How to get my guys to WAIT on the ball?

If it aint broke, done fix it cuz no one has the million dollar answer yet, even with thousand dollar slow mo cameras.

I have seen this before with really good young hitters. They are simply ahead of the pitching right now. When guys throw stiff stuff they mash. When they face slow stuff they lunge , hook around pitches , they are out in front and struggle. "He throws too slow." "Man I hate hitting off this stuff."

Teach them now and make them understand that they will not have the same success as the pitchers catch up to them with this approach. As the pitchers get better , have better velo that will challenge them , better off speed stuff that they can command they will struggle a lot. Teach them to see the ball deep in the zone. Teach them to hit the baseball where it is pitched and watch it as long as possible. Tell them to be late in the zone and work the entire field.

If they do not make this adjustment they will be very inconsistent hitters. And they WILL struggle as the pitchers get better , smarter and have better stuff.

I bet they hit a lot of monster foul balls to the pull side? I bet they almost kill the 3b coach? When they start seeing pitchers that can challenge them with a fastball , can throw a cu for a strike in fastball counts - if they do not learn how to actually hit they are going to be in a tough situation.

The most important thing you can teach them is see the baseball deep.

Agree 100%. The longer you get to see the ball the more opportunity you will give your brain to read a pitch and determine location.

A drill that my son has done is having a coach underhand toss from behind an L-Screen and work the outside to off the plate on the outside. My guy would need to do two things. 1)Show exactly where the ball crossed the plate, and 2)Drive the ball (line drive) between opposite field, to extreme foul territory, (also on a line drive) dependent on pitch location.

Also, the coach would toss the ball on the outside and my son would need to let it travel so deep that when he hit it the ball would be hit on a line to foul territory down the 1st baseline or into the stands. He would need to show where he made contact in order to hit the ball hard to drive the ball.

The results have been that players will hit with power to all fields and rarely gets cheated by trying to pull an outside pitch that results in a grounder to short.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
I have seen this before with really good young hitters. They are simply ahead of the pitching right now. When guys throw stiff stuff they mash. When they face slow stuff they lunge , hook around pitches , they are out in front and struggle. "He throws too slow." "Man I hate hitting off this stuff."

Teach them now and make them understand that they will not have the same success as the pitchers catch up to them with this approach. As the pitchers get better , have better velo that will challenge them , better off speed stuff that they can command they will struggle a lot. Teach them to see the ball deep in the zone. Teach them to hit the baseball where it is pitched and watch it as long as possible. Tell them to be late in the zone and work the entire field.

If they do not make this adjustment they will be very inconsistent hitters. And they WILL struggle as the pitchers get better , smarter and have better stuff.

The odd thing about these two hitters in particular, is that off speed stuff doesn't phase them. In other words if a kid is throwing a CU or breaking ball, they have NO problems sitting on those pitches and hitting them well.

It's simply the average to slower fastballs that get them frustrated.

Don't get me wrong..these guys still lead the team in average, OBP, and RBI's. They are still hitting the ball well. It's hard to explain..

For example:

The other night at BP one of these guys was hitting the ball "out front" he was having trouble waiting on the ball. He was still hitting hard shots to middle / pull side, but obviously his weight had already shifted and only good coordination was allowing him to still drive the ball effectively.

Now the same batter...sped the ball up a good bit, and those same shots started clearing the fence.

Does that make sense?

I like the underhand toss drill...

And believe it or not, these two guys don't really struggle that much with hitting outside pitches to opposite field. It's the slower fastballs middle-in that they can't wait on. God forbid if it's a slow FB on the extreme inner half..the 3B coach is definitely in danger at that point.

I swear it's almost like these two just need to take a Valium before each at bat... LOL

Count to 2 after release

One thing that seems to me is that they want / feel they can go yard on these guys so they try to swing too hard. I've seen that a lot where guys think that slower pitchers are just there for BP and try to hit everything out. This kills their ability to sit back and wait.

A couple of other things you can do should build on each other.

First set up a tee on the outside corner and have them take about 15 cuts off the tee. Let them see / feel how the ball comes off the bat on an outside pitch.

Second do the front side toss drill florida fan talks about. I like this drill because the feeder is really close and can be very accurate with his tosses so MOST of the balls will be outside. Toss a few inside / down the pipe to keep him balanced in his swing.

