Just curious...does your team see live pitching from 60.5 feet during BP, does coach throw from about 45 feet, or are you using a pitching machine? Which is most beneficial in your opinion?
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We do several things. The coaches throw bp from just in front of the mound from the L screen. We also hit live off pitchers as well. Cage work , etc. To me it all depends on what your working on. If your working on specific things then live bp from coaches from a shorter distance works well. You can work away to work on hitting backside etc etc. If your simply working on getting ab's against live arm then hitting off your pitchers works best. I think a good mix of all this works well.
It seems to me that mixing it up would be a good idea.
Not a big fan of pitching machines , kids tend to watch where ball is going instead of keeping head down , live pitching works better IMO .
We are probably 90% coach throwing in front of mound; 10% live arm...(we are lucky, I have 3 guys who throw good bp; it isn't always that way trust me)
I use a machine to get a good defensive workout. The machine throws to the JV team and the Varsity plays defense against that... a nice meatball setting and the JV guys can hit some shots, run the bases and put a lot of pressure on the defense (allow about a 20 foot leadoff draw a 'finish line' at 80 feet for the JV kid to be safe at first on this to make up for speed diff. of JV)
of course we use the cage too, (coach throwing and machine) but hitting on a field, I feel, is 10x better than hitting in a cage.
To your question what would be more beneficial? In a perfect world, there would be enough time and pitchers so that your kids could experience about 5 "live" at bats every day and bp from coach, 15-25 cuts, some soft toss and tee work. Logistically, the 5 'live' at bats just cannot happen due to time and resources.
I use a machine to get a good defensive workout. The machine throws to the JV team and the Varsity plays defense against that... a nice meatball setting and the JV guys can hit some shots, run the bases and put a lot of pressure on the defense (allow about a 20 foot leadoff draw a 'finish line' at 80 feet for the JV kid to be safe at first on this to make up for speed diff. of JV)
of course we use the cage too, (coach throwing and machine) but hitting on a field, I feel, is 10x better than hitting in a cage.
To your question what would be more beneficial? In a perfect world, there would be enough time and pitchers so that your kids could experience about 5 "live" at bats every day and bp from coach, 15-25 cuts, some soft toss and tee work. Logistically, the 5 'live' at bats just cannot happen due to time and resources.
trojan-skipper that's a great idea about how to use the pitching machine. I'm not a big fan of pitching machines but that seems to get a good use out of it.
The mixture is best but once the season starts it's coach pitch BP all the way unless there is a stretch in the schedule of no games. To help stay sharp the guys can use their bullpen session against live hitters.
Preseason it's coach pitch BP and set up scrimmages seeing live arms.
The mixture is best but once the season starts it's coach pitch BP all the way unless there is a stretch in the schedule of no games. To help stay sharp the guys can use their bullpen session against live hitters.
Preseason it's coach pitch BP and set up scrimmages seeing live arms.
As trojan mentioned, time is the culprit with us I think. We do not have the benefit of having a "baseball" period during school so the only time we have for practice is afterwards. That just doesn't leave enough time to do everything coach wants to do. Which must frustrate him, and every other coach in the same situation.
It becomes the Dad's and Big Brother's responsibility to take son up to the field on weekends to get the extra time in. Once the freshman year starts and you aren't practicing during the week and then getting those weekend tournaments in, an adjustment has to be made.
So, Dad behind an L screen from 45 feet and then older son throwing live pitches from the mound sounds like a plan. We won't worry about the pitching machine.
I appreciate the advice!!
It becomes the Dad's and Big Brother's responsibility to take son up to the field on weekends to get the extra time in. Once the freshman year starts and you aren't practicing during the week and then getting those weekend tournaments in, an adjustment has to be made.
So, Dad behind an L screen from 45 feet and then older son throwing live pitches from the mound sounds like a plan. We won't worry about the pitching machine.
I appreciate the advice!!
I would have to say that around 50% of our practice time once the season begins is spent on hitting. Its just how I evolved as a coach over the years. We can work on defense while were hitting. We can work on baserunning while were hitting. We can work on situations while were hitting.
I have always believed that you can never swing the bat enough and get enough plays off the bat.
There are many ways to get your guys live arm ab's. We play most games at 7pm. So once the weather warms up I bring the JV right after school for practice because many do not drive and parents can pick them up after they get off work. I bring the varsity around 6. They can go home get something to eat. Take care of their school work. This allows me to bring in my former players to throw live bp. Many are former college players that still love to throw the rock and still can. And many of them are better than the guys they will see in a game.
Once the conference starts we have Tues Friday games. There are guys that need innings. There are guys that need development. I throw these guys as well against my posistion players.
There is no substitute imo for live arm bp. There is substitute for getting defensive reps live off the bat. And the same can be said for live situations as well.
The other 50% of practice is spent on fundemental drills etc. Other things I do is Saturday hit night. We have bp for the players , coaches , brothers of players , former players , with all the parents , friends etc. We open up the concession stand and we have parents cook out , etc. We go as late as everyone wants to go. Its not unusual for it to last past midnight. Everyone has a blast. And Sunday after 2pm we have the seniors open up the cages and allow a couple of former players , Dads , come and throw bp to everyone that wants it.
I took a trip to Greenville , NC to watch a legendary coach here in NC run a practice a few years ago. He has won more games and state titles than any coach in the history of NC HS baseball. Bascially everything he did revolved around hitting. Some guys were doing drills. Some guys were hitting live. The rest were playing defense. And they rotated. And his players loved it.
I have always believed that you can never swing the bat enough and get enough plays off the bat.
There are many ways to get your guys live arm ab's. We play most games at 7pm. So once the weather warms up I bring the JV right after school for practice because many do not drive and parents can pick them up after they get off work. I bring the varsity around 6. They can go home get something to eat. Take care of their school work. This allows me to bring in my former players to throw live bp. Many are former college players that still love to throw the rock and still can. And many of them are better than the guys they will see in a game.
Once the conference starts we have Tues Friday games. There are guys that need innings. There are guys that need development. I throw these guys as well against my posistion players.
There is no substitute imo for live arm bp. There is substitute for getting defensive reps live off the bat. And the same can be said for live situations as well.
The other 50% of practice is spent on fundemental drills etc. Other things I do is Saturday hit night. We have bp for the players , coaches , brothers of players , former players , with all the parents , friends etc. We open up the concession stand and we have parents cook out , etc. We go as late as everyone wants to go. Its not unusual for it to last past midnight. Everyone has a blast. And Sunday after 2pm we have the seniors open up the cages and allow a couple of former players , Dads , come and throw bp to everyone that wants it.
I took a trip to Greenville , NC to watch a legendary coach here in NC run a practice a few years ago. He has won more games and state titles than any coach in the history of NC HS baseball. Bascially everything he did revolved around hitting. Some guys were doing drills. Some guys were hitting live. The rest were playing defense. And they rotated. And his players loved it.
Saturday hit night sounds Awesome!!!