speed bp

Overall I agree that going as fast as you can is not productive but how long does it take for your son to get ready for the next pitch? What I'm getting at is if it's a normal / reasonable amount of time between pitches then speeding up is counterproductive. But if he's taking close to forty five seconds to a minute then he does need to speed things up.

What makes me wonder is when the instructor made him go every other pitch on the machine. Typically the amount of time between pitches is just right on a machine. If he needs more time than that then yes he needs to speed up.

So how long does he take between pitches?

When the instructor let him hit every other pitch he was 8 and it was an automatic wiffle,golf ball machine for a high school softball program that went pretty fast.


The coach was pitching pretty fast.He was throwing the next pitch as fast as he was able to get a ball and pitch it.

I threw him some side toss and had it on video,just went back and checked and it took him less than 10 seconds to get set and ready.


The coaches tried to tell him to speed up for the sake of repetition.I agree with repetition but when it is bad repitition,it is counterproductive.

My advice to him last season as well as this season,if they want to speed pitch,let them,you don't have to hit them.Make sure you are set and ready then take QUALITY cuts.IMO,3 good cuts are better than 20 bad ones.

IMO,it is coaches that have made poor time management decisions and are trying to rush 11 kids through bp right before a game.


The way we do it must be working,I layed a cursor on his head in some game swing video and each time he stepped in the box,his head was in the exact same spot and his preswing setup was the same everytime.Coming from competitive archery,this was something that was absolutely crucial for consistancy.He is batting 4rth and hit a homerun in his very 1rst game as an 11 year old in a 11-12 year old league.He finished the week 4 for 7 with 1 homerun,2 doubles,1 single and 1 pop up, 2 strikeouts and 3 walks.

Ten seconds is pretty quick. So if the coaches are trying to deliver quicker than that then they are in the wrong. This type of BP doesn't do anything to help anyone in anyway.

What happens is the coach is trying to get the bp in in a certain amount of time. He becomes more concerned with getting them in and getting them out than he is with making sure they are getting good work in. I have been guilty of this before.

I always appreciate it when a kid steps out and says "Coach can I get a few more seconds to set up before you throw the next pitch?" It brings you back into focus on what your really trying to do.

I agree that the quality of the swings is what is really important. I would suggest to players that they let their coach know they need a little more time between cuts. If the coach gets peeved at this then just be more selective and get set up properly before you take a cut. He may get peeved at this as well but at least the swings you take will be quality swings and not rushed non quality swings.