Taking one for the Team

Threaten them with live practice if they can't execute in a game

A few drills you can do after you teach the proper turn technique...

Use wiffle. Throw alot of RH curves to RH hitters and vice-versa. Hit them several times first. Then start mixing pitches that will hit them with pitches that will fall into the strike zone and have them recognize and either turn and take the hit or swing.

Pitch real baseballs with the hitter standing behind a square screen. Same pitch sequence as previous drill. Have them recognize, turn or swing.

Why do you want them to "wear a pitch"? IMO, getting HBP should be an accident, not a strategy.


http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6624227

cabbagedad- I like the screen idea, thank you.

NDD- I am sorry if you were a little confused. I am not advocating my players to open up and get hit in the heart. I was talking about allowing the ball to hit you with out getting out of the way. If you still do not agree with that I suggest you also send that link to every team who made the College World Series because I did not see players getting out of the way of the ball.

Getting hit in the heart is not the only way to get hurt by getting hit.
6.08

(b) He is touched by a pitched ball which he is not attempting to hit unless

(1) The ball is in the strike zone when it touches the batter, or

(2) The batter makes no attempt to avoid being touched by the ball; If the ball is in the strike zone when it touches the batter, it shall be called a strike, whether or not the batter tries to avoid the ball. If the ball is outside the strike zone when it touches the batter, it shall be called a ball if he makes no attempt to avoid being touched.

No, I do not agree with it because it is against the rules regardless of who did what when. I also do not agree with umpires allowing it to happen.

The Kid took two FBs in the back, right between the numbers, after raking a GRD. It wasn't intentional, he made an effort to get out of the way and wasn't able to. It happens. The pitcher talked to him - after the game. The Kid asked him if it was intentional, he said, "No." they shook hands and it was over.

Getting hit on purpose? Who does that and why?

That's a coaching strategy? Trying to get a kid HBP is a coaching strategy?

Are you a college coach? What age are you trying to teach to get hit?

Rule 8 Section 2 NCAA Rules 2011-2012 Rule Book

d. When hit by a pitched ball at which the individual is not attempting to
strike, the ball is immediately dead;
A.R.—If the batter intentionally gets touched by moving or rolling any part of the body
into the pitch, the umpire shall call a strike or ball in accordance with Rules 7-4 and 7-5.
(1) If the batter is hit by a pitch in the strike zone, regardless of whether
he swings at it or not, the ball is immediately dead, the pitch is a
strike, no runners may advance and the batter is not awarded first
base.
(2) If the batter makes no attempt to avoid being touched by the ball and
the pitch is out of the strike zone, the pitch shall be called a ball. The
ball is dead, no runners may advance and the batter is not awarded
first base unless the pitch is ball four.
A.R.—If the batter freezes and is hit by a pitch that is clearly inside the vertical lines of
the batter’s box, the ball is dead and the batter is awarded first base.
(3) If the batter intentionally gets touched by moving or rolling any part
of his body into the pitch and the batter does not swing, the ball is
immediately dead; the umpire shall call a strike or ball in accordance
with 7-4b and 7-5a.
(4) If the pitch is ball four, the batter shall be awarded first base and
credited for being hit by the pitch (the ball is immediately dead).

I am not confused.

quote:

If you still do not agree with that I suggest you also send that link to every team who made the College World Series because I did not see players getting out of the way of the ball.

I just looked at your profile, it says you have been a HS baseball coach for 11 years. And then I read this and I wonder "Why the question? What is he planning on making some other person's kid do?"

Coaching is a sacred responsibility. A single word from a coach at the right or wrong time can completely change the course of a kid's career if not life. A negative word from an unthinking coach is like a whip on the back of a HS ball player.

I have seen many cases of coaches on a quest for a plastic trophy suck the love of the game from what were previously good players and even better kids.

I am not saying that's what you are doing, I don't know you. But again the question, "Why the question?"

Instead of teaching a kid how to get hit (which is against the rules and if intentional is therefore cheating), why don't you teach the kid how to hit. Instead of standing on first with a bruised back, maybe he'll be standing on 2nd with 2 RBIs.

Let's start here.

quote:

What is he planning on making some other person's kid do

I would ask my own son to do this. I would never ask a player to do something I would not expect of my own son.

