Pitching target(fake batter)

[Hillhouse]

You guys can put anything you want in the "batters box", it won't mean squat. The game changes when it's for real and she's on the rubber in the middle of the circle. Sorry, no prep work in the world prepares someone for the game, and all it's intangibles. Slick balls, batters moving around, people yelling, holes in the dirt, are all going to take over her brain. If you figure out how to make "practice" seem like a game, please tell me how so I can do it myself.

Bill

 

[T.J.]

Sorry, no prep work in the world prepares someone for the game, and all it's intangibles.

Bill

This is true, but you DO need to practice, so if you can make the practice a little more challenging, interesting or non-monotonous then it's all good. I think the main purpose of having a batter is to help the pitcher concentrate and focus on her target...the glove. Having any type of "object" or distraction will be of benefit. One thing I do is I put a TEE right in the middle of the plate and set up inside and outside. This is to help the picther stay away from the center of the plate. I don't want her hitting the TEE. It works pretty well. When I do have a player stand in as a distratction I instruct the batter to "call" where the pitch is. This helps them learn how to read the pitch as it come in (and gives them something to do).

 

[starsnuffer]

I think there are a lot of things coach's do that don't really have a benefit or a hindrance therefor the coach's think they're wonderful training aids.

Call the neighbor over and have him hold a bat. Chances are he'll do anything to hang out with that cute girl next door who is never seen in public (cos she's a softball pitcher and has no time for social antics).

If you want to "train where the zone is" cover home plate in dirt, then take your finger and clean the plate a finger wide at each edge of the plate. That's the strike zone, anything directly over those two lines. Everything inbetween those two points is just as much a bad pitch as everything outside of them.

-W

 

[tomzpc]

Looking for some ideas on creating a 3d pitching target for the kids.Want to put a realistic fake hitter in the box that the girls can practice against.Any ideas??(Scarecrow type,plywood cut out,mannequin)ty in advance.

This is what parents are for. Pick out one of the short moms and have them stand in.

 

[Hillhouse]

This is true, but you DO need to practice, so if you can make the practice a little more challenging, interesting or non-monotonous then it's all good. I think the main purpose of having a batter is to help the pitcher concentrate and focus on her target...the glove. Having any type of "object" or distraction will be of benefit. One thing I do is I put a TEE right in the middle of the plate and set up inside and outside. This is to help the picther stay away from the center of the plate. I don't want her hitting the TEE. It works pretty well. When I do have a player stand in as a distratction I instruct the batter to "call" where the pitch is. This helps them learn how to read the pitch as it come in (and gives them something to do).

all fine and dandy... but once you step into the circle, all that "practice" changes to reality. All I'm saying is, there's no REAL way to prepare for game situations without playing games.

 

[Greenmonsters]

all fine and dandy... but once you step into the circle, all that "practice" changes to reality. All I'm saying is, there's no REAL way to prepare for game situations without playing games.

So.....you shouldn't practice, just play games? Or.....if you can't simulate game conditions, you shouldn't bother practicing at all? Seriously?

 

[txdad]

Lots of choices. Really depends on your DD age and skill level. My suggestion is a trash can. It's Free.

 

[Hillhouse]

Monsters, No. I'm not saying that. But far too many people think that what they do in practice translates into what they do in games and it's just not the case. Practice is good for some things, no question about it. But you cannot simulate game conditions without playing games, you don't have to have ever pitched a game to realize that. Why do you think MLB'ers use "simulated games" as much as possible? So, of course I'm not saying do not practice. There just aren't that many 'quick fixes' out there.

 

[Lozza]

We used to stick an otto bin (I think you call them wheelie bins?) there for the pitchers. It was significantly bigger than a child (you could fit two in there) but it was something there that you did not want to hit.

 

[sluggers]

IMHO, putting a fake batter in the box doesn't teach anything. A pitcher learns how to put the ball into different locations in and near the strike zone. Learning how "not to hit a batter" is not the objective.