Too much cage hitting

I would like to see others respond to this....my son has always complained that too much cage work messes him up.

I make my team do everything you just said (except the one arm stuff) but really concentrate on it in the preseason. We probably do 70% drill and 30% cage / field hitting until about a week before we open. Then we try to keep it 50 / 50 for both but by halfway through the season we are probably 90% or more cage / field and 10% or less on drills. If we have time I will let them take cuts in the cage in small groups and then move to the field to hit.

If a player is in a slump or struggling with something then we take them off to the side to work drills to reinforce the good habits we are trying to teach.

But as for what you said earlier I don't believe you can do that all the time. At some point you just got to hit.

Our philosophy is attack fastballs and don't swing at junk until have to or if it hangs. We constantly say "know the zone" or "stay in the zone" - be disciplined and attack the stuff that is easiest to hit.

My son,played Division I ball, hated cage work-- he said it screwed up his timing---he wanted live BP

JMO but I don't think you can hurt yourself by doing cage work. The reps you can get in with soft toss and tee work can only help. The key is to be as focused during these drills as you are during live BP. That's not always easy, but like everything else, you get out of it what you put in.

Tim

Adam C.,
Your school sounds exactly like mine. JV nevers hits on the field and all that cage work. The worst thing about my school is that coaches judge hitters based on how they hit in the cage. JMO you can't tell where the ball actually goes in the cage.

We do a lot of soft toss and such at the beginning of the season and whenever we are inside. Outside, we do a lot of whiffle ball drills and dry swings.

Also, when we hit in the cage, do a lot of situational hitting. Infield in, infield back, hit and run, sac bunt, bunt for a hit, etc

We have one of those portable backstops, but we only use it 4 or 5 times a year. It is a big pain to set up so we don't mess with it very often.

We hit either on the field or in the cage most home games. Mainly in the cage, but on days where we don't have school we'll hit live.

I'm the type of hitter that I have to hit a lot. My dad and I hit 4-5 days a week now. I went to a hitting camp last week and we've hit all but 2 days since returning. We do soft toss and then hit about 40 or so. I use a wooden bat for a lot of it, but I use an aluminum in the cage some too.

IMHO, there is no such thing as too much cage or tee work. Now, it should be said that you must incorporate live bp with that in order to see the ball coming out of a live arm. Different perception for sure.
It also must be said that if 1 individual believes he's had too much, then he has. There is a lot of mental side there. The player must want more and appreciate working on different aspects of the swing mechanics. If he doesn't, then he may get board and complacent.
So I do believe that its individual.

Adam,
My school was the same way. About 80% of our hitting was just drills and then we had a little bit of hitting on the field but even then it was situational hitting where we had to execute a hit and run, move a guy over over from second, etc. I dont think there's anything wrong with that, but you do lose interest when you just roll over to second base ten times and then you're done. The worst part of it though is when you try to hit in the games and all anybody is able to do is ground out to the right side.

Situational hitting is a great part of the team game and has no place of interest for hitting coaches who are trying to improve a hitters chance of success at the plate.
It must be practiced in order for a hitter to be able to contribute to the team game.
We always spent a minimal amount of time on it before bp, but then enfasized hitting at all cost.
Situational hitting is also a part of strategy, but also teaches a player to hit behind or inside the ball and can enhance the batters batcontrol. It will always be more important to coaches than to hitters.

Bluedog speaks!!!!! does anyone listen

Situational hitting is key to victories--moving guys up--eliminating double play situations

BGD--do you understanding the game!!!!

Adam,
My HS JV team sounds like yours.The only time we every stepped on the field for BP was to shag balls for Varsity.Luckily,my head coach let me practice with varsity about 2 weeks into the season.

As far as cgae work goes I find it to be a bit planned.By this I mean its somewhat unrealistic.You go in there,do everything perfectly,but you know it will NEVER go like that in games.In a game a picther isnt softossing to you,or giving you a 65 MPH c*ckshot down the middle.It gives an unrealistic expectation in my eyes

Its kind of like when you are timing a catchers pop time and you do it when on the last pitch the pitcher throws,its going to be quicker because he is elevated and expecting it.

It helps alot,make no mistake about it,but to a certain extent it can be bad.

