Foul Balls

Let the ball get deep in the zone and take it foul down the right field line, assuming you are a righty.

Why would you want too?

Protecting the plate.

I have been watching a lot of the pros getting 7 to 9 pitches per batter. A lot of them are just fouling off pitches that are close in order to force the pitcher to throw a ball where they want it.

I am trying to figure out how to getting my hitters to start to think that way.

quote:

Originally posted by boom:
Does anybody know how to teach a kid to purposefully hit a foul ball.

I doubt it. Although many people talk about it.

Read up on anything about Ted Williams and hitting and Stan Musial and hitting.

The method I described is how my guy was trained.

I'm curious: Is this an intentional act or just a byproduct of an approach?

I would think it is the latter. Take a professional hitter like Elvis Andrus say. Hits two hole, takes a lot of strikes so hits with two strikes a lot of his ABs. I would say him hitting foul balls to right are more a product of trying to make contact deeper in the zone vs. some intentional effort.

I am not sure you can process information fast enough to go "ooh, I can't hit that one well so I am going to foul this one off and see what I get next time."

JMO.

quote:

Originally posted by BackstopDad32:
I'm curious: Is this an intentional act or just a byproduct of an approach?

Yes and yes.

What we teach our guys -
With two strikes, take a more defensive approach with the intent of stretching the strike zone, be quick and short and just get the bat on the ball (as opposed to looking for something you can drive).

If the ball is just off the outside corner, (as Floridafan said) let it travel and flick it foul the other way. Live to get another pitch.
Similarly, with 2 strikes, if a hitter is somewhat fooled with a breaking ball just off the plate, stay on it and try to flick it late to stay alive.

For some hitters, the two-strike approach means moving a bit closer to the plate to protect against the outside corner. These guys are taught to yank something just inside foul to the pull side. Some of them are able to keep their hands inside particularly well and keep that ball in play, ala Jeter. Others yank it hard and foul on purpose, again, so they get another pitch.

Those approaches have varying degrees of intention. The general two-strike defensive "get the bat on the ball", "stretch the zone and fight it off" approach results in more fouls straight back that are far less intentional.

Lastly - Again, with two strikes, just by stretching the zone and hitting it where it is pitched results in hitting foul balls with some degree of intent.

quote:

Originally posted by boom:
Does anybody know how to teach a kid to purposefully hit a foul ball.

Don't. Williams stresses PITCH SELECTION!

Hence his words: "get a good ball to hit!"

Low,
So when a good pitcher gets ahead of you in the count and throws a good pitcher's pitch to his spot and not yours, you just take strike 3?

How's that workin' for you when actually applied to game situations against quality pitching?

quote:

Originally posted by cabbagedad:
Low,
So when a good pitcher gets ahead of you in the count and throws a good pitcher's pitch to his spot and not yours, you just take strike 3?

How's that workin' for you when actually applied to game situations against quality pitching?

Something told me someone would ask this. With two strikes, you have to concede. You have to be willing to hit the pitcher's pitch. How do you do that? It's not so much a mechanical change as it is a mental change. Think about hitting the ball up the middle. I don't believe that actively fouling off pitches is a good thing. If you're fouling it off, you're either very early (relatively speaking) or very late (again, relatively speaking).

Once heard this from a very wise "baseball" person. With 2 strikes take the approach of "I would give you a million dollars to put the next ball that is close in play." Basically saying we have to expand our strike zone up/down & in/out. Also, like to tell hitter that they make the decision with 2 strikes not the umpire. From a coaching standpoint 2 strike count needs to be worked on often in practice. Much different from a 0-0 count or a 2-0, 2-1 hitters count. Hitters can hit balls off plate couple of inches or out of zone up or down still fairly hard if approach is good.

headstillhitter.com

a good pro can foul balls off until the pitcher makes a mistake..why does this surprise anyone?

quote:

Originally posted by Low Finish:

quote:

Originally posted by cabbagedad:
Low,
So when a good pitcher gets ahead of you in the count and throws a good pitcher's pitch to his spot and not yours, you just take strike 3?

