Good riseball pitchers are few and far between, which is why college coaches covet them so dearly....the first time a batter faces a good riseball pitcher she will probably look foolish swinging at pitches up in her eyes. The only solution is to keep playing teams with good riseball pitchers and learn to become more disciplined at the plate. And about the time you think you have got them to lay off the riseball, you will face a riseball pitcher who can throw low riseball for strikes, or high fastballs that pepper the top of the strike zone while your batters are laying off the pitches thinking they are going to rise....
How to teach DD to lay off the high pitch?
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I don't claim to be an expert because I have only coached at the coach pitch label but my 7 year old daughter had a hard time laying off high pitches when she did an All Star season and had the misfortune of being assigned a very stubborn coach who was very inaccurate and refused to delegate the pitching. It wasn't just a matter of high balls but also low balls. Also balls that hit the backstop 10' above the ground. I seriously considered sending her to the plate with a pitching wedge and a tennis racket...but I digress. I used front toss with a screen and rapidly pitched a mix of high, medium, and low balls. I have also found that doing tee work was very helpful when I had a player swinging and missing. Once I resolved the technical issues pitch selection and contact seemed to improve.
Bunting... learn to bunt. Learn to pull back on anything higher than the hands when crouched to bunt. Then use anyother marker when swinging away....We use elbows.
So tricky - she is a great bunter. She can lay it down which ever line they tell her to or drop one straight down. She is great at pulling back when those pitches are too high. It's just when she is told to swing that she chases the high ones. We've talked about anything higher than the elbows being too high. I think she is overthinking everything!
Last year she was one of her teams best hitters with excellent pitch selection - this year - not so much.
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This is the best use of a pitching machine IMO...
Set it at 55mph at chest high...let her take about 50 pitches...no swings...
Rinse/repeat once a week...
We teach kids to swing at strikes but not to recognize balls...teach them to recognize both balls and strikes...pitching machines are perfect for this type of training...CP
Good bunter...Great then you know what I mean. The bat out front is like a site. Totally agree with Chris ^
I would work on getting a 2 strike strategy then. JMHO
Do not take this the wrong way but I suspect that like many other players, overall your DD is undisciplined at the plate. Is the problem laying off a high pitch only? Can she lay off anything above her belt? Below the belt? Outside pitches? Inside pitches? Plate discipline is not something that just happens, it requires training and practice. Unfortunately this rarely happens until kids get to college. We regularly work with players on this during game conditions. That is why we play those NSA tournaments between showcases. They will be instructed to do things like only hit hard ground balls and only swing at pitches that are below their belt. When they go to the plate that is their ONLY job. Pitches below the belt, hard ball on the ground. That is the ONLY criteria for failure or success and they are held accountable. Case in point a while back we had a player given that exact instruction for her first AB in the game. She hit the first pitch which was at the top of the zone and put it over the left field fence. She sat the rest of the game. She quickly learned that the AB belongs to the team, not her. And since that day has gone on to a very successful college career, and has a very nice ring to show for her efforts. She will tell you that it was while on the bench after hitting a dinger that the light bulb came on and she evolved as a hitter.
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
The same lessons can be taught while facing quality competition.
DD - for a 12 year old - used to be fairly disciplined at the plate. Everyone always commented on how she had great pitch selection for a kid so young. She could lay off anything outside/inside/low/high. She is still good about waiting on the pitch - unless a high one comes along. She never ducks down when a high pitch comes in - don't really know if that is good or not. She is great at fouling off pitches she doesn't like, and she is a good 2 strike hitter. But it's like everyone now knows - if she has 2 strikes - throw her a high one and she's done. She even told me last night - "I knew it was too high but for aome reason I swung anyway.". Ugh!
- Oct 16, 2014
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I like this, this makes sense...a lot of it!!!
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