s stuffed animal and let DD try to hit it. I'm not telling you to forget the mechanics, but it seemed that making it fun really got the DD to focus and work really hard at hitting that thing.You can move it around as she hits it. Sometimes they just need to have fun. A big plus is that you can then watch her without having to protect yourself. You might be able to pick up something very minor in her movement. I know when my DD is off it seems to be that she is not standing as tall as she could.

 

[mkral]

Thanks Madsdad, good idea.
Michel as usual you got a good tool as well there. We will play some games this week to see what she thinks of them.

 

[ctfastpitch]

We would have our pitchers (2 or more of them) play sort of a game of HORSE, with one of the coaches catching/umpiring. 1st pitcher calls pitch/location. If she hits it, the next pitcher has to hit the same or she get an "H", and so on. Amazing how the level of concentration improves with that little bit of competition. Also helps them to learn to deal with pressure situations, and having to make a pitch when they need to.

 

[mkral]

Neat idea as well!! Thanks CTFastpitch.

 

[Glipski]

I actually place a softball on a tee in different locations...in, out up, down...for my DD to try and knock off to get her aim back when starts wandering. She is so focused on hitting the other ball that she forgets the lean and other things she does with her body to "help" the pitch go where she wants it to. Great drill for her that happened because I accidentally left a tee sitting close to the base in my shop. She was missing high on everything and I looked over and saw the tee sitting there...EUREKA! She actually asks to do the drill now on her own. The only drill she does that I don't have to insist on. Give it a try.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I have the pitcher look at my glove, shut her eyes and pitch. She doesn't open them until she hears the ball hit the glove.