Training the Swing-No Swing Decision

[Westwind]

Spectators should buy a ticket.

Hitters gotta hit.

2019 data for baseball but the softball numbers are there at 6-4-3 Charts.

 

[Westwind]

In team practice and in games, coaches should mostly keep their mouths shut about most things hitting if the players are getting outside hitting instruction.

In a team environment some hitting practice should involve live arm, even if it’s no more than a dad 11-15 paces from the hitter, throwing from behind a screen. That should involve purposely thrown balls off the plate. Balls so obviously off the plate that the decision is easy. In fact, even at older ages, some decisions should be easy. The important thing is that they are deciding. It doesn’t have to be millimeters thin decisions.

In practice, the sternest rebuke should be “hey what is your perception of where that was?” If they can’t tell you where the pitch was that they just hit, they are on auto-pilot and that should be approached as that is the throwers problem not the hitters problem.

It’s great to see meatball after meatball in practice but if your hitters are locking up against normal pitching, seeing bad pitches in practice will almost always fix it over time.

I’ll say this too- If a hitter consistently creams a ball that would not be called a strike, why in the world “correct” that? If a right handed hitter consistently hits outside pitches oppo hard and burns the right fielder for triples, is there something to fix there?

 

[ArmWhip]

There are a lot of statistics out there and i find it difficult to decide which ones are relevant. For instance:
"Major league hitters hit .068 on first pitch strikes (total first pitch strikes which include foul balls, called strikes, & outs divided into hits)."
This was in an article encouraging pitchers to throw more first pitch strikes.

It’s great to see meatball after meatball in practice but if your hitters are locking up against normal pitching, seeing bad pitches in practice will almost always fix it over time.

This is what I'm trying to get the HC to understand.

 

[RADcatchers]

The swing-no swing decision is not something I see discussed very much.

Theres that.

Most hitting discussions (and BP) are focused on mechanics, timing, quality of contact, launch angle, etc.

Typical

During team batting practice pitches outside the strike zone are considered a waste of time, with only weak advice to 'swing at the good ones'.

well that's a tell of their coaching Style, & a mindset coach is putting into the players

I told

That other coach already has their mentality of being in the Box. Do you think they would listen to you? Are they?


In this you describe the coach's mentality towards hitting. Think you're up against...asking yourself if that person is going to change their mentality.



What type of personality is that person?

 

[CoachCeetar]

There are a lot of statistics out there and i find it difficult to decide which ones are relevant. For instance:
"Major league hitters hit .068 on first pitch strikes (total first pitch strikes which include foul balls, called strikes, & outs divided into hits)."
This was in an article encouraging pitchers to throw more first pitch strikes.

This is what I'm trying to get the HC to understand.

I'm not sure that's correct, and it certainly doesn't make sense. If I'm running this correctly, there have been 80,236 first pitches that are foul, called strike, in play, swinging strike. 4644 hits and 10801 whiffs for a .327 BA. 42.2 HardHit%

The BA just looking at pitches in the zone on 0-0 is .335. .ISO of .249

BA just looking at pitches OUT of the zone on 0-0 is .272. .ISO (isolated power) of .107

Nothing better than getting that first strike if you're a pitcher. But if you're a hitter, nothing better than jumping on a first pitch fastball.

It's almost like it's actually a cat and mouse game here, and that's why scouting reports exists. free swinger? throw it off the plate. Always takes the first pitch? Fire it in there. and vice versa as a hitter.

 

[canyonjoe]

View attachment 29952
Spectators should buy a ticket.

Hitters gotta hit.

2019 data for baseball but the softball numbers are there at 6-4-3 Charts.

How is this interpreted? Does that mean that the average D1 baseball player batted 358 or is it on balls in play that's the batting average?

 

[Westwind]

How is this interpreted? Does that mean that the average D1 baseball player batted 358 or is it on balls in play that's the batting average?

Good question. I believe it is all D1 baseball in 2019 so that would be correct. It sounds high.

I thought I had a more recent D1 and D3 softball chart saved but I couldn’t easily find it.

6-4-3 Charts is excellent. Confirms some stuff we already knew and refutes some behind the backstop tales!

 

[RADcatchers]

How much do stats really matter when the numbers come from inconsistent competition levels?

Just saying...
the last place team in the Big West Conference did one thing really well... they were really good at inflating everybody else's team averages!
Big Time!

Hmmm that last place team in the conference may have set a record for most amount of being run-ruled. Is that an achievement?

 

[Rolling Hard]

Poor Bakersfield. Some super coach like Mike Candrea should come out of retirement as a mission of mercy and get that program turned around.

 

[RADcatchers]

Poor Bakersfield. Some super coach like Mike Candrea should come out of retirement as a mission of mercy and get that program turned around.

Haa haaa
'mission of mercy'
Ohhh the laughter