Hitting the slow stuff or lack of

Great thread. My 2017 son has been working with a high-level batting instructor (and friend) for 1.5 years and he teaches a very "pro-style" swing with steep bat angle and full high follow-through, power-vee lead arm on contact, etc. (I'm NOT an expert). Anyhow, works great with average or above velocity. But with big slow arcing pitches, he's usually early and hits the ball down and results in a chopper or grounder to 1B or 2B.

 

For this reason, I always wonder why really good change-ups from a fast HS pitcher are so rare. They should, in theory, work wonderfully. But following a fast pitcher with a slow junk baller usually is great once through the order.

I am no expert - but I think it comes down to developing a quick swing(short to ball - long through it) that allows a player time to read the pitch. The quicker the swing - the more time you have to wait. Maybe kind of a cop-out answer that is fairly obvious - but I heard this all the time from kids I coached.

 

Fact of the matter is that " Hitters Hit " 

 

 

I agree.

every couple of weeks my son will drop a coin the machine and have it pitch slow pitch softballs - teaches patience

from a non coach...

 

A drill to keep kids back, throw BP in a cage with carpet, every 3rd/4th pitch bounce it to where it is a strike.  Teaches the kid to stay loaded and react to the ball, not the pitcher's motion.

Our starting 9 are all mechanically sound. 4 going on to college. I've seen a lot of kids that are "hitters", but struggle with slow pitching. The whole reason to be on plane is in case your timing is off a hair. With arced pitches, you have to be puntual to the ball. Being on plane doesn't help much. I almost want to tell them to top it so they wait for the ball to come off the arc a little.

I kept this varsity team together last year for travel and all we saw was good pitching, now at the high school level we don't have that 80+ fb everyday. The kid that thru 88 just came off his last game of 19 Ks, but we slugged 10 hits off of him.

Same as reading off-speed pitches... stay closed with the front side and think oppo.  Only turn on an inside hanger.

 

Totally agree with development of quick, short-first-half swing to allow more time to stay back and read.

Common problem.  I don't get how swing plane is critical to the issue.  If the guys can hit 85mph fastballs that's great.  Can they hit batting practice?  Can they hit soft toss?  I bet they can.  I think it's got a lot more to do with pitch recognition, timing, and approach.

If the 67mph pitching is good 67mph pitching, then tip your hat.

 

If it's bad 67mph pitching, then the problem isn't mechanical, it's between the ears.

Do they chase these slow pitches outside the zone, Drew, or do they still do a good job of only swinging at strikes?

 

Reason I ask: My son struggles with this, too - whether it's a low-velo guy or a curve ball pitcher. For him, it's more discipline that mechanics.

 

Thank goodness he's settled in as the season has gone on, and is drawing walks when he should -- but it was tough the first half of the season.

One thing we do that I feel really helps is that our BP distance is close to the mound.  A lot of people take BP closer to the are of where the infield guard is and the flaws in the swing do not show up as much.  When you extend the length of the BP it forces the players to stay on the plane of the ball, use the big parts of the field more, and be patient.  When I throw we are actually standing on the dirt of the pitchers circle.

Sounds like he was throwing too many FB and maybe left too many up.  Having a good change up matters. Your team sounds like they r better hitters. 19 K was prob against a team that couldn't hit an 80 FB.

  We just had local team here who pitched their college bound P against a school that barely can field a team. Ridicules, guess coach wanted to get him another W, when he could have used a lesser pitcher who needs mound time and still won.

Load earlier than normal, you lose a little bit of pop, but better than hitting on front foot.