Second....I am not advocating leaning out over the plate or even leaning into a pitch. What I am simply advocating or asking about is how do you get a player to not jump out of the way.

Look here comes the ball right at me I am going to turn and get hit instead of jumping out of the way. I do not know about you but personally I do not like to see players jump out of the way and I do not think it is safe. I have never seen a kid get hit by a pitch correctly get severely injured. However, I have seen kids jump out of the way and get severely injured and I am not talking a bruised hand like you are bringing up. I have seen broke hands.

I do not see this as some issue that has no morals behind it or is in the quest to get some plastic trophy. BTW.....Section title trophies are not plastic (TOTALLY A JOKE)

quote:

Taking one for the Team

quote:

What is the best way you guys know to get a player to wear a pitch?

I don't know much about southern California, but everywhere else I have been that means getting hit on purpose.

And now we are going to discuss how to get a player to protect himself when HBP is unavoidable?

quote:

College World Series because I did not see players getting out of the way of the ball.

So they were intentionally not getting out of the way of the ball? I agree, I watched it too.

Going to the plate looking to get hit is, IMO, bush. It is the mark of a weak hitter that can't get on base any other way. Or if told to do it the mark of a desperate coach that cares more about the plastic than the players. We take it if it comes, we don't look for it. And we definitely don't teach or tell our kids to do it. We do teach them how to protect themselves.

There was a radio announcer a while back that criticized pro players for "jumping out of the way". So they challenged him and to his credit, he got in the box. He'll never do it again.

Real easy to stand in the dugout and demand it. Not so easy to be told "Forget about all that time and effort you spent learning how to hit and just stand there."

I am not talking about bruised hands nor do I see how broken hands happen without swinging or at least starting a swing - unless they just stand there and make no attempt to do anything. It could happen I suppose.

Have a nice day.

quote:

I would ask my own son to do this. I would never ask a player to do something I would not expect of my own son.

Ask your son to do what?

Here's an idea. Put your hardest thrower on the mound and let him drill you in the back 3-4 times while the team watches. Don't show any reaction, just stand there. If they see the coach do it, maybe they'll stop jumping out of the way,

quote:

So they were intentionally not getting out of the way of the ball? I agree, I watched it too.

Which by the way is against the rules as I showed above.

Again thank you cabbagedad for being able to have a rational conversation and giving me some advice.

So my idea was irrational? Or was it following the rules?

It is an emotional filled response and in my opinion, not knowing you, one brought on because you are a father and you would rather see your kid jump out of the way of a pitch and then hit a double than because that makes him look better statistically.

I am not stating anything that is against the rules. I own the box, the box is mine as a hitter. If I roll away from the pitch this is completely legal. This is all that I am advocating and I was looking for advice as to how to get this ingrained in my players. In no way am I stating stick your knee out, roll in, stick your elbow out. All I am asking is roll on the pitch if it is at you so you do not get jumpy. Because guess what, if I am jumping at pitches at me I can not hit a curve ball because curve ball start at you. I will also be timid on an inside fastballs.

I tried to stop the debate because it is not getting anywhere not because you are irrational or because your right or wrong.

If you believe you are right great. Like I said before I got good advice from someone else.

quote:

Originally posted by NDD:
Why do you want them to "wear a pitch"? IMO, getting HBP should be an accident, not a strategy.


http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6624227

NDD,
I'm not sure if we are just misunderstanding because of symantics...
It is very common practice at just about every level of baseball, certainly HS and up, to learn how to turn properly and "wear a pitch". It is done for many reasons. To AVOID injury such as the one on the link you put up here, to take a base when the pitcher makes a mistake and gives you one, and as part of proper hitting technique. If you jump out of the way for every pitch that starts at your body, you'll never be able to hit past JV. You must be willing to hold your ground and read the pitch until you determine if that ball coming at your torso or head is going to dart in across the plate for a strike or continue at you. Certainly, if it is a FB and continues toward your head, you duck or back your head out. But you're usually not going to have time to jump out of the way for one at your torso unless you decide really early, which will prevent you from being able to hit breaking balls that start inside. So if it's going to hit you, you learn to turn inward, not in toward the plate but rotationally, so that if the pitch hits you, it will hit you on the meaty part of the side of your body (thigh, lat, butt, glance off the arm)instead of the front or the hands or directly to the spine.
Now, if you are talking about deliberately reaching toward the strike zone or toward the ball (illegal, but a few teams teach cheat methods), I agree, this is bush. I don't think this is what OP is talking about.
We just finished a HS summer tourney game today and part of the post-game speech was directed at a player/hitter who spun wildly to avoid a pitch. "You gotta wear that" is what was shouted out by several in the stands and all his teammates and coaches. Everyone in the ballpark, including the player himself would agree.
And yes, I've seen the sportscaster clip and yes, I've been drilled hundreds of times myself. It's the right thing to do in the right situation. It's part of the game just as much as sliding hard to break up a DP, holding your ground in the batters box when your teammate is stealing 2nd, diving hard for a grounder even when you know the infield is gonna tear your skin up, etc.,etc.