Third set up the field for BP and have a big fiedler protection screen set up on the opposite baseline about 1/3 to 1/2 down the line - for example a RH hitter would have the screen on the first baseline. Take a good round of 10 cuts where they hit all outside pitches into the screen. Then have the rest of the rounds mix in all locations but each time they see outside pitch they hit it into the screen.

If this doesn't work then maybe they need to do some push ups / poles in order to help them focus in on getting the right approach at the plate.

quote:

Originally posted by coach2709:
Third set up the field for BP and have a big fiedler protection screen set up on the opposite baseline about 1/3 to 1/2 down the line - for example a RH hitter would have the screen on the first baseline. Take a good round of 10 cuts where they hit all outside pitches into the screen. Then have the rest of the rounds mix in all locations but each time they see outside pitch they hit it into the screen.

We call this oppo BP, although we put the screen more in line between home plate and to the right of the secondbaseman.

I also find it good to just side toss some. I get at about a 45 deg angle and underhand toss with some speed at their back hip. It forces them to stay inside and drive it the other way. It doesn't necessarily change their timing, but it gives the right feeling and shows them they can succeed driving the ball the other way. This can help them trust themselves to let the ball get deep.

Isn't the bounce-pitch drill used for the purpose of making the hitter wait on the ball?

Good Drill!

Hi there ctandc,
My suggestion to you is to use a tee but do a drill we call the "deep tee" drill. Place the tee in front of there belt buckle and have them drive the ball up the middle. It will be tough at first because anyone with a long swing will struggle, and it takes some getting used too. But remember different drills work for different players so ill give you so more. Tell them to let the ball travel and get deep in the zone before swinging. Obviously it will take more than saying it but at least they can visualize what you mean. I also use a bungi cord on some of my hitters, I tie one around their waste, and the other to a fence behind them. They move up until there is tension in the cord. Now I underhand toss, or regular BP and anything off-balance (as in way out in front) will be magnified. One last thing is they have to image themselves striding on ice, keeping everything back until the ball gets deep in the zone (the deeper it is, the more power and drive you will get out of it)

Be aware, that the better your swing, the more difficulty you will have with the bounce drill.

I agree with sultan on his last statement

Here's a soft toss machine that may help. www.shop.beebesports.com

If the kids swing as ball is going up, they will be on the front foot and swinging too early and popping the ball up. If they learn to sit back and wait til ball starts back down, they'll most always make good solid contact, driving the ball up the middle

Sultan is 100% correct in that statement. And the kids that struggle the most waiting on the "slow pitching" are the kids with the best swings.

Most of the drills mentioned are to help WAIT for the ball, which would seem more helpful on offspeed. When you know upfront (from warmups and previous batters) that the pitcher's fast ball is just slow, why not teach hitters to START THEIR STRIDE later in relation to the pitcher's motion? It will feel awkward, but it should, as they're changing their timing. Heck, when kids play backyard wiffle ball, I doubt they start their stride at the same time as when they're facing gas in a game???

So to practice preparing for slow pitchers in BP, if they usually start their stride when the pitcher separates his hands, try waiting a little longer - maybe til the throwing hand reaches the high c0ck position, or until its coming forward - whatever it takes. Tell them it's ok if they foul off a few to the right side (for a righty) until they adjust.

If your goal is to teach a hitter how to wait on an offspeed pitch and drive it you better be teaching him how to react to a 90 Mph inside fastball during the same at bat. A goood hitter needs to be able to adjust during his at bat between a fastball and a slider away.

The issue isn't offspeed PITCHES...it's "Off Speed" Pitching. It's 13U Travel. The funny thing is the better the team we face, the better we hit, because their strong pitcher usually throws harder. Most of the guys have no trouble with curve balls or change ups. In fact two of my LH hitters actually LOOK for curve balls to hit..LOL..

And Coach May hit it the best. The most fundamentally sound swings on my team are the ones that have the most trouble on slow pitching.

We played up and age group to 14U last tourney. Nothing at our age level locally, so we played up.

We hit the **** out of the ball. And the majority of the pitching was harder than we normally see.

I'm fighting a couple of my better hitters, because they are starting to think they need to change their SWING to hit the slower stuff...I'm trying to get through to them to just change their TIMING.

I suggest you try what I said above.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
I bet they hit a lot of monster foul balls to the pull side? I bet they almost kill the 3b coach? When they start seeing pitchers that can challenge them with a fastball , can throw a cu for a strike in fastball counts - if they do not learn how to actually hit they are going to be in a tough situation.

The most important thing you can teach them is see the baseball deep.

