Target if space is on giving 35ft

[vanillaicecream]

Hi….so now we are beginning the transition to 12u

My turf mound set up in the basement goes 35 feet mound right to edge of wall.

I have a pitching backstop that I can raise higher to accommodate for the missing 5 feet. Should I just move it up a foot or 3?

TIA


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[sluggers]

I understand what you're trying to do, but it's not a good idea.

For speed work and mechanics work, 35 feet is as good as 43 feet. You are really asking if it would be more effective to work on control if the target were raised.

The basic of control is this: The pitcher learns to move the ball up, down, left and right. A pitcher is not a machine which throws the ball 24 inches above the inside of the plate.

Is a ball thrown 24" above the inside of the plate a strike? You don't know, do you? Because the strike zone varies from batter to batter, umpire to umpire, and sometimes from inning to inning. So, teaching a kid to repeatedly hit the exact same spot is a waste of time.

In reality, the pitcher learns the strike zone of the umpire of the game. She then pitches to that zone, so the pitcher has to move the location of the pitch to suit the umpire. The pitcher has to be moving the ball a few inches left, right, up, and down all the time. And, of course, with advanced batters, she must always move the location of the pitch.

Mark a 17" x 36" rectangle on the wall with a border three inches wide, The rectangle would be about 18 inches off the floor. Have your DD circle the rectangle by hitting the border. She starts at the bottom right corner of the border and then moves above about 3 inches with the next pitch. She hits the top right corner and proceeds across the top. Rinse and repeat.

Hitting the middle of the rectangle is a "miss."