New team struggling to hit

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Feb 27, 2019
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As the title states, I have a new team and we are struggling to hit in games and I'm looking for a 2 part answer. 1 I believe the consensus is live pitching to help with contact and swinging at strikes, anything else that would help with this? 2. They all have flaws in their swing that I would like to work on, any thoughts on how to do a team reset or back to basics on batting? Thanks
 
Oct 2, 2017
2,283
113
As the title states, I have a new team and we are struggling to hit in games and I'm looking for a 2 part answer. 1 I believe the consensus is live pitching to help with contact and swinging at strikes, anything else that would help with this? 2. They all have flaws in their swing that I would like to work on, any thoughts on how to do a team reset or back to basics on batting? Thanks
What age group? What is being done currently at hitting practice sessions? Are the swinging at all or just watching the ball?
 
Feb 27, 2019
137
28
it's a 14u team, all from different backgrounds, a lot of swings and misses and a lot of watching third strike when swinging not making good or any contact.

currently batting practice is a full day once a week with three-four tee stations, a bunt station, a machine pitch or/ front toss, and a side toss

edit - forgot the mini whiffles with quick stick
 
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Oct 2, 2017
2,283
113
it's a 14u team, all from different backgrounds, a lot of swings and misses and a lot of watching third strike when swinging not making good or any contact.

currently batting practice is a full day once a week with three-four tee stations, a bunt station, a machine pitch or/ front toss, and a side toss

First its sounds like a mentality issue. Need to have the always yes, yes, no mental approach. 2nd the swing and misses, could be a host of things, but If I was just to take a guess would be rushing, timing related problems.

Concerning practice, I would say there is a issue. 1 full day of session will never prepare like multiple short sessions throughout the week. It has to do with retention of what you work on. Multiple short sessions allows for more retention. Personally I would ditch the tee all together as well as side toss, and work strictly multiple stations of front toss if possible. You can vary distance of the toss to simulate faster or slower pitching speeds. Just my 2 cents.
 
Feb 27, 2019
137
28
First its sounds like a mentality issue. Need to have the always yes, yes, no mental approach. 2nd the swing and misses, could be a host of things, but If I was just to take a guess would be rushing, timing related problems.

Concerning practice, I would say there is a issue. 1 full day of session will never prepare like multiple short sessions throughout the week. It has to do with retention of what you work on. Multiple short sessions allows for more retention. Personally I would ditch the tee all together as well as side toss, and work strictly multiple stations of front toss if possible. You can vary distance of the toss to simulate faster or slower pitching speeds. Just my 2 cents.


I feel the same way, this one day approach was HC decision, I'm considering a continuous BP that goes on in the background of fielding practice 2 players at a time
 
Jul 14, 2018
982
93
DD is a first-year 14 and has been having issues similar to what you describe -- taking defensive swings, watching strike three too often. As long as your players have good mechanics, there might be a bit of a mental change required.

At 12U, DD was able to see a pitch and decide whether to swing at it after getting a look. Now that the quality of the pitching has gone up, she no longer has that luxury. I've told her that she needs to approach every pitch like it's going to be a strike and she's going to swing. Then hold up on the bad ones where you can. In other words, hit first and hold second, not the other way around.

DD hates to strike out, and she's often trying just to put the ball in play, especially with two strikes. We had a little talk last weekend, and I basically told her she had better strike out 2-3 times or else I'll know she's not being aggressive enough. She finally got her first hits of the season, going 4-8, with two strikeouts.
 
May 9, 2019
294
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Striking out is part of the game, so are hitting slumps. My own DD, who rarely ever strikes out was in one a week or so ago, but finally got her mojo back. One thing that I believe helped was her going into a full load/coil as soon as the pitcher started her arm circle. Now that she's got her timing mechanism in place, she's back to where she was before.
 
May 9, 2019
294
43
Email all the players this video:

THe first minute is about hitting approach, but the video is good stuff.


I swear some of my DD's teammates saw this video.. unfortunately they stopped at the 18 second mark lol.

In all seriousness, that is one hell of a video. Thanks for sharing.
 
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