How's that workin' for you when actually applied to game situations against quality pitching?

Something told me someone would ask this. With two strikes, you have to concede. You have to be willing to hit the pitcher's pitch. How do you do that? It's not so much a mechanical change as it is a mental change. Think about hitting the ball up the middle. I don't believe that actively fouling off pitches is a good thing. If you're fouling it off, you're either very early (relatively speaking) or very late (again, relatively speaking).

It's not a bad hitting approach to think hitting up the middle. However, when you are behind in the count, a good pitcher isn't likely to give you a pitch you can drive back up the middle.
Let me get more specific with my examples -
With 2-strikes, if you get soft junk in on your hands but breaking back close enough to the plate that you might get rung, the best move is to yank it hard foul and get another pitch. If you try to take that one back up the middle, the result is most often a very weak grounder or pop up to an IF. Similarly, with a 2-strike pitch low and away just off the plate, you can push it foul toward 1b dugout and get another pitch or you can continue to think up the middle and hit a roll-over tapper back to the pitcher. (Of course, if set up properly, you may be able to take it oppo fair, depending on your plate coverage and just how far outside the pitch).
IMO the advice of "don't" when it comes to purposely fouling off certain pitches in certain counts is VERY wrong.
And, while thinking to hit back up the middle can be a very good approach for some, it must be combinded with the thought to adjust to pitch location, particularly when behind.

quote:

Originally posted by cabbagedad:

quote:

Originally posted by Low Finish:

quote:

Originally posted by cabbagedad:
Low,
So when a good pitcher gets ahead of you in the count and throws a good pitcher's pitch to his spot and not yours, you just take strike 3?

How's that workin' for you when actually applied to game situations against quality pitching?

Something told me someone would ask this. With two strikes, you have to concede. You have to be willing to hit the pitcher's pitch. How do you do that? It's not so much a mechanical change as it is a mental change. Think about hitting the ball up the middle. I don't believe that actively fouling off pitches is a good thing. If you're fouling it off, you're either very early (relatively speaking) or very late (again, relatively speaking).

It's not a bad hitting approach to think hitting up the middle. However, when you are behind in the count, a good pitcher isn't likely to give you a pitch you can drive back up the middle.
Let me get more specific with my examples -
With 2-strikes, if you get soft junk in on your hands but breaking back close enough to the plate that you might get rung, the best move is to yank it hard foul and get another pitch. If you try to take that one back up the middle, the result is most often a very weak grounder or pop up to an IF. Similarly, with a 2-strike pitch low and away just off the plate, you can push it foul toward 1b dugout and get another pitch or you can continue to think up the middle and hit a roll-over tapper back to the pitcher. (Of course, if set up properly, you may be able to take it oppo fair, depending on your plate coverage and just how far outside the pitch).
IMO the advice of "don't" when it comes to purposely fouling off certain pitches in certain counts is VERY wrong.
And, while thinking to hit back up the middle can be a very good approach for some, it must be combinded with the thought to adjust to pitch location, particularly when behind.

Hit the ball where it's pitched. That's sound advice. I think we should agree to disagree regarding this subject.

quote:

Originally posted by wogdoggy:
a good pro can foul balls off until the pitcher makes a mistake..why does this surprise anyone?

I have been in professional baseball as a player or hitting coach for over 14 years now and I have never heard of any hitter that actually tries to "foul" a ball off on purpose to get another pitch.

They do try to make contact with those close pitches with two strikes and they may foul them off, but they never try to hit pitches foul on purpose to get a better pitch.

One of the biggest pieces of misinformation about professional hitters. The pitching in the Big Leagues is far too good to do that.

The fact is that every count with less than two strikes results in a batting average over .310 (including 0-1). Every count with two strikes results in below a .180 batting avg. The 3-2 count is the exception, it results in a .211 batting avg.

Those are Major League numbers.

Hitting with two strikes is very hard to do let alone trying to hit a ball foul on purpose with two strikes.

Be ready to hit from pitch one, and do not miss it when he makes a mistake in your zone!