The idea of this thread and some of the responses leave me shaking my head. To say that we spend time in the cage is an understatement. However, I don't have players complaining. They are working at their game and wanting to get better. I don't know the structure of your cage time and that does have a lot to do with it. The easy way out is to condemn the time you spend in the cage as worthless and therefore, you don't have to bust your *** to get better. Naturally, the rub in all of this is that you should also do a lot of BP on the field. I read the one comment on 10 swings and out. WHAT? Now if I were a player and we did this, I'd be truly disappointed. The BP on the field has to accomplish many important goals not the least of which is pitch recognition. How can you do that in 10 swings? One last remark before I hack everyone off at me. If I were a marginal or lower level player, I'd look at that time in the cage as my prep to take someone else's position. I'd certainly go in there hungry and determined to win a varsity spot. Whatever the coach's rational for each drill is I'd make sure that I achieved it. JMHO!

I am with you there, CoachB!

Gon2rE22, I hope your parents are doing well. My Dad has had another "spot" discovered in his lungs. He suffers from being exposed to abestoes and so... Again, I hope both parents are progresing and on the track back to health.

Blue, thanks for the laugh. I was having a really bad day until i read your posts. With all sincerity, Thank you! You have made my day brighter, amist all this rain we're getting down here.

BD

Then call me a winning loser---we use situational hitting whenever the game situation calls for it---

Sometimes I wonder about your thinking especially since we dont even know if you coach and win--you are one scary individual where baseball is concerned

Glove Man, any aversion would help you about now.......Looking for sunshine?

Bluedog,

The kid asked a question.

Instead of attempting to provide perspective to the young man - you have added yet another post that starts with:

I,I,I and ends with Me,Me,Me.

Just a troll - throwing out meaningless one-liners.

Pathetic IMO. Will it ever end? LOL

I think he was kidding

Yeah - he has been "kidding" for about 4 years now. LOL

I believe in live bp. Seeing the ball out of a pitchers hand and timing are so essential to a hitter. We do some cage work , t work and soft toss. But this is done about 20% and live bp is about 80%. You can not get enough live bp. Hitting in a cage all the time and doing drills without alot of live bp can hurt hitters. It takes time and it takes arms. But it is worth it. As far as situational hitting , I want my guys to hit. Hit a good pitch and hit it hard. If I want to move a runner we bunt. When we hit and run we want a pitch we can drive in the hole but if its not a pitch we can drive in the hole we hit it where its pitched and take our chances. The last thing I want a kid doing is trying to hit a fb inside backside in the vacated hole. JMO everyone has one.

Coach May, your boys are most fortunate to have you as there coach and certainly hope both they and their parents know enough to appreciate it.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with situational hitting. It may have been unclear in my earlier post, but when pretty much all you do for your live hitting on the field is situational, that is when it becomes a problem, as you dont get a real chance to take live hacks.

Cage hitting is great because it is easier to retrieve the balls hit.

The work done in the cage as has been suggested is of great value.

Sadly. many players that do not get their hacks on the field in BP do not get a realistic view of what their cage contact is producing.

I have too often seen the cage hiiter think that all that good contact in the cages will translate to home runs and gappers. The only real barometer is hitting on the field.

We started something different this year. We never set foot in the cage without a plan. Instead of just taking cuts, we hit ten line drives to the opposite side, ten line drives back up the middle and then pull ten line drives. We started counting how many pitches does it take to accomplish this. It creates a little competition.

BOBO

If the key to hitting in the cage is making it easy to retrieve the baseballs then you are more off the wall than I thought you were


As for BG not having a plan is totally stupido----but then he has all the answers--accoring to BD

Just a way of measuring players abilities. If they hit as if they were in a game, they would only get 3 to 4 cuts before rotating out of the cage. But that's another drill...

I always loved playing coaches that never had a "plan" and just let players go as if they were in a game.

Cages are used to restrict the flight of the batted ball.

You may find other uses for the netting. In baseball, it is used to restrict the flight of the ball.

The shorter the distance the ball travels, the closer it is to retrieve.

There is no exercise that can be done in the cage that cannot be done on the field.

Baseball 101

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:
There should be no plan......Just hit like you would in a game.....No plan....

I remember being at 2 different clinics - with Edgar Martinez as the main attraction.

In addition to being perhaps the greatest DH that ever played the game - he was also a very genuine and nice person.

