Wish more coaches had your mindset. Sometimes you get a girl you may not need to tinker with a swing and are able to focus on what areas she needs to improve.
That's the beauty of this game .. so much to learn.
Swinging at first pitch vs working the count
- Thread starter mizunomp37
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That's the beauty of this game .. so much to learn.
- Feb 7, 2013
- 3,188
- 48
Yes she is. I really like what Sue Enquist says about hitting, to paraphrase "think, swing, swing, swing, and then no swing (if its not a pitch you can hit)". What I like about this approach is its proactive and aggressive vs. being a defensive, passive batter at the plate. To the extent possible, take the control away from the pitcher early on in the at-bat. Even if you swing and foul off or miss the first pitch, you have learned valuable information as a batter (you saw the speed and movement of the pitch up close and personal, you saw the pitcher's motion, and what timing is needed to make your adjustment(s).
- Oct 14, 2008
- 665
- 16
I have been saying it for years. The more pitches my kids see per inning the more runs scored. The more the pitch count is worked the more the pitcher has to work. Be it baseball or softball. The more the pitcher is worked the more likely she is to make mistake pitches, if nothing else the law of averages will catch up.
It works out every time, If my team sees 115 or more pitches we are usually pretty successful and that means my hitters are looking to hit their pitches not the pitchers. On the other hand if all we see are 75 to 80 per game we are not disciplined in our hitting zone and chasing her pitches.
Pitchers have a pitching zone and strike zone they work out of. Hitters have a hitting zone they need to stay dedicated to. Just because Blue calls a pitch a strike does not mean it is in the kids hitting zone. Its all about adjustments.
If you have never seen a pitcher before, you do not know her history and or mechanics why would you jump on her first pitch. If she shows a history of throwing a first pitch strike then by all means the second time thru the line up make her pay for that pitch.
Pitchers get 5 to 7 warm up pitches before the game starts so they are already ahead in the zone at the plate. The hitters job is to use their time wisely in the on deck or timing circle to adjust to that advantage.
Tim
It works out every time, If my team sees 115 or more pitches we are usually pretty successful and that means my hitters are looking to hit their pitches not the pitchers. On the other hand if all we see are 75 to 80 per game we are not disciplined in our hitting zone and chasing her pitches.
Pitchers have a pitching zone and strike zone they work out of. Hitters have a hitting zone they need to stay dedicated to. Just because Blue calls a pitch a strike does not mean it is in the kids hitting zone. Its all about adjustments.
If you have never seen a pitcher before, you do not know her history and or mechanics why would you jump on her first pitch. If she shows a history of throwing a first pitch strike then by all means the second time thru the line up make her pay for that pitch.
Pitchers get 5 to 7 warm up pitches before the game starts so they are already ahead in the zone at the plate. The hitters job is to use their time wisely in the on deck or timing circle to adjust to that advantage.
Tim
^^^^^^ amen, preach on brother Boulder!!
Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Knowing that some batters are smart and may be looking for a first pitch cookie (or overhearing the coaches tell the girls to swing at the first pitch because its going to be grooved), smart pitchers may throw a nasty pitch on the black to take advantage of the hitter's aggressiveness.
"Hit any pitch that is in your zone" is advice that can be applied every pitch. Just modify the zone based on the situation.
A few years ago we had an opposing 3B coach scold his batter for swinging at a first pitch change up. Guess what every batter after that got for a first pitch? I thought the 3B coaches head was going to explode after 6 straight batters took a change up for a called first strike! LOL
Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Even more amusing is the scenario that develops when hitters are emphatically told not to swing at a change up unless they have two strikes.
Plus after you get two strikes small ball becomes less likely and defense changes in softball. Coaches seem to forget it is softball not baseball and the offense is somewhat played different. I read a good article that lists % on what a batter should do with a 0 -3 count. Many coaches almost always have them take. The article pushed the fact it is going to be a strike and depending on base runners and the batter at the plate taking a 0-3 pitch is not a good choice. Example runner on second, bunt move her to third if the defense is back not expecting the bunt. Now you have runners on first and third not first and second.
JJsqueeze
Dad, Husband....legend
our HC in all stars had the girls taking until the first strike as a rule for all batters in all games. Drove me crazy. The girls could ask for a green light prior to their at bat at the end of the season but it really grinded on me because it throttled back our good hitters too much. I think it could have worked good for some of the poor hitters or the ones that were undisciplined but we had 3 very good hitters with good eyes and I hated seeing them down 0-1 before they got to actually bat.
