Using the zone - pitches

I'm a proponent of moving the body down. We have a saying, "If you get strike two down low, elevate and celebrate."

I'm also a believer in the idea of effective velocity. To put it VERY succinctly, moving the ball I the zone changes reaction times for batters in a way that mimics substantial velocity changes without actually varying velocity at all.

I know what I would want as a hitter, a smaller zone to look for the ball.  I would think the pitcher would want the opposite.

You just need to know when it is appropriate to go high. My son during his career, used it at the appropriate time. You need to know the hitter and his tendencies. Son usually pounded the low strike zone but would occasionally throw a high fastball just out of the zone. Players usually would swing and miss. 

Just need to be careful not to use it too much and create a tendency. 

I also think the old adage about pitching low and outside - "it's a nice place to visit, but you don't want to live there" - applies to staying consistently in any location. No matter what your movement or velocity, if you stay in one place too consistently, there will come a level at which batters can time it out and barrel you up.

Yeah, we're (HS) pretty conventional with our pitching and hitting instruction. For P's, live down and away but come up occasionally to change the sightlines and/or get a chase.  Similarly, you have to be willing to work in sometimes to keep the hitter from cheating out to your target zone.  Our HC/PC does a great job but likes to come in on 0-2 and I don't like that risk in that count.  Also, in HS, I think it's fine to work the middle when pitching backwards to get ahead.  This also helps the effectiveness of those off-speed pitches when you later start them in the zone and drop them down or out.

Of course, know your hitters.  If they can't catch up, don't help.  And many lower order kids can't stand in on a righty/righty or lefty/lefty hook.

As a hitting coach, we work oppo a LOT.  Eliminate holes in the swing to reduce vulnerable pitch locations.  Know the pitcher's purpose and use it to your advantage.  When 0-2, 1-2, get on top of the plate.  Put some of the pressure back on the P, daring him to come in, risking hitting you, and assuring that outside is outside.

Similarly, know your strengths and weaknesses.  If you are not a cerebral player, go look for a good pitch and drive it.

Back to pitching, I'd say the majority of our P's get to the point where they can work down pretty well.  I don't know too many who are able to live down that don't have success, even if they can't hit other locations very well.  Not surprisingly, some of the guys who really thrive on living down have a hard time getting that occasional "up" pitch up enough.  Ouch.

IMO sons best pitching coaches taught him to use the entire zone. You have to know how to cover all the bases (no pun intended).

I have to agree with roothog, you have to keep moving the ball around to be effective because being predictable is dangerous.

In our HS conference, it's possible to live low and away and succeed.

Sounds like your conference has poor plate discipline.