Live Pitching

[mkral]

OK we finally get to be outside so we finally got the girls in front of live pitchers. Well it did not go as planned to say the least. Most of their swings look pretty good only a few reverted back to old habits but I was expecting some of that just due to not enough muscle memory time yet, but all in all they all looked really good other then one small problem......they could not hit the ball!
They were ahead of everything. Then once they realized they were ahead of it they started to get frustrated and it got worse instead of better. Timing is real important obviously but teaching that to 11, 12, & 13 yo girls can be tough, or at least it is for me right now. We have been tracking the ball all winter and they have done it very well but I am shocked at how far out front they were on live pitching. Our good hitters from last year were the worse ones because they had good timing and cues to trigger their swing but now my god they are well past contact before the ball gets there.

Is this somewhat normal after getting them to really attack the ball with better hip fire and a more compact swing? We have really worked on barrel to ball and they have taken to it for the most part but it appears to have dramatically sped up their swing which I would assume it would do.

Any advise? More live pitching to get timing and confidence back? That is my first thought.

Oh yeah and we made it through without smoking one of our own girls....that is always a good thing!

Thanks
Mike

 

[Hitter]

OK we finally get to be outside so we finally got the girls in front of live pitchers. Well it did not go as planned to say the least. Most of their swings look pretty good only a few reverted back to old habits but I was expecting some of that just due to not enough muscle memory time yet, but all in all they all looked really good other then one small problem......they could not hit the ball!
They were ahead of everything. Then once they realized they were ahead of it they started to get frustrated and it got worse instead of better. Timing is real important obviously but teaching that to 11, 12, & 13 yo girls can be tough, or at least it is for me right now. We have been tracking the ball all winter and they have done it very well but I am shocked at how far out front they were on live pitching. Our good hitters from last year were the worse ones because they had good timing and cues to trigger their swing but now my god they are well past contact before the ball gets there.

Is this somewhat normal after getting them to really attack the ball with better hip fire and a more compact swing? We have really worked on barrel to ball and they have taken to it for the most part but it appears to have dramatically sped up their swing which I would assume it would do.

Any advise? More live pitching to get timing and confidence back? That is my first thought.

Oh yeah and we made it through without smoking one of our own girls....that is always a good thing!

Thanks
Mike

Mike

Ask the girls what they are looking for in the pitchers motion to load and when to step?

Who is throwing live B/P? Parent, coach or pitcher?

Are they using a full rotation/ arm swing?

This is why when we work soft toss we give the hitter rhythm and timing by the motion of our hand and mix it up with the timing drop drill.

Put a ball on a tee and get on the other side of the net and and go threw the pitching motion and ask the hitter to hit the ball off the tee as the pitched ball hits the net.
Make sure you use a whiffle ball or tennis ball as sometimes the ball coming off the tee can be hit into the incoming ball and come back at the pitcher.

The next one is the Barry Bonds drill as no swing as to speed will ever be the same and the hitter must adjust on each move forward or backwards.

Thanks Howard

 

[Ken Krause]

Mike, it could just be nerves or anxiousness too. After a winter in the gym maybe they were excited to be outside.

Also consider that the world looks a lot bigger outside. By that I mean indoors in a gym or cage it's a more enclosed environment. Outside there's a lot more space. The ball looks different against that open background. This is just my opinion, but I would think the visual cues may not add up outdoors the way they do indoors. Also the feeling of how far you have to hit the ball. It may not be conscious, but hitters may try to hit the ball "harder" because it has to travel farther to be considered good.

Regardless, more live hitting should help. Remind them to stay within themselves, take good swings and look for a good pitch to hit.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I bet they have been using a pitching machine all winter. It takes a really long time to adjust, if they have.

I never have girls hit off of a machine. I had a similar experience as yours, the first year I coached at a CC. We had been in the gym for 3 months and I thought I had died and gone to heaven, because the college had a cage and a machine. Wrong. It was awful. After that we used the cage for hitting drills and played a lot of whiffle ball.

 

[shockcoach]

Early in the season, pitchers are ahead of the hitters. The girls need to get more looks at live pitching and then they will catch up.

Goodluck

 

[Daddy O]

Mkral,
I have same problem with my daughter. She has been going to a hitting instructor and woking hard on her swing. Indoors the last few months she has been absoluting crushing the ball off the tee, doing front toss, and in the cage doing the barry bonds drill. Her 8th grade team scrimmaged the 7th grade team the other day and she hit 2 weak grounders that never made it out of the infield and after that her next time up she froze and took 2 called strikes right over the plate. I was not at the scrimmage so I am not sure what happened to her but I figure it was a case of nerves and a timing issue. Her coach has been telling her all winter how proud he was the way she was hitting ball but after scrimmage he told her how disapointed he was in her, wow way to motivate her...... I am not worried cause I figure she will come around, just hope she does not get too discouraged and want to revert back to her old swing.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Early in the season, pitchers are ahead of the hitters. The girls need to get more looks at live pitching and then they will catch up.

Goodluck

I agree 150%.

 

[mkral]

Thanks gang!!
Just a few things....Amy I too hate machines. They have not hit 1 ball off a machine all winter. We have done front toss, soft toss, & tee work all winter with a lot of emphasis on tracking the ball. I did have them pitch into the back of a pop up net while the hitter was on the other side hitting off of a tee but only one time. Got on that one late and should have used it more!
Howard - We used our regular pitchers, no coaches or parents threw to them. They were all ahead of the pitchers not behind them. So I agree with you that it is a timing issue.
Ken - I agree with what you are saying. They all want to be the one with their new changes and they want to see if they can get it to the fence. We try to tell them not to worry about that and only worry about good contact and the rest will take care of itself but sometimes that is harder then expected.

Thanks Gang!! We will keep fighting.

 

[crankermo]

mkral,


The biggest lesson I've learned is PATIENCE and it's the hardest IMO. The strides in my DD since I've joined the MB has been tremendous but she still has a ways to go. She looks fantastic off the tee and is now looking alot better off soft toss. Yesterday @ practice she hit off live pitching and hit some bombs but her "OLD SWING" snuck it's way back in a couple of times and she looked awful. The best part of it was she felt the difference and once they get to that point you can make up alot of ground in a hurry.

Just remain positive and keep reminding them that you are behind them 100% and it will work out. I told our girls after practice that I've learned more in the last 2 months then I had in my whole life prior. I explained to them that I learned by asking questions of people on this board and admitting that I don't know everything and I'm willing to listen and TRY new things.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

On these sloppy swings, I repeat, use the video. Even if you only have your digital camera, switch it to video.

I got picked at Candrea's camp for Don Slaught to video tape my swing - and "Oh, my." It was awful. I made changes right away.

Let the girls see what they look like.