He talked about practicing off a tee - particularly the "high tee" - and how he would work on a specific aspect of his swing repeatedly in every session.

He also talked about BP - in the cage and outside of it - and the same approach.

It was enlightening to hear how he would have a very specific plan for practice - and work on very specific aspects of the swing.

So - here's the deal for our young readers.

You can listen to Edgar Martinez - probably will be a Hall of Famer.

Or you can listen to Bluedog - "creating chaos" with "the middle" - and "no hands and no wrists" - and practicing swinging a bat into a 300 pound bag of sand - and on and on and on.

These are the decisions you will have to face in the future. And ultimately - Mom and Dad wont be able to help much.

You need to think critically about the source of any information you receive.

Think hard - think long - and be smart.

And - Good Luck.

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:
...And, quit standing on third and interrupting hitters when they're in the box....Leave 'em alone and let 'em hit.....

Bluedog, if I do that, I'll be out of a job! LOL! Of course, the second guessing would be minimized!

BTW, regarding situational hitting, yes, we believe in the sac bunt. We win a lot doing it. Naturally, I'd like to steal that base instead of sac and we do that more. With regards to situational hitting and producing outs. THAT'S NOT MY GOAL. I want the hit. I want the ball driven where it is pitched. I want the hitter to get his job done while the runner does his. If they fail being aggressive, I'm always going to be alright with that. What I can't take is having a hitter take a pitch that was a called strike when that pitch should have produced a positive result for both the hitter and our team. JMHO!

(Bluedog, I for one will alaways agree to disagree on some of these matter because I know you speak with conviction.)

Coach

Is that conviction or convicted/

What do you do with a player who consistently tries to pull an outside pitch?

I would put him in a cage and teach him how to go the other way... but that would be a plan.

quote:

I want the hit. I want the ball driven where it is pitched.

Coach, so do I......

If the pitch is inside plate, a line drive to the pull side should be the goal......Runner on first, or not.....Forget the situation and hit the pitch.....

Pardon the interruption.

I am sure my points to be made here will be ignored by most because people like to attack each other out of reflexive action rather than based on substantive issues.

For all of those who fit into the above catagory [whether you think you do or not] define "situational hitting". And don't tell me everyone knows what situational hitting is. It is obvious to anyone with a modicum of objectivity on this site that many of you are talking about different concepts under the heading "situational hitting. As a further test of your objectivity, take a stab at defining "clutch hitting" and deferentiating it from "situational hitting." Of course I don't expect this to happen because, as I said, I am universally ignored.

For those casual readers who are still here and below the age of 24, CAGE WORK IS CRITICAL TO BECOMING A BETTER HITTER. PLEASE DO NOT RJECT CAGE WORK BASED ON ANYTHING ANYONE HAS SAID OR WILL SAY ON THIS THREAD.

The most valuable advice so far is that in any BP situation you must have a plan. What I mean by the words "a plan" is to focus on some aspect of your hitting on that day. For example only, are you having trouble hitting inside pitches? Work on hitting the inside pitch in the cage, tee, soft toss, etc. Have your buddy or the machine throw nothing but inside pitches over and over again until you are comfortable with your ability to hit it that day. Then, have your buddy or the machine set up to throw the ball in all locations and just react or adopt the "see the ball, hit the ball" approach. Are you reacting to the inside pitch in the same way you were when you were seeing nothing but inside pitches? If not, go through the same routine tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day until you are comfortable with your ability to see, react to and hit the insde pitch in the same way you did when you were seeing nothing but the inside pitch. When you have accomplished that, go to your next most troublesome area, say for example low outside pitches and work on those.

Good luck.

Now, the back bitting and name calling may continue.

TW344

TW,

IMO - Excellent advice!

Cage work with the tee, soft-toss,and live pitching works well for my son but machine pitching throws his timing off.

quote:

Of course I don't expect this to happen because, as I said, I am universally ignored.

TW,

I, for one, try not to ignore anything you have to say. I've read your stuff often enough to know, you know what your talking about.

I like the advice you gave in that last post.

PGStaff:

Thanks for the thumbs up. I make it a point to read everything you post also and for the same reasons.

TW344

quote:

Of course I don't expect this to happen because, as I said, I am universally ignored.

I know the feeling well TW.

The only time anyone converses with me about baseball is when I am posting pictures of small monkeys.

LOL