Transition from Machine to Live Pitching.

[LadybacksCoach]

First of all, I'm new.. Glad I found a forum to bounce ideas off of. All suggestions are welcome.

My team will be moving from the machine pitch league to live pitching in Fall (potential), next Spring (for sure). Besides the obvious rule differences and pitching / catching responsibilities.. What are the biggest points of emphasis you made to your teams when they were this age?

I'm sitting back thinking of how difficult it will for the "flower pickers" to get a good grasp of the concept of force outs, etc. etc. How much time do you spend actually teaching them the rules of the game and how much should I expect the parents to actually teach.


Thanks for all of your ideas.

 

[quincy]

The title of the thread is easier to answer then the body of the post.

To the Title have players work on swinging at strikes and not swinging at every pitch, it can be a big adjustment.

 

[JAD]

Try to find some girls who can pitch for your team and get them into lessons! Then I would start doing front toss from behind an L-screen to to get them used to finding the ball out of the hand. I would also vary the pitch location to get them to 'learn' the strike zone. Most girls swing at every pitch from a machine. You can also vary the pitch speed as the first two pitches they will face will be a fastball and change up. As they progress you can start throwing faster. See if you can find someone who can simulate throwing live pitches from the rubber with a wind up.