My daughter is a very consistent hitter has strikes out on average 1 in 5 games and during fall she had a batting average of over .500,this spring she still rarely strikes out but has been hitting way more hard grounders right to short or third. She is not a speed girl so she is getting thrown out way more often and her average has dropped under .300.Is there anything we can we can try to help with more hits in the hole,or more fly/line drives or is just keep doing what we have always done and chalk it up to luck of the draw?
too many ground balls
- Thread starter rylesdad
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Read the post on too mnay pop ups..
- Oct 25, 2009
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She may be swinging level. A batter who swings level is very susceptible to hitting ground balls when facing drop ball pitchers or low pitches for that matter.
I believe batters should practice hitting line drives, ground balls, and fly balls. IMO, if you don't know how to hit a fly ball, then you don't know how not to, either. If a coach calls for a sacrifice fly, for example, a batter should be able to hit a sacrifice fly.
Have her hit line drives; but if she hits a grounder while trying to hit line drives, have her hit 3 fly balls. Alternating back and forth.
I like the advice of having a hitter take balls off a tee and learn what her swing action does to the ball. It helped my daughter a lot when we began hitting off a tee into an open field rather than a net. Line drives are the goal, and body naturally adjusts to produce the ideal bat path. I think too many balls are hit in cages and into nets.
But regarding the sac fly on command, if I had a batter with the skill to hit a fly ball on command, I think I'd just ask her to hit a line drive and take my chances.
She is pulling outside pitches too much, resulting in weak ground balls to the left side.
To fix, only pitch outside pitches to her. Make her learn to let the ball go deeper in the zone, and the hits go to the right side.
I don't believe in tee work really. The game is live, pitch her live, pitch her outside, make her learn to hit the opposite way. You are her dad, that is your job. A tee will not do. It is the simplest of concepts. But once my DD learned to go the opposite way on every outside pitch, she became feared. No coach is needed.
With exactly the same swing, the outside pitched grounders to the left side, will become right rip-gappers for doubles.
Then once the pitchers know you can rip outside pitches, their favorite pitch, they will start pitching her inside. Well you have already learned that. But you will have to "re-learn" that (yes learn it again) because of the hitting change just talked about. OK, re-learn what you learned before, and then DD is trouble, trouble.
Most valuable lesson to ever learn in softball. Outside pitches MUST go the direction they are pitched. EVERY time. Practice it, and do not stop until DD does it every time.
Hitting is so easy. But it is ONE step at a TIME. Just get the steps and order right.
To fix, only pitch outside pitches to her. Make her learn to let the ball go deeper in the zone, and the hits go to the right side.
I don't believe in tee work really. The game is live, pitch her live, pitch her outside, make her learn to hit the opposite way. You are her dad, that is your job. A tee will not do. It is the simplest of concepts. But once my DD learned to go the opposite way on every outside pitch, she became feared. No coach is needed.
With exactly the same swing, the outside pitched grounders to the left side, will become right rip-gappers for doubles.
Then once the pitchers know you can rip outside pitches, their favorite pitch, they will start pitching her inside. Well you have already learned that. But you will have to "re-learn" that (yes learn it again) because of the hitting change just talked about. OK, re-learn what you learned before, and then DD is trouble, trouble.
Most valuable lesson to ever learn in softball. Outside pitches MUST go the direction they are pitched. EVERY time. Practice it, and do not stop until DD does it every time.
Hitting is so easy. But it is ONE step at a TIME. Just get the steps and order right.
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- Oct 25, 2009
- 3,335
- 48
Bolded I wholeheartedly agree with!!
Having the skill to hit a sacrifice fly on demand is a major skill. Knowing how to hit a line drive would also be enhanced just by learning how to hit a sac fly. I hardly see anyone teaching how to hit a fly ball. There are times when an intentional fly ball could carry over the fence and score runners instead of just moving them.
Just within this month I saw a team come from behind with a two-run shot over the fence with two outs to advance to the next round in state championships. Likely if she had hit a line drive they would have lost by one run because the bottom half of the lineup was coming.
I don't think my DD and her teammates are quite to that point of being able to lift a ball to the OF in the same way they can put down a bunt. But perhaps a goal worth striving for.
- Oct 25, 2009
- 3,335
- 48
I'm attempting to do it with one of the drills you mentioned above, the long tee drill, hitting into an open field off of a low tee to begin with. A lot of the batters had no idea they could hit a line drive or a rising line drive from a pitch at their knees. Most of them had a swing level mentality.
After they progress through the low tee I'll focus mostly on hitting to the right field gap. That's where they will really learn the difference between a line drive and a ground ball and a popup/sliced popup.
If you set your nets up correctly. ( Old post from Howard Carrier/Hitter on how to) you will know where the ball was hit. I don't believe in just hitting into a net without feedback.