Some random thoughts based on my own experiences...

This is bascially how my son has hit his whole life. I cannot even begin to imagine how many foul ball homeruns, doubles, and triples he has hit in his life. I remember one time clearly, it was a fall game up here on a nice afternoon in October and our third base coach was chatting with people in the stands as fall games are very laid back. My son hit a vicious line drive straight for his head and when he heard the ball he turned and the ball was only a few feet from his head. He went parallel to the ground and the ball missed his head by an inch or two and it would have been certain death if the ball would have hit him.

I still think some of these worries are about results and stats. It is a gift to be able to turn on a ball and rope a double or a homerun off a pitcher who throws heat. I would always get pumped up when I saw a guy throwing heat because I knew my son was going to hit some fair balls that day. I am not sure about seeing a ball late or changing the approach all that much. At the upper levels, turning on pitches translates to power and that is always a valued commodity. Even at the pro level, my son still hits too many balls foul but he has learned over time how to hit them fair.

I think young hitters who are out in front can learn how to hit over time and on their own time-table. In other words experience will teach them. Show them patience but indeed encourage them to play to their strength which is smoking the ball. I don't believe you can teach a kid how to turn on a ball other than to guess early and with that you will see very poor results. On the other hand, a kid who has a quick bat can learn to adjust to the offspeed stuff imho. All it takes is time and patience. Based on my personal experience, I am thankful that both my sons could turn on a ball. I am just like the next guy however and got frustrated when I saw all the foul balls but looking back, I realize that it was something that could be outgrown - especially at the higher levels of the sport (college and pro).

Some of you might not realize it, but the kid on your team with a .900 batting average may have very little translatable talent even for the highschool game because they'll never be able to catch up to the heat. Never forget that the fastball is still the most important pitch in the sport and the ability to turn on one is a blessing imho.

Sometimes when your instruction doesn't take, you need to try verballizing it differently.

Instead of talking about waiting on the ball, talk about the proper hand/bat positions for contact with pitches in various locations. The emphasis here is on hitting the ball deep in the zone, not way out front. You can then reinforce that with tee and toss drills.

The hitter working on that HAS to wait on the pitch to get it in proper position. But not because you're telling him to wait, just because he is trying to get the barrel to the ball properly.

I've always thought this resulted in better adjustment to off speed as well, as opposed to the standard coaching that says to time the pitch by "looking for the fastball, adjusting to the curve." To me that's an instruction that says, just fight off the curve, don't worry about driving it. Which I disagree with.

CD great post.

I'm not really worried about these guys. Of the group in question the two 8th grades I have both made JV and saw playing time. The rest are all 7th graders. Odds are that all but one (can't go out until 9th grade because of current school situation) will make JV next Spring.

I'm just trying to convince them that they don't need to change their SWING. Just when they swing.

And CD you are DEFINITELY right about being able to turn on the ball. I've had more than my share of close calls coaching 3rd base. My runners on 3rd know enough to get ready to duck as well.

Of the group in question all but 3 (they will be late bloomers looking at Moms and Dads size) have hit their first big field HR's since we went 60/90 in the Fall.

IT was funny to see the reaction of a 14U Coach who put in his Ace to close the game down...and promptly watched the next four batters crush extra base line drives.

It's also funny to hear opposing Coaches tell pitchers / catchers to jam my guys on the inner half. I cringe when I hear that. Means I've got to be paying attention on 3rd base line LOL

One little trick I like to use is hold a ball up in front of a group of hitters, ask them to look at the size of the ball, Then step back about twenty feet and ask them if the ball is still the same size. Tell them they need to hit a bigger ball. Let the ball get bigger before you hit it.

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
I bet they hit a lot of monster foul balls to the pull side? I bet they almost kill the 3b coach? When they start seeing pitchers that can challenge them with a fastball , can throw a cu for a strike in fastball counts - if they do not learn how to actually hit they are going to be in a tough situation.

The most important thing you can teach them is see the baseball deep.

Some random thoughts based on my own experiences...

This is bascially how my son has hit his whole life. I cannot even begin to imagine how many foul ball homeruns, doubles, and triples he has hit in his life. I remember one time clearly, it was a fall game up here on a nice afternoon in October and our third base coach was chatting with people in the stands as fall games are very laid back. My son hit a vicious line drive straight for his head and when he heard the ball he turned and the ball was only a few feet from his head. He went parallel to the ground and the ball missed his head by an inch or two and it would have been certain death if the ball would have hit him.

