if you're not going to swing at strikes...

[radness]

Hitters gotta hit. And when you are a big fish in a small pond you better be a big zone hitter.

At the next level, it does seem like many coaches are wanting swings only late in the count. Saw it all spring. Saw teams taking first pitch strikes, especially change ups all game long.

I sarcastically told my wife ”apparently the plan is to only swing when you have two strikes and they expect you to hit it over the fence”.

Lol "the plan" , well does it make the game more Dramatic or Anticlimactic ?

Strategy is fun...heres a conudrum~
Make the pitcher throw lots of pitches in the first and second innings
...Why?
So she gets warmed up & in a rythem?!

 

[radness]

Spent Anna’s entire TB career wanting to choke her for not swinging at first pitch strikes!

It got to were she wouldn’t even look at me after a called first strike!

And another thing, don’t know about you guys but I love the green light on a 3-0 count, maybe the best pitch you’ll see all game, hit the dang ball!

HAHA That first sentence laughing outburst!

Yes 3-0 GREEN LIGHT

 

[eddieq]

But, you need to look at that first strike because “now you know where it is”

 

[HunterMO]

And another thing, don’t know about you guys but I love the green light on a 3-0 count, maybe the best pitch you’ll see all game, hit the dang ball!

Agreed. DD’s JH coaches and TB coach don’t want her swinging on 3-0. Drives me nuts because she reads pitches well. And they always put her in the 3 or 4 spot for a reason. Trust her and let her hit.

 

[justanotherguy]

First pitch, 3-0, and 3-1 are my DD's most favorite pitches. On teams and girls that know her, rarely does she get that first pitch strike. On teams that don't know her, most pitchers are trying to get ahead and usually trying to throw a first pitch strike. However, if it's not something GOOD to hit, my DD will lay off it. She knows what she wants to see. But, any coach giving a blanket order to "watch the first strike" isn't that bright IMO. It means you don't think your batters are good enough.

As far as "seeing it", that's what every batter should be doing well before they get up to bat. My DD is watching how much the ball falls (reading spin), learning what types of pitches she's throwing and what's effective.

 

[CoachJD]

My favorite is "watch the first strike!" So, you knowingly handicap your batters?

I find scaring your hitters into "swinging at strikes" (which is different than "look for a good pitch and hit it") is even worse than taking the first strike (shouldn't do that ALL the time, of course).

 

[CoachJD]

Interesting tactic
Not swinging at first strike.
What situations would you consider not swinging at it?

Anyone share to this?!

If it's not exactly the pitch you want, where you want it, why swing at it?

Scaring hitters into thinking they have to swing at any pitch in the strike zone is going to create a bunch of terrible hitters. They won't bat aggressively; they'll bat defensively. They'll be so worried about taking a strike, which is a completely fine thing to do, that they won't actually go up to the plate with a plan to attack the pitcher.

There are worse things than taking strikes. There are worse things than striking out sometimes. There are even worse things than occasionally taking strike three.

 

[ANNASDAD]

There are even worse things than occasionally taking strike three.

Like what…..making DD walk home?

 

[CoachJD]

Like what…..making DD walk home?

I know you're joking, but here's a story to highlight what I mean:

My #1 HS pitcher is also a pretty good contact hitter (she COULD have a ton of power, but the reason she doesn't is part of this story). Early this HS season, she was pretty terrible. Half her swings were defensive, two-strike, slappy swings. She looked like she was trying to put any possible ball she could in play as quickly as possible. I dropped her out of the lead-off spot for a few games, and when it didn't improve, I had to talk to her. I've seen this girl really hit the ball with a decent swing, and she just wasn't doing it.

It turns out her dad had basically instilled a fear of striking out in her that caused her to just try to get bat on ball, good swing be damned. I told her I would never sit her for the occasional strike out, but if she kept having at bats/swings like she was, I'd just Flex her and let someone else bat.

I won't pretend she never reverted to the little slap swing (she's a lefty, but not a slapper, so it's not a good slap swing), but she definitely relaxed a lot after that day. She ended up finishing the year tied for the team single-season record for hits.

 

[ANNASDAD]

I know you're joking, but here's a story to highlight what I mean:

My #1 HS pitcher is also a pretty good contact hitter (she COULD have a ton of power, but the reason she doesn't is part of this story). Early this HS season, she was pretty terrible. Half her swings were defensive, two-strike, slappy swings. She looked like she was trying to put any possible ball she could in play as quickly as possible. I dropped her out of the lead-off spot for a few games, and when it didn't improve, I had to talk to her. I've seen this girl really hit the ball with a decent swing, and she just wasn't doing it.

It turns out her dad had basically instilled a fear of striking out in her that caused her to just try to get bat on ball, good swing be damned. I told her I would never sit her for the occasional strike out, but if she kept having at bats/swings like she was, I'd just Flex her and let someone else bat.

I won't pretend she never reverted to the little slap swing (she's a lefty, but not a slapper, so it's not a good slap swing), but she definitely relaxed a lot after that day. She ended up finishing the year tied for the team single-season record for hits.

The ole “fear of failure”, hats off to you for recognizing the issue and addressing it with her!