To be a top hitter, how often do you practice?

[CoogansBluff]

How much hitting practice do you think a kid needs if she's serious about taking her hitting to the next level?

How many days? How many balls? What would be your recommended routine?

 

[Coach Fastpitch]

I can just go by what my daughters hitting coach tells us what she did to get to the highest level. She was an all Big 12 SS, all-American, Gatorade player of the year in High School and played proffesionally over seas for a few years. She holds the home run record at a Big 12 school, too. She played her last tue competitive fast pitch game about 10 years ago.
At the age at 13/14 she took softball "truly serious". That is when she started taking 50-100 quality swings at least 5 days a week. Usually it was side toss with her brother or self toss. But she "figured out" a swing watching MLB, and listening to her travel ball coach, and some trial and error. She learned what a "quality swing" was by how the ball came off the bat. She said there were some nights her brother would side toss her or she would self toss, 300 balls just to get 50 quality swings. She didn't start hitting off a tee until she was 15. That was when she said she got really good because she could take as many swings as she liked and could work on hitting location specific pitches. She said her birthday and Xmas present from her aunt was a dozen softballs every year.
She encourages my daughter to take 50 quality swings 3-4 days a week. When we started with her as a 10 yr old it would sometimes be 300 tees or 300 front tosses/side tosses to get 50 and I would be the arbiter of quality. My daughter is now 13 and we just came back from the tunnels and she can get 100 quality swings in 125 - 150 swings. What used to be 2-2.5 hours is now an hour which allows another 30 to work on defense. We do this 3-4 times a week during school and 5 times a week in he summer. And now she is the arbiter of quality and I'm just the ball feeder/pitching dummy.

 

[chinamigarden]

I can just go by what my daughters hitting coach tells us what she did to get to the highest level. She was an all Big 12 SS, all-American, Gatorade player of the year in High School and played proffesionally over seas for a few years. She holds the home run record at a Big 12 school, too. She played her last tue competitive fast pitch game about 10 years ago.
At the age at 13/14 she took softball "truly serious". That is when she started taking 50-100 quality swings at least 5 days a week. Usually it was side toss with her brother or self toss. But she "figured out" a swing watching MLB, and listening to her travel ball coach, and some trial and error. She learned what a "quality swing" was by how the ball came off the bat. She said there were some nights her brother would side toss her or she would self toss, 300 balls just to get 50 quality swings. She didn't start hitting off a tee until she was 15. That was when she said she got really good because she could take as many swings as she liked and could work on hitting location specific pitches. She said her birthday and Xmas present from her aunt was a dozen softballs every year.
She encourages my daughter to take 50 quality swings 3-4 days a week. When we started with her as a 10 yr old it would sometimes be 300 tees or 300 front tosses/side tosses to get 50 and I would be the arbiter of quality. My daughter is now 13 and we just came back from the tunnels and she can get 100 quality swings in 125 - 150 swings. What used to be 2-2.5 hours is now an hour which allows another 30 to work on defense. We do this 3-4 times a week during school and 5 times a week in he summer. And now she is the arbiter of quality and I'm just the ball feeder/pitching dummy.

So? How's it working out

 

[JDBerry]

Loaded question.

Some kids don't have to work at hitting. Quite frankly, hitting isn't all that hard. We coaches have a tendancy to drive the confindence out oftne good hitters while trying to improve the bad ones. Coaching all to the least commom denominator so we don't hurt feelings or single out.

I like a hitter that I can't pigeon hole, label or otherise qualify as "this" kind of hitter. At younger ages I see coaches teach kids to wait and hit strikes during BP. I make my batters try to hit everyhing.

It's hard for me because it just came natural to me

 

[Coach Fastpitch]

Pretty good, so far, I know it sounds like a lot and an over aggressive father. But most of the time I don't even go with her she grabs the tee and bucket and goes out back and hits without me. It was raining today and she asked me to take her to the tunnels inside. She doesn't get that much in every week, and some weeks she gets no hitting in, but those are her choices.

Her thing is softball right now, she is 13, in a couple of months, she gets to make a decision, just like every year. If she wants to stop or decrease the commitment that is her thing. At 10 she wanted to play with her older sister, so she worked hard and got to as an 11 year old.

 

[CoogansBluff]

We coaches have a tendancy to drive the confindence out oftne good hitters while trying to improve the bad ones. Coaching all to the least commom denominator so we don't hurt feelings or single out.

Not sure what you mean by that. ... Can you expound?

My experience of seeing players develop up close is limited to coaching or seeing a group from around age 8 to now age 14. A couple seemed like naturals. Just the experience of playing and repetition seemed to be all they've needed. They remain the best hitters that I've ever coached (and that would include about 30 players probably). But I've also seen girls leap-frog others by out-working them and fixing major flaws in their swings. And I've seen others (too many) hit a ceiling as hitters because they have major swing issues that need to be dealt with, but who don't seek coaching and don't put in the time.

 

[JDBerry]

Not sure what you mean by that. ... Can you expound?

My experience of seeing players develop up close is limited to coaching or seeing a group from around age 8 to now age 14. A couple seemed like naturals. Just the experience of playing and repetition seemed to be all they've needed. They remain the best hitters that I've ever coached (and that would include about 30 players probably). But I've also seen girls leap-frog others by out-working them and fixing major flaws in their swings. And I've seen others (too many) hit a ceiling as hitters because they have major swing issues that need to be dealt with, but who don't seek coaching and don't put in the time.

Put players in a group and instruct to them all the same. Introducing uncertainty in the natural hitters reduces their confidence

Some can hit anything. Soft toss inside drills/ outside drills does not matter. They just have an eye for the ball they want. Just don't screw them up by unintentionally making them think they are doing something wrong

Example: coach gets angry because a few screw up bunts, slaps, whatever. So coach concentrates practice on improving that aspect but kills the confidence of those that do well because the don't single out the issue

I suck at explanation of this sort online, I apologize