Live pitching at practice...good or bad?

[softballphreak]

Some find a way they can; others find a way they can't.

The president of our company told me during a meeting once that she was not interested in why we couldn't; she said she called the meeting to find out how we could. I've never forgotten that.

 

[quincy]

I understand what a lot of replies are stating and might try it again. We have a short startup time before the start of the season and then things get a lot more confusing. I know this falls on me and I can deal with the organization. If a P is pitching a lot of innings during the week, goes to an instructor and practices outside of practice I do not want them pitching during practice.

 

[02Crush]

I do not know what age groups you are discussing but here is my perspective from the age of 10U.
We have three pitchers....
one who pitches consistent strikes and can locate the ball inside, outside and over the plate at a speed of slightly over 40mph
one who pitches consistent strikes and can locate the ball inside, outside and over the plate at a speed in the mid 30's
one who pitches very consistent strikes at high 30's and circle change but is working on location to be more consistent.
All are great for their age and I am proud of their efforts for their age....They are ahead of the pack with their mechanics and it is a good base for the future.
That said when I place all three of them on the mound to pitch against their teammates..excuse me... their friends (because after all these girls spend a ton of time together and view each other as more than just teammates) they all go haywire...they try to slow down or adjust their motion in order to do their best to avoid hitting their friends. The results...Ball, Ball, Ball, Ball, Hit batter...Paint drying...Paint Drying. We have tried some different variations of this. Sometimes we break into groups and make it like a mini game. Anything hit into grass is an auto double and we play without OF. We have just done Pitcher vs Batter and run other players in other drills on another field. I have placed a neon colored string staked near the backstop that runs through the rear point of the plate, under the center of the pitchers plate and out to 2nd base. This allows the pitchers to pitch off the Powerline that is now visible to them and the catcher to block and catch off of it but this makes it more of a pitchers session not a hitters. This has helped some by teaching pitchers placement and thus shifting their focus on that rather than worry of hitting a friend. It works some times for the hitters but not all the time. I have also limited pitches by starting with a preset count.
Bottom line: I completely see quincy's perspective as my players stand A LOT.
That said...I do believe live pitching and hitting is important for the team so I press on trying to find ways to make this work. Right now I am at a loss so we do not do it every practice. As I find a way to make it more efficient and effective we will do it more often.

FYI...Saw in an earlier post and forgot who it was but I have been told to bring in someone who wants pitching reps but has not ties to the team so there is no worry of hurting a friend. I will be trying this in hopes it helps in the transition of age.
Keep them coming as this post spin off is helping a lot of us reading and considering all perspectives.

 

[Quake Softball]

Don't the pitchers have masks?

Yes. However, I was referring to the comment about running multiple things at same time in the infield.

 

[Quake Softball]

Some find a way they can; others find a way they can't.

The president of our company told me during a meeting once that she was not interested in why we couldn't; she said she called the meeting to find out how we could. I've never forgotten that.

I tell my girls that all of the time. Which is why we run OUR practice the way we do. I know what works for them and what doesn't.

 

[starsnuffer]

As an option, if your girls are 14u or older, many Jr. College pitchers love the opportunity to go out and get some "live throwing". The girls love trying to hit against the college girls, and the college girls love the practice. Have them bring their own catcher.

I think it's invaluable for pitchers to try to strike kids out, but guess what, they get a lot of that during games. A hitter may only get 2-3 at bats. HITTING practice is invaluable against a real pitcher who is trying to force failure. 10 minutes of hitting practice against live pitching equals about what a hitter gets in a game.

-W

 

[Cannonball]

Per the posts about not having screens, equipment, ... IMO, we are all different. In my experience I try to think about how to over come shortcomings in those areas. I've made hitting stations out of old carpet, fishing net, ... I've built screens out of PVC pipe and fishing net. IMHO, it is all is your imagination and how much you want to get more stuff done. IOWs, you can give excuses for failure or reasons for success. Again, JMHO.

 

[Quake Softball]

Per the posts about not having screens, equipment, ... IMO, we are all different. In my experience I try to think about how to over come shortcomings in those areas. I've made hitting stations out of old carpet, fishing net, ... I've built screens out of PVC pipe and fishing net. IMHO, it is all is your imagination and how much you want to get more stuff done. IOWs, you can give excuses for failure or reasons for success. Again, JMHO.

Again, not giving excuses for failure. Screens don't work for us so we do different things. Simple fact is I don't have the ability to transport screens. So,we make things work in a different way. People really need to read things a little better.

 

[Ken Krause]

Everyone tends to post on these topics from their own perspective. I think it's important to remember there are a lot of different things happening in different areas. Some people may not have the financial resources others do. Some may not have access to the same level of talent, field space, etc. to do what others do. So they do what they can. There is no right or wrong answer. I'd say if you want to talk about "finding a way," why can't it be finding a way to teach your kids to hit better when you can't use live pitching? That's a valid option too.

Me? I own my own screen, thanks to my friends at Softball Magazine. I teach pitching, so I have an ample supply of outside pitchers that I can call upon. I actually teach hitting to a couple of girls who go to someone else for pitching, but they're more than happy to come out and pitch to my teams too. But everyone doesn't have access to all of that.

A motivated hitter will learn to hit no matter how you go about it. If you're teaching them properly they'll figure it out. A lazy hitter will make excuses that she didn't have this or didn't have that, and that's why she failed.

In my personal experience, unless the team members don't like each other it's difficult for pitchers to pitch to their teammates. They don't want to make their friends look bad, they don't want to hit their friends, they feel bad if they're not accurate at first and they get all uptight. If you have a pitcher who can pitch effectively to her own team that's great. But I find most have trouble. That's why I use outside pitchers, whom I pay, incidentally, even though they would do it for free.

 

[Cannonball]

Quake Softball, when I said, "IOWs, you can give excuses for failure or reasons for success," it was not an attack on anyone. It is a mindset. Personally, I don't spend much time thinking of why I can't do something. If it is something that I think needs to be done, I figure out how. For example, that PVC screen I made. Everyone told me it would break right away. Sure it would if I used it improperly. They said that it would not be portable. So, I made it in two sections so that I could break it down. It worked great for what I needed. We got rubber mats and put I bolts in the top corners. I took nylon rope ran it though the I bolts and then tied them between the corners of the backstop. We had two rubber mats which turned in to two hitting stations. It is all about what you need to do. Again, it is the mindset. My favorite saying is, "There are three types of people in this world. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and those to whom things happen." I always try to make things happen. JMHO!