Hitters timing

In high school my son stood in the front of the box on anyone he considered slow. It made the ball arrive sooner. Plus it eliminated the break on any off speed slop they might throw.

Question that I often ask players. "If you want a longer look at the ball do you stand off or stand close to the plate"?

If you stand in front of the batter's box the smart pitcher will start his slow ball earlier and also throw on your "hands".

Bob

Your kid's dilemma is not unique. He could do as RJM's kid or train to learn to hit ugly (landing early).   

Obviously can't say for sure, but it's likely 1 of 2 things (or maybe both).

1. Mental game - anxious ? doesn't truly trust his hand speed - or just adrenaline rush of game-time competition

2. Drifts forward. Assuming he has a decent swing it may just be hard to see in real-time with the naked eye. Would need slow-motion video and good hitting coach

jm2c

Also FB Velocity does NOT tell the whole story. A lot of guys have very average spin rates - Then there is throwers vs pitchers - etc..... I could keep going on if I had the time   

He is not alone. I've seen crafty 80mph kids carve up good lineups that crushed 88-90mph kids. I often wonder, is it worth it trying to adjust to that slower pitching or just get through it for the next game when they're seeing velo again?

@Consultant posted:

Question that I often ask players. "If you want a longer look at the ball do you stand off or stand close to the plate"?

If you stand in front of the batter's box the smart pitcher will start his slow ball earlier and also throw on your "hands".

Bob

In high school a college prospect hitter is likely to be a lot smarter and a lot more skilled than a lot of high school pitchers.

Happens at every level, to even the best players. See Anthony Rizzo v Freddie Freeman for a recent (and throughly enjoyable) example.

4 arms and Francis

did you understand my question?
Bob

He sees an awful lot of “spin” as it is and really doesn’t get a whole lot of good pitches to drive which could be causing so anxiety and pressing I suppose.  He likes to be pretty close to the plate as pitchers try to get to outer half.  It’s just when he does get his pitch against softer arms he hits a nuke pull side foul, or shoots it high in the air for a fly/pop out.  Frustrating.

If he is  RH hitter, back off the plate, hit the pitch one inch in front of the plate, eliminate LF. Left center is your new foul line.

Bob

I'm not sure anyone can help with a timing mechanism over a chat. The last hitting coach my son had was in HS and was the Mets high-A hitting instructor. He imparted some timing tips based around my son's mechanics as well as approaches (requiring muscles memory) for off-speed that helped greatly. Maybe working with a different hitting coach would help?    

Senior year my son was walked 36 times in 26 games. He faced all kinds of slop even from some of the future D1 pitchers. All he could do was stay back and be patient waiting for the one mistake to drive. Given they won the conference he faced mostly college bound pitchers. He said there was typically only one pitch per at bat to drive.

What was awesome that season was three times he was walked with first open and the #4 hitter smacked a granny.

Two details that only sorta work.  The obvious is to start later. If he normally starts at the pitcher's leg lift, start at hand break or arm coming forward.  Same swing but starting it much later.

On really slow pitching, it's fine to time off the off speed stuff.  Quick hands will always get you to the slow fastball.  Fast pitching, you have to be ready for the fastball.

You can practice on your "float."  How long you stay with your front foot in the air.  I am not saying copy Joey Bats high kick. Just a foot lifted up and gliding forward, weight coiled into the back hip as long as possible.

This avoids the crashing forward and sliding into the pitch.  You can always get your foot down and swing when you want to.  Toe touch and drop the heel to swing.  You lose some power but it provides more of a timing mechanism.

Bob makes a good point.  Try and hit slow pitching to right center (oppo).  If you are early, you just pull it, not miss it.

@JETSR71 posted:

Bob makes a good point.  Try and hit slow pitching to right center (oppo).  If you are early, you just pull it, not miss it.

Bob always makes a good point. Lots of them seem to sail right over the head of many posters.

Adbono;

thank you for the "kind" words.

Timing [proper thinking as Ted says] starts in the parking lot. "turn off" the cell phone, start focusing on 60'6". Eliminate the noise [chatter from teammates], observe the starting pitcher in the bullpen.

Can he control 2 pitches? If not reduce his pitch to one. Now I can predict the pitch. Where are the "power" alley's,  where is the sun?

A few years ago, the GM of the SF Giants asked my help in organizing a youth clinic in SF.

Joe Morgan was to discuss "base running",

His 1st words were " I can talk on "base running" for 20 minutes or 10 hours". This applies to all "aspects" of the game.

Bob

Baserunning is something that isn’t taught well enough as players learn the game. A baserunner has to be able to read the ball off the bat and react accordingly. Can’t wait for instructions from a base coach. Good baserunning wins games - and bad baserunning loses them. I was in the dugout yesterday with the Juco team I assist. It was a scoreless game in the 4th inning against a nationally ranked opponent. We had a runner on 3rd w/ one out and batter popped up. SS caught the ball a few steps into the OF grass. Runner at 3rd noticed his casual body language after making the catch and, after already tagging, took off for home. He beat the throw to steal a run. That play energized the dugout and changed the game. There is a big difference in being able to run fast and knowing how to use speed to impact a game - and that’s exactly what I told the kid after the game.