Umpires worth thier salt understand that the hitter must reasonably hold his ground while reading the pitch, so will usually allow for the properly executed "turn and wear it". Of course, they won't if the player moves toward the ball or makes no attempt to turn or move away at all, depending on the type of pitch.

Turn in to protect yourself. Jumping out of the way can cause more injuries than getting hit. Leaping up in the air to avoid a low pitch in the dirt? Leaping out of the batters box on a ball thrown in your batters box? Is there enough time to properly avoid getting hit in all these cases?

Turn in and if it hits you take your base. Never try to get hit. But never avoid getting hit when your properly attempting to turn in and avoid injury.

You want hitters to stay on the ball as long as they can. To watch it as long as they can watch it. By teaching them to turn in your teaching them to hold their ground and stay in there to the last split second. Imagine a kid who bails to avoid getting hit everytime a cb slider 2 seamer is thrown at their front leg. Imagine a hitter who holds his ground and sees it as long as he can and then at the last moment turns in to avoid getting hurt and takes it or it just misses him.

Imagine a pitcher who is pitching to a kid who bails on pitches? Imagine that same pitcher knowing that the hitter is not going to bail but simply turn it.

There is no way a kid can learn to hit by having the mindset that he needs to avoid being hit with a baseball. You simply turn in and if it hits you it hits you and you take your base. Kids that have part of their approach to make sure they get out of the way of being hit will never be hitters. Never.

Jumping back to avoid getting hit gets some kids hit. And usually its not pretty. Jumping back to avoid getting hit on a 2 seamer up and in that rides on in and hits them in the jaw as they are jumping back to avoid getting hit. Seen it a few times. If they had not worried about getting hit and simply turned in they would have worn it on the back and took their base. Instead of taking their place in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Coaches teach turning in so it becomes an instinctive reaction in a split second of time. So they dont get hurt trying to not get hit. Teach kids the proper way to "wear a pitch." Its for their saftey first. Leaning back, jumping back, trying to avoid getting hit gets you hurt.

quote:

Originally posted by IEBSBL:
It is an emotional filled response and in my opinion, not knowing you, one brought on because you are a father and you would rather see your kid jump out of the way of a pitch and then hit a double than because that makes him look better statistically.

I am not stating anything that is against the rules. I own the box, the box is mine as a hitter. If I roll away from the pitch this is completely legal. This is all that I am advocating and I was looking for advice as to how to get this ingrained in my players. In no way am I stating stick your knee out, roll in, stick your elbow out. All I am asking is roll on the pitch if it is at you so you do not get jumpy. Because guess what, if I am jumping at pitches at me I can not hit a curve ball because curve ball start at you. I will also be timid on an inside fastballs.

I tried to stop the debate because it is not getting anywhere not because you are irrational or because your right or wrong.

If you believe you are right great. Like I said before I got good advice from someone else.

Yes, I am a father. I am also a coach. I don't care about statistics. I care about the players and the game and playing it the right way. My responses are not emotion filled, they are in response to what I read, including the thread title. Emotion has nothing to do with the rule book. They were also based on me being told to send my link to the teams in the CWS.

cabbagedad, Coach May,
It is quite obvious to me that the intent of the question evolved after my first response. I don't disagree with anything either one of you said, I teach it myself, which is why The Kid took them in the back. Unfortunately that particular pitcher had a bit of late movement on his fastball.

I respect you both and so will bow out of the conversation.

I leave you with this:

quote:

I was talking about allowing the ball to hit you with out getting out of the way.