Best way to replicate elite velo for 16u players outside of showcases/tournaments?

[bebopdeluxe]

Hello there. My daughter is starting HS softball this spring, as well as playing with a 16u travel team that she joined last fall. It was a good step up in competition for her - she is young for the team, but is one of the teams' better players. However, she - and the rest of the team - have struggled at showcases facing elite velo.

I understand that there is simply no substitute for "seeing" elite velo, but are there other ways other than tournaments to see elite velo. Batting cages are incredibly frustrating to her - only getting maybe 25-30% good pitches to hit is frustrating.

I wonder whether former college pitchers "hire themselves out" to do hitting sessions with players or teams. That would seem to be a good way to make a few bucks on the side - yes?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. She has a good hitting coach, and we do an additional 1-2 "tunnel rentals" where I quick-toss to her, but it is not the same as seeing it off the mound. Working to pick the ball up out of the hand.

Thanks!

 

[Cornbread]

Read this thread. It’s not the end all be all on timing. Lots of variables when it comes to timing but this thread is a start. Timing can be mental and mechanical.

https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/let’s-talk-timing.44336/

 

[Cornbread]

This will also help


https://youtu.be/2SQkcLBZr94?si=05l5xoPxd5F-vbqo

 

[bebopdeluxe]

Read this thread. It’s not the end all be all on timing. Lots of variables when it comes to timing but this thread is a start. Timing can be mental and mechanical.

https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/let’s-talk-timing.44336/

That breakdown of Abbey Cheek's swing mechanics was excellent.

 

[ArmWhip]

only getting maybe 25-30% good pitches to hit is frustrating.

Assuming that the machine is fast enough why is this an issue? The one component I rarely see addressed is the swing-no swing decision and how it affects timing. I don't see much benefit to the Teacherman video, there's no decision that has to made as to whether the incoming ball is hittable. Years ago when my daughter was 12 I used to take her to the local outdoor baseball batting cage. After going there several times she wanted to go in the 'Super Fast' tunnel and try hitting the 70+ mph pitches. After 2-3 tokens she got to where she could make a decent amount of contact. I tried it myself and struggled to foul off a couple of balls. I asked her how she did it and she said that when she saw the ball drop into the back of the machine she started her swing, and if the ball was anywhere near where she was swinging the bat she could make contact. So she had no swing-no swing decision to make and was basically swinging at everything. A machine that is erratic can be very useful for training the go-no go swing decision. I know that when you are paying for every ball you feel like you should be able to swing at all of them and it's tough to look past that. If you hire a college pitcher would you want her to just fire fastballs or give you competitive at bats with someone calling balls and strikes, with spins and off speed stuff?

 

[CatchersPaPa]

Last offseason our local d1 team had 2 pitchers hold a small clinic for girls to practice hitting off a lefty and right handed pitchers. The pitchers would throw all the normal off speed pitches along with a few fastballs. My DG had a great time, and learned to see what she needed to work on. They burned her on the change-ups. We found out about this from a local facebook group. The price was $75 a session. I have wondered if the NIL is what allowed this to happen?

 

[steve1244]

My daughter's team pays a rotating crew of college pitchers to pitch live BP once or twice a month. It's not only helpful to see upper level velo and movement, it also has boosted the girls' confidence. If they can hit of college pitchers, they can hit off the best 14u pitchers, or so the thinking goes.