Is hitting off a pitching machine necessary?

[riseball]

At SC they had a few. Camera mounted behind the hitter with a flat screen behind the net. Was on a delay so they could take a cut and then see it on the screen and make adjustments on the next one. Had metrics on exit velocity, launch angle, etc. All the tools to succeed, just needed to put in the work.

 

[Rolling Hard]

I would imagine most teams use them. A few pro baseball teams I know use them. It’s hard to simulate the velocity and breaking pitches without one.

I read somewhere long ago that David Ortiz use to hit off a tennis machine at 120 mph. If I remember correctly, It was in his contract that the team had to have one.

 

[Northball]

I read somewhere long ago that David Ortiz use to hit off a tennis machine at 120 mph. If I remember correctly, It was in his contract that the team had to have one.

Not a bad idea, fouling off your foot would be a lot more forgiving.

 

[Rick M]

True story. When DD was in 12U, the coach used to end practice with a knockout game. Every kid got three pitches from the machine, you had to make contact to get to the next round. Each round, the mph went up.

DD was really good at it, she’d always be one of the last 2-3 hitting pitches in the mid 60’s. One practice I joked with her on the way home, “65? You’re ready for D1!”

She said she never saw the ball. She listened for the sound of the ball dropping into the machine and just knew where it was going to be located when it reached the plate.

Not sure that made her a better hitter


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[uncdrew]

My DD hates pitching machines. A big part of her hitting practice work is front toss from me behind a screen about 15-18' from the plate.

When we show up to a try-out and they have a pitching machine, we just turn around and get back in the car and go home.

 

[_MIA_]

DD’s MS coach used one but set it a speed that most of the kids on the team could hit…so like 35 mph..

 

[nikkilugi]

I throw BP here in Omaha to an NAIA school, Bellevue University. It helps me to keep in shape, gauge my back pain (and tolerance to it) and decide if I am going to pitch in the league. lol.

As always, all the college age (and below) players that I throw BP to say the same thing: they struggle to see the ball very well. Not because I'm trying to blitz them at 80mph. But because I keep my hand concealed with the ball through the wind up. They almost all say they struggle seeing the ball.

DD had a coach in KC (Pepper’s Coach in case you know him) that played men’s fastpitch and was a pitcher. He was the absolute best thing that ever happened to help DD’s hitting. He would throw BP and definitely didn’t hold back with her (14u). I give him so much credit for why she can mash the ball. Can she hit off a machine? Yeah if the person running it is consistent but she hates it. Probably because she was spoiled by her men’s fastpitch playing coach.

 

[Westwind]

True story. When DD was in 12U, the coach used to end practice with a knockout game. Every kid got three pitches from the machine, you had to make contact to get to the next round. Each round, the mph went up.

DD was really good at it, she’d always be one of the last 2-3 hitting pitches in the mid 60’s. One practice I joked with her on the way home, “65? You’re ready for D1!”

She said she never saw the ball. She listened for the sound of the ball dropping into the machine and just knew where it was going to be located when it reached the plate.

Not sure that made her a better hitter


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Well, sure it did! I think she put a lot of thought into that!

 

[scudly12]

We use a pitching machine as infrequently as possible. The density of the ball is hard on the bats. Also the machines can be inconsistent, but that is probably a combination of machine age (quality) and user skills. We do two front toss stations, and two live pitching stations as much as possible. But in our indoor practice times we are paired with another team about our age so we can use all the pitchers and coaches. We are lucky from that perspective.


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[cnardone]

We have one. We use ...foam (????) balls. I don't know how other coaches in the Org use it, but we use it almost exclusively for bunting practice.