Trouble hitting the slower pitching

[coachdan]

Would like some different idea's about how to handle hitting slower pitching. It seems to always happen we have a good game hitting the ball and then next game there is a pitcher on the rubber throwing about 45 mph (14u girls) and everyone is out front hitting the ball off the end of the bat, soft infield pop ups, all coming from being so far out in front. Currently when this happens I instruct girls to wait longer to load ie. let the ball be half way to home plate before loading and try to hit a line drive to right center field. Trying to get them to let the ball get deaper into the hitting zone then explode on it but still have trouble.

Curious to here if other teams have this same problem and how you adjust ? We hit the faster pitching (mid 50's great) but look foolish with slower pitching.

 

[coachtucc]

yeah my 12U team has the same problem. The thing I can think of is too move up in the box but some people disagree. Sometimes just waiting back helps.

 

[Greenmonsters]

yeah my 12U team has the same problem. The thing I can think of is too move up in the box but some people disagree. Sometimes just waiting back helps.

Yup. Moving up to the front of the box buys you only 3-5 mph so your hitters will still have to wait anyway.

 

[coachdan]

Yup. Moving up to the front of the box buys you only 3-5 mph so your hitters will still have to wait anyway.

I agree GM...moving up in the box does not work, we have tried that too with no success. Another thing that I tried (many will not like this) is a twist on the face the fire drill you use in batting practice. Only a few of my girls can do this....I call it the happy gilmore from the adam sandler movie. We start in the back of the box and do a walk through swing, like sandler did when hitting the golf ball in the movie.

 

[JAD]

Almost every team has a 'sweet spot' of 5-6MPH where the team hits well. Anything faster or slower and they are going to struggle. There is no 'silver bullet' to fix the problem, but when we face a slower pitcher, we will work with our hitter in a cage, and try to adjust them to hitting the ball deeper in their stance. If they are used to hitting off their front foot, try to get them to hit the ball at their belly button and drive it to right field (for a righty batter).

 

[Wellphyt]

I've had the same problem with teams I've coached over the years. One thing that helps a lot is to get them to crowd the plate. This creates the effect of more inside pitches. The problem with this approach is that there is often times a trench dug out in the batter's box and the batter can't find level footing closer to the plate.

I was working on this with my DD last week in the cage. I backed up to about 40 feet and pitched full windmill style at a relaxed speed. She was able to figure out the timing after three swings, so I know the kids are capable of waiting. From now on I'm going to work in some of these 40 foot pitches every time we go to the cages. I felt like my DD learned something when we did this last week.

 

[Greenmonsters]

I've had the same problem with teams I've coached over the years. One thing that helps a lot is to get them to crowd the plate. This creates the effect of more inside pitches. The problem with this approach is that there is often times a trench dug out in the batter's box and the batter can't find level footing closer to the plate.

I was working on this with my DD last week in the cage. I backed up to about 40 feet and pitched full windmill style at a relaxed speed. She was able to figure out the timing after three swings, so I know the kids are capable of waiting. From now on I'm going to work in some of these 40 foot pitches every time we go to the cages. I felt like my DD learned something when we did this last week.

Sounds like a live, front toss version of the Bonds drill. Both very effectively emphasize timing adjustments.

 

[PGSAKen]

I teach them to treat it like a changeup which means instead of contact onthe front knee let it get deeper and add extra entension.

Not flawless but gets the bats going again. Its mental with my girls so they have to see or feel the difference to adjust which is why this works.

 

[Justanotherdad]

The only thing that's ever worked for my daughter when facing extreme slow pitchers is to focus on trying to hit the ball opposite field. You'll find more often than not, that that approach to hitting slow pitching is just enough to keep them loaded just long enough to drive the ball hard.

 

[Jesse]

My son’s (12U) baseball team is having the same problem. They hit faster pitching pretty well, but the slow pitching gives them fits. To fix, his coach instructed everyone to move up in the box and then pitched them slow BP. They eventually dialed it in that way, and by the end of practice the decent hitters were really stroking the ball. My son even cleared the fence for the first time ever (and I was there to see it!). Moving up in the box isn’t the solution, but it does help somewhat. The rest is just getting used to the timing. You have to work it out in practice though, that’s the key.