picking up a curve

Practice ==practice--practice until you can read the difference in spin of the curveball

Wait until you get to college ball and need to read the slider.


In situations like this you nered to face hours of live BP

I had trouble with this earlier this year

What I did in a game to correct?
-Move up in the box so you can pick it up before it breaks
-Make sure to keep the weight on your back foot so you arent ahead of the pitch

that a few few more things,Now I can take the curve the other way

IMO, at the high school or lower levels, hardly anyone can hit a “good” curveball with any consistency. So just join the club and hope you don’t face too many of the real good ones. You are not the “Lone Ranger”. I can count on one hand the number of youth players I've seen who can hit the "good" curveball with lots of success. Luckily, there are not that many young pitchers who throw the "real good one".

The reason for the above is fairly simple. Players at these levels just don’t see the real good curveballs very often. It’s hard to hit what you don’t practice. There are very few BP pitchers who throw good curveballs for practice purposes.

That said, IMO the recognition needs to be followed by a brain message that tells you opposite field. This does not mean you automatically hit every breaking ball the other way. It just helps your timing, but still allows you to power or pull the hanging curveball.

Repetition is what a hitter needs. Until that happens, follow Willie Mays advice, before you see the breaking ball – hit the fastball!

there is drill to help work on curveball timing, not for the recignition though

i know sammy sosa does this drill, get a L screen and have the pither throw the ball in a parabula type of curve

also as a batter you can pick up tendencies where the pitcher would throw the curve, or tip off his pitch, most high school pitchers fall into a pattern, or dont notice they're tipping their pitch

hope this helps

speedy:

There is a short thread on the Hitting forum that might help you. The name of the post is "Picking up Pitches Better."

Good Luck.

PG

quote:

That said, IMO the recognition needs to be followed by a brain message that tells you opposite field. This does not mean you automatically hit every breaking ball the other way. It just helps your timing, but still allows you to power or pull the hanging curveball.

.

I see to many players give up on the curve ball being pitched at them.
Its the perfect pitch to hit if you think opposite field.
It drive's me Nuts to watch Players waiting on the Fast ball in High School.
You'll find some in HS throwing mostly Fastballs.
But the majority are throwing Breaking Balls. IMO the EH

look at the rotation of the ball. with a curveball, the laces spin in such a way that a hole forms in the middle of the ball. just look for it, it works.

Manty, the "hole" you describe is the sign of a slider. A curve will roll more towards the hitter, with topspin, usually cocked at an angle. There is no "hole" to see on a true curve.

Instead, the batter has to recognize the direction of the spin and the difference in speed to pick up the curve ball. Also a good batter will note the difference in the pitcher's arm action and the different release out of the pitcher's hand. Really you should watch the pitcher when you're waiting your turn to bat, to pick up on nuances like those.