4 arms,

You started a great thread and your son is NOT alone. My son and some of his Best Hitting Friends, all seem to have trouble with slower pitchers. In fact, our coach, often puts in a reliever who is one of our slowest pitchers, after my son(pitching) has gotten the other team used to high velo. As mentioned above, I'm trying to get my son to think about Right field, when facing slow pitcher( seems to work sometimes-LOL).

Supplemental questions: How is the best way to teach a kid to hit curve balls? My son is crushing fastballs, and improved on hitting change-ups, but curveballs are "eating his lunch"!

The curve ball is a "full white" A FAST BALL is 1/2 white. focus on the "red seams".

My question: if you want a longer look at the ball, back off the plate. when you swing the "full barrel" of the ball will make contact front edge of the plate. If you crowd the plate you need to make contact in front of the plate. a difference in inches = fractions of seconds. Take a bat and go to a plate and swing.

Bob

Adbono;

great story. Question can this skill be taught? The FBI and Secret Service teaches "Observation" tools.

Bob

Flashback: A few years ago I was at the NESCAC baseball tournament at Tufts. A friend’s son played for Tufts. I knew a couple of other kids on other teams. I turned a couple and joked, “What do you call a kid who can’t hit a curve? A lacrosse player.”

It turned out the dad had played baseball in the NESCAC. They were watching baseball for a while before heading across the complex to the conference lacrosse tournament to watch their athletic kid who couldn’t hit a curveball.

Dad chucked. Mom didn’t see the humor.

Do those 3-wheel pitching machines, provide a realistic reproduction of a curveball?

The 3 wheel machines can do pretty much anything you want if you play with the spin right. Big loopy or hard sharp.

Adams

do you know the chair drill?

Bob

Consultant,

I know a chair drill for pitchers. I don't think i know one for hitting curve balls. Please explain.

The Texas Rangers had a underground batting cage at the old Stadium. On one of my visits I was invited to watch Rusty Greer hit. The Instructor was sitting on a chair 25' from the hitter. The pitching screen was turn to protect the pitcher who "sat" on a chair and threw underhand from the right corner.

This is a "reaction" drill with a strong focus on the white ball. I could visualize "bat speed" by how quick the ball arrived at the end of the batting cage.

Bob

Bob have you considered writing a book? I could read your stories all day long!

Thank you. "Baseball & Business" a great combination to learn the art of competition. the "6 Tool" in both.

Bob

You'd have a customer here...sounds like you may have already considered!:-)

My son goes to a local d2. No hitting coach per se and it seems like when we fix one problem another arises. First I noticed he was cutting himself off in his swing and swinging almost directly to left field (he's a righty) and last game i realized he had a huge timing issue.  He was swinging at the pitcher's motion and not tracking the ball.   I can't work with him because he's at school mid season but I told him to let ball get deeper and make left center the left foul pole. We'll see this weekend.

edcoach:

It is also important to "back off" the plate with a slightly closed stance which enforces the desire to "pull". Focus!!!

Bob

Backing off and closing keeps from pulling?

yes, when you direct the body and hands toward left center and right center. If the pitch is inside the hands will react.It is a "reflex" action.

Watch the front shoulder, when the shoulder pulls out then the head and eyes follow.

Bob

Do you have a video?

Not sure if you want to put it up here (you could send me a DM too) but sometimes it is a mechanical flaw that reduces adjustability, especially kind of a one piece swing where the front shoulder spins immediately with the hips or an uncontrolled shift to the front leg. Or an issue with swing direction and deceleration.

Also learn to hit the hanger if you see a ton of breaking stuff. Nobody hits a perfectly located breaking ball well but launch one hanger hard and the pitcher will feel a lot more uncomfortable with his breaker.

2 Plate Drill.  While doing front toss, have two plates set up with one being about two or three feet in front of the other.  Make sure that the feeder is throwing the ball at the same speed but simulating a typical coachable speed to instruct hitting.  The front plate should be the fastball.  The second plate should simulate a change-up.  In doing this, the hitter should focus on driving the ball to the right-center gap on the change-up or slower pitch.  In doing this, the hitter should be learning how to control his load/unload.   

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxp...5IiqwSVBwfQFm5U6gLIy

I said all that and this happened today

@edcoach posted:

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxp...5IiqwSVBwfQFm5U6gLIy

I said all that and this happened today

You never know what will flip a switch in a kids head. On a side note, EJ Taylor is one of my all time favorite kids. I liked to watch games with his Dad because his behavior made me look good.

Lol adbono his dad is behaved now. Ej taylor is the hottest hitter on the planet currently. Ball looks like a beach ball to him apparently ....on a side note ej taylor is a leader and a great guy. Our team will miss him badly next year

@edcoach posted:

Lol adbono his dad is behaved now. Ej taylor is the hottest hitter on the planet currently. Ball looks like a beach ball to him apparently ....on a side note ej taylor is a leader and a great guy. Our team will miss him badly next year

My son and EJ at NOC Enid. One if my favorite pics of two of my favorite players