I still think some of these worries are about results and stats. It is a gift to be able to turn on a ball and rope a double or a homerun off a pitcher who throws heat. I would always get pumped up when I saw a guy throwing heat because I knew my son was going to hit some fair balls that day. I am not sure about seeing a ball late or changing the approach all that much. At the upper levels, turning on pitches translates to power and that is always a valued commodity. Even at the pro level, my son still hits too many balls foul but he has learned over time how to hit them fair.

I think young hitters who are out in front can learn how to hit over time and on their own time-table. In other words experience will teach them. Show them patience but indeed encourage them to play to their strength which is smoking the ball. I don't believe you can teach a kid how to turn on a ball other than to guess early and with that you will see very poor results. On the other hand, a kid who has a quick bat can learn to adjust to the offspeed stuff imho. All it takes is time and patience. Based on my personal experience, I am thankful that both my sons could turn on a ball. I am just like the next guy however and got frustrated when I saw all the foul balls but looking back, I realize that it was something that could be outgrown - especially at the higher levels of the sport (college and pro).

Some of you might not realize it, but the kid on your team with a .900 batting average may have very little translatable talent even for the highschool game because they'll never be able to catch up to the heat. Never forget that the fastball is still the most important pitch in the sport and the ability to turn on one is a blessing imho.

I believe this to be very true.My son has incredible bat speed(especially for his age) and has had since he was 7.Now 11,he has always struggled with slower stuff,able to make contact most of the time but way out in front and rolling over on it.Seems like this year,moving up to the 11-12 year old field where pitchers are throwing harder and mixing in more junk,he has started seeing the ball better and able to recognize offspeed and is now letting the ball travel deeper,fould off pitches he doesn't like and crushing the "mistakes".I think it's funny when the coaches are yelling hit it out front and he is just letting balls get deep in the zone.(he finally trust his batspeed)



I heard a good travel ball coach tell his players once it's better to be late than early and I couldn't agree more.

During our Area Code games in San Diego, an agent
requested that we place a Cuban defector on a team for the pro scouts to evaluate.

He had crossed the border that same day and appeared at San Diego State Stadium in a red Cuban uniform.

The solution was to have him hit in the batting tunnels. Mike LaCoss, former ML pitcher threw BP.

The player had tremendous bat speed, every time he swung he lifted off the ground.

Mike later said he wanted to throw a "change up", but did not want to "show up" the young player.

When a player pulls foul balls, watch the front shoulder. You can "bet the farm" on the next pitch.

Bob Williams

Someone has probably already mentioned this.

We always had the best luck in changing their thinking rather than anything mechanical. Unless the mechanics were the problem.

In simplist terms, when you see off speed "think" opposite field. This doesn't mean you will actually hit everything opposite field, but it does tend to get hitters to wait a bit longer.

If it's early on below average fastballs the same thinking can help.

That is exactly what I use when trying to get players to make the mental adjustment. The exact opposite can be used when facing a really hard thrower. Look to pulll him. Look to jump his fastball.

If your looking to pull a soft thrower or off speed pitch the vast majority of the time you will be way out front. Shift your focus on the softer thrower and instead of looking to pull him look to hit backside. Focus on shifting the field and what you would normally take to the leftside look to take to the rightside.

You may still be a litte early but instead of hitting a monster foul ball to the leftside maybe you hit a screamer into the lcf gap?

Many times in bp we will throw away away away and soft with tons of breaking pitches and focus on doing just this. Telling the players to hit it to the oppo field and focusing on shifting the field mentally.

I agree with hitting the ball the other way.

The other thing I tell my hitters is to make sure you do not slow down your bat. Meaning...wait back longer and still swing with authority.

quote:

Originally posted by Bob Williams:
During our Area Code games in San Diego, an agent
requested that we place a Cuban defector on a team for the pro scouts to evaluate.

He had crossed the border that same day and appeared at San Diego State Stadium in a red Cuban uniform.

The solution was to have him hit in the batting tunnels. Mike LaCoss, former ML pitcher threw BP.

The player had tremendous bat speed, every time he swung he lifted off the ground.

Mike later said he wanted to throw a "change up", but did not want to "show up" the young player.

When a player pulls foul balls, watch the front shoulder. You can "bet the farm" on the next pitch.

Bob Williams

Conversely, if we are facing a great hitter, we will come right back inside even farther and catch him while he's diving over the plate looking for something soft and away (like he's seen all his baseball life).