WHEN THE OTHER PITCHER DOMINATES

[Quasimodo]

Like Julie Smith- SPEEDMAZING!!!
Heres a couple Olympic pitchers
Caught Michelle Granger.
Clocked at
71, 72, even reached 73 a few times.
Wild movement flying at you!
Absolutely batters utilized small ball against her!
We did when playing against Michelle and Debbie Doom pitcher UCLA
(not every at bat)
Both these pitchers saw batters use strategies to try and even the odds.

Well the greatest adventure with Michelle Granger may have been climbing the backstop to catch her changeup if she ever threw it to you! I did one clinic with Julie Smith, but about 15 with Michele Smith. I followed the Redding Rebels around the country. In her day, Michele Smith nailed her share of line-drive homeruns.

 

[Quasimodo]

The conversation is
What do you do when a pitcher is dominating?

Your reply seems to be you cant do anything.
Of which i disagree!
Trying to keep doing same thing with bad results is unnecessary!

There are tools that can help produce a better outcome!

Can even incorporate training to prepair for better results.
Especially when knowing your batters will face pitchers who can have dominating days.

Cat- you dont have to agree with wanting to adjust strategy.
However it is not true to say adjusting strategy cant help!
Simply because it can help and does!

RADcather, agreed!
CAT, Because the issue at hand was not definitions, but how do you counter a pitcher who is dominating that particular game. I tell my Philippine coaches before every international competition that they are not swimming in the little pond any more. They are not going to the Little League World Series, where the Philippines usually does excellent, but going to the big ocean of talent where they may end up feeling small themselves unless they change their way of thinking. I had over half of the 14u team using Easton Ghosts, 34/24 by girls averaging probably 80lbs, a free gift from Easton. The 18u girls, instead of 52 to a top of (1 girl) 60mph they were going to be facing 3 Americans and 1 Mexican that I knew of who threw over 66mph in 18u. And the same issue with heavy bats. Most of my girls were 4'10" to 5'2". And many other quality pitchers whose speeds I did not know.

So what advice do you give them? Swing harder? Swing faster? Wing sooner? Try to hit a home run?
* I told them to use lighter swing-weight bats.
* I told them that teams which have a dominant pitcher or staff frequently have more defensive miscues, so put the ball in play.
* The better the pitching, the more they would need to resort to small-ball.
* Develop the slapping game
* Learn how to move runners.
* Study pitcher's tendencies. What pitches does she throw for strikes, and what pitches get hit hardest. What does she throw usually, if there is a pattern, on the first pitch?
* I told them that if the pitcher could not throw 40% or more of her rise-balls IN the strike-zone, learn how to ignore it, because at that age few could. Learn through practice technics and strategies I gave them to ignore the rise-ball since until 2017 no one threw a rise-ball here. A rise-ball locally was not based on spin, but on height of the pitch!

Those are strategies for attacking a dominant pitcher; they are my strategies.

 

[625ender]

@RADcatcher is a she...

Thanks I had no idea. I was referring to Felix though

 

[_MIA_]

Thanks I had no idea. I was referring to Felix though

Ok next time quote him instead..must be nice to never be wrong....

 

[625ender]

Ok next time quote him instead.

Ok I guess. Didn't know i was being graded

 

[radness]

Well the greatest adventure with Michelle Granger may have been climbing the backstop to catch her changeup if she ever threw it to you! I did one clinic with Julie Smith, but about 15 with Michele Smith. I followed the Redding Rebels around the country. In her day, Michele Smith nailed her share of line-drive homeruns.

Ha! 'Adventure'...
Adventure with Michelle Granger could be just standing in the box!
Not even with a bat...just stand there
Hmmm i do like climbing the backstop for pop ups!...

Several years with Julie Smith playing thru 18's.
Definite ZOOM factor. Nice person too!

Redding Rebels took competition with them everywhere they played. We old teammates still talk about their combined skills!
Joy to be on the field with!

 

[_MIA_]

Ok I guess. Didn't know i was being graded

I’ll be home around noon and will cut the grass then.

 

[radness]

RADcather, agreed!
CAT, Because the issue at hand was not definitions, but how do you counter a pitcher who is dominating that particular game. I tell my Philippine coaches before every international competition that they are not swimming in the little pond any more. They are not going to the Little League World Series, where the Philippines usually does excellent, but going to the big ocean of talent where they may end up feeling small themselves unless they change their way of thinking. I had over half of the 14u team using Easton Ghosts, 34/24 by girls averaging probably 80lbs, a free gift from Easton. The 18u girls, instead of 52 to a top of (1 girl) 60mph they were going to be facing 3 Americans and 1 Mexican that I knew of who threw over 66mph in 18u. And the same issue with heavy bats. Most of my girls were 4'10" to 5'2". And many other quality pitchers whose speeds I did not know.

So what advice do you give them? Swing harder? Swing faster? Wing sooner? Try to hit a home run?
* I told them to use lighter swing-weight bats.
* I told them that teams which have a dominant pitcher or staff frequently have more defensive miscues, so put the ball in play.
* The better the pitching, the more they would need to resort to small-ball.
* Develop the slapping game
* Learn how to move runners.
* Study pitcher's tendencies. What pitches does she throw for strikes, and what pitches get hit hardest. What does she throw usually, if there is a pattern, on the first pitch?
* I told them that if the pitcher could not throw 40% or more of her rise-balls IN the strike-zone, learn how to ignore it, because at that age few could. Learn through practice technics and strategies I gave them to ignore the rise-ball since until 2017 no one threw a rise-ball here. A rise-ball locally was not based on spin, but on height of the pitch!

Those are strategies for attacking a dominant pitcher; they are my strategies.

Excellent read Thanks for posting BIG Q !

 

[Cannonball]

There are pitchers who will dominate prepaired batters.
Even at the very top!

What do you do in the game when the other pitcher is dominating?!

First, you have to determine how the pitcher is getting your hitters out. For example, if you are facing a good riseball pitcher and you are chasing, you have to tell your hitters to let that pitch go. If you are a coach who believe in moving in the box, adjust accordingly. If you are grounding out a lot, is it due to a good drop ball? Are your hitters too aggressive and attempting to hit pitcher's pitches? Believe it or not, a lot of good pitchers really depend upon the changeup and hitters fail to recognize that they can "sit on" the change.

Really, from the start of every game, a good hitter knows that the game is about adjustments. That first at bat you learn a lot about the pitcher. I believe hitters go into games with a "plan" and an important part of that plan includes adjustments after that first at bat.

 

[soxtroy@yahoo.com]

Shorten up. Put the ball in play. You may surprise a defense that is not used to having to make a play on every at bat. However, this is a hard sell to most competitive young ladies. Also, remember to teach the mental game. Again, this is hard to get young ladies to buy into, actually study and learn it and even harder to get them to utilize it. Almost every high level player utilizes the mental game very well.