- Feb 15, 2013
- 33
- 0
Background:
I coach a first year 16A team. We were a decent 14B team last year, made the jump to 16A and we do well against pitching in the 55 MPH range but we struggle with contact near 60 MPH and up. We have no wins against pitchers above about 58 MPH and from this point forward in our season, that's about all we'll face.
I had the day off today so I spent a couple hours with a pitching machine at the field and wanted to pinpoint where the mechanical breakdowns occur vs fast pitching.
Approach:
I setup the machine at top speed (70 MPH) from 38 feet to match the release point. I stepped in there and I was a mess. Went thru about 50 balls and hardly squared any up at all, never came close to a HR (200 ft fence), and had only a few that would have even been base hits. Mostly weak grounders, flares and pop ups. Then I started backing the machine down 5 MPH at a time, hit 50 balls at 65 MPH, 50 at 60 MPH, 50 at 55 MPH, and 50 at 50 MPH. Below 60 MPH I was a terror. Almost every swing was a shot off the barrel, everything to the fence and many well over. Then I worked my way back up to 70 MPH to see what happens. The break downs in my swing were easy to pick out.
Things I felt:
In the 50-55 MPH range I had plenty of time to see the ball come out of the machine, make a strong positive move back to balance, and really drive my front shoulder hard into contact. I could load at release, see the pitch and make the positive move as the ball is coming at me. This was very comfortable, not stressing, and very fun to drive the ball. But, at around 60 MPH I started to struggle. I started the positive earlier, but the positive move was feeble, my weight stayed back, my front shoulder was soft, I spun on my back foot, and the weak backside caused me to have a scoopy hand path. All of this seemed to come from the simple fact that I had to time my positive move prior to seeing the pitch, and that was so disconcerting that it resulted in a feeble positive move and the scoopy/spinny swing.
How to coach it:
At 60 MPH and above the girls have to attack their hitting zone before they see the pitch. They should have a hitting zone that reflects the count (a selective hitting zone with no strikes, an expanded hitting zone with 2 strikes, etc.). Attacking their hitting zone is the challenge. In the 50s they can simply see the pitch and attack it with an aggressive positive move. At 60-70 MPH they must attack the hitting zone prior to seeing the pitch, then if the pitch is in that zone they launch the swing. Attacking the hitting zone means loading the weight back, coiling on an aggressive positive move (stride), and getting the front foot down. Doing all this prior to seeing the pitch appears to me to be the challenge associated with faster pitching. I would think we should be able to practice it with front toss from short distances - using sand balls or from behind a net. The key is to stress them into having to attack the hitting zone before release.
Any other experience or research with the evolution of your hitters from pitching in the 50s to pitching in the 60s?
Steve
I coach a first year 16A team. We were a decent 14B team last year, made the jump to 16A and we do well against pitching in the 55 MPH range but we struggle with contact near 60 MPH and up. We have no wins against pitchers above about 58 MPH and from this point forward in our season, that's about all we'll face.
I had the day off today so I spent a couple hours with a pitching machine at the field and wanted to pinpoint where the mechanical breakdowns occur vs fast pitching.
Approach:
I setup the machine at top speed (70 MPH) from 38 feet to match the release point. I stepped in there and I was a mess. Went thru about 50 balls and hardly squared any up at all, never came close to a HR (200 ft fence), and had only a few that would have even been base hits. Mostly weak grounders, flares and pop ups. Then I started backing the machine down 5 MPH at a time, hit 50 balls at 65 MPH, 50 at 60 MPH, 50 at 55 MPH, and 50 at 50 MPH. Below 60 MPH I was a terror. Almost every swing was a shot off the barrel, everything to the fence and many well over. Then I worked my way back up to 70 MPH to see what happens. The break downs in my swing were easy to pick out.
Things I felt:
In the 50-55 MPH range I had plenty of time to see the ball come out of the machine, make a strong positive move back to balance, and really drive my front shoulder hard into contact. I could load at release, see the pitch and make the positive move as the ball is coming at me. This was very comfortable, not stressing, and very fun to drive the ball. But, at around 60 MPH I started to struggle. I started the positive earlier, but the positive move was feeble, my weight stayed back, my front shoulder was soft, I spun on my back foot, and the weak backside caused me to have a scoopy hand path. All of this seemed to come from the simple fact that I had to time my positive move prior to seeing the pitch, and that was so disconcerting that it resulted in a feeble positive move and the scoopy/spinny swing.
How to coach it:
At 60 MPH and above the girls have to attack their hitting zone before they see the pitch. They should have a hitting zone that reflects the count (a selective hitting zone with no strikes, an expanded hitting zone with 2 strikes, etc.). Attacking their hitting zone is the challenge. In the 50s they can simply see the pitch and attack it with an aggressive positive move. At 60-70 MPH they must attack the hitting zone prior to seeing the pitch, then if the pitch is in that zone they launch the swing. Attacking the hitting zone means loading the weight back, coiling on an aggressive positive move (stride), and getting the front foot down. Doing all this prior to seeing the pitch appears to me to be the challenge associated with faster pitching. I would think we should be able to practice it with front toss from short distances - using sand balls or from behind a net. The key is to stress them into having to attack the hitting zone before release.
Any other experience or research with the evolution of your hitters from pitching in the 50s to pitching in the 60s?
Steve