Line drive back to the circle

[halskinner]

Add a trampoline

Thankfully we have been lucky not at her head yet...but so far she's snagged many close enough for her to get her glove to.

We spend time in the winter and early spring using tennis balls and a racquet.
right at her about 10-15 feet away. I;m not swinging full force...bet they are pretty straight but don't hurt.
If she can catch it great...but she has learned to be able to bat a ball down in front so she doesn't get hurt but may still be able to make a play.

This is something we can do in our basement. Although my 12 yr DD still has a way to go on being quicker...this has certainly helped.

Hitting tennis balls at us was one way a coach trained myself and others to have faster reaction times in the circle. However, he had us jumping on a mini tramp while whacking those balls at us. We not only had to catch or knock down the ball, we had to maintain our balance too. Maintaining your balance is something the pitcher still has to contend with in a self-defense situation.

Take a tightly rolled up pair of socks and put oine line of electrical tape East to West and one line North to South. Use that instead of a teis ball and hit those at them with the raquet. Oh yeah, get back to 25 feet and FIRE EM IN HARD AND FAST. They wont hurt if they hit them. Goggles might be a good idea at first. They will get real fast real quick.

 

[fivepotsogold]

hit back to circle

Hitting tennis balls at us was one way a coach trained myself and others to have faster reaction times in the circle. However, he had us jumping on a mini tramp while whacking those balls at us. We not only had to catch or knock down the ball, we had to maintain our balance too. Maintaining your balance is something the pitcher still has to contend with in a self-defense situation.

Take a tightly rolled up pair of socks and put oine line of electrical tape East to West and one line North to South. Use that instead of a teis ball and hit those at them with the raquet. Oh yeah, get back to 25 feet and FIRE EM IN HARD AND FAST. They wont hurt if they hit them. Goggles might be a good idea at first. They will get real fast real quick.

We'll definitely trt that over the summer......
...right now i want to get her throu All stars..only two pitchers!

 

[fivepotsogold]

line drive pitcher

Sorry about the typos..interrrupted a lot today!

I will certainly try this!

Yes..lots to work on once 10/11 All Stars is done. three teams in district (my daughters 9/10 team only has to play one team)

Good pitcher, make very smart fielding & base running choices...but she is slow/methodical (which is partly what makes her a calm, never falls apart type of pitcher).

Our first games are 6/27 and 7/1 ....after that 7/11.
Maybe sneak out to a Nike camp between games. 2 and 3 ... assuming we have a third!

Had to go back to the 11" ball and my DD is loving that!

Our first game consists of a team that has good fielders and agressive base running....they have played together all season. Pitchers pretty much lob the ball, but since we are used to slightly fast pitching, this doesn't work in our favor.

They only got one hit off my daughter last time we played them as they are used to slow pitching ...

9/10 coach wants to scrimmage with us and I asked for his pitchers to pitch to us ...as our girls won't see pitchers like my two at the first game.....
maybe in the second game.

THANKS FOR THE TIP!

 

[smokelefty4]

smokyleft4: What do you recommend?

ive been pitching since i was 7 years old so goin on 15 years now but i never really learned about the defensive stance for a pitcher until after i got hit with a ball. Since I am a lefty I've learned to teach myself that after my right foot(lead or plant foot) lands that my left instinctively comes across so my feet are almost parallel to the plate. in this position your pitcher will have a better chance for fielding or dodging balls hit back to them. Another thing is reaction time like mentioned above, if your reaction/recovery time from throwing a pitch is slow theres more of a chance that your going to get hit. A drill that my one coach did for me a few years ago was i would pitch from the mound and there would be a coach on each side of the plate. As the ball crosses the plate each would throw a ball fairly hard back out to me but only one of the balls would be catchable. This teaches your pitcher to recognize their range and which balls are most dangerous to them.

 

[FJRGerry]

A drill I do with my daughter as part of her winter indoor warm-ups is standing about 10 feet from a cinderblock wall in our garage while working on arm-whip and arm circle drills. I have her wear her gameface and throw hard (once warmed up) using a safety ball. It comes back real quick!