Please swing the bats!!!!

[SoCalASABlue]

Best advice I've heard since DD started playing softball - if you don't want to see strike three, don't look at strike two. I think it was the Georgia HC that said that a couple of years ago at the WCWS.

 

[ConorMacleod]

As a father of two pitchers, most of the advice given in this post is going to be very advantageous to them. Swing happy hitters are very conducive to becoming strikeout victims. No doubt, with two strikes a hitter must be looking to put the bat on every ball near the strike zone. However, discretion must still be applied. If the hitter is going to swing at pitches six inches outside when they have two strikes that's where they will be pitched.

I hear ya. My daughter is also pitching on this team. And believe me, in-between innings I talked to my pitcher and catcher about hitting that far outside strike. But, this is 12u. If they are afraid to swing at 12u, it doesn't bode well for 14-18u when the pitchers are even better at hitting their spots. Bottom line is, how many coaches here (at 12u and above) have won very many games without their players swinging their bats?

 

[Strike2]

Umpires like this drive me nuts, but it highlights the importance of jumping on the first good pitch early in the count. You don't want to let a good pitch to go by for strike 1, foul off a sketchy strike 2, and then get rung up on a pitch that may be unhittable.

 

[JAD]

As the coach calling pitches, if the first pitch a batter sees is a strike there is a 98.2% chance it will be the best pitch the batter will see in that at bat.

 

[Jquick823]

I hear ya. My daughter is also pitching on this team. And believe me, in-between innings I talked to my pitcher and catcher about hitting that far outside strike. But, this is 12u. If they are afraid to swing at 12u, it doesn't bode well for 14-18u when the pitchers are even better at hitting their spots. Bottom line is, how many coaches here (at 12u and above) have won very many games without their players swinging their bats?

I have won 2 championship games without getting a base hit swinging away. One at 12U C and one at 12U B. The C team was that bad. The B team was better than us but they couldn't cover the bunt. We used our speed and their lack of adjustment. That being said we had to hit our way to that game.

 

[RetiredCoach]

One problem at a time. We had 2 strike outs swinging, and 9 looking. Hey, if they swing and miss at strike three in the dirt or way over their head, maybe they can get on first with the dropped third strike! I'd rather they were over aggressive than just standing up there with the bat on their shoulder.

I see your point. However, I think that we need to look long term as well and I don't believe that it will benefit them to swing at pitches above their head or at their feet. They need to learn the strike zone, how to protect the plate, and how to jump on a good pitch early in the count. This will take some time.