Pitch Selection

[ERA]

Pitch Selection

 

Pitch selection is directly linked to bat selection. ˜How˜s that?˜ you say. Well, let˜s break down a few things that the batter is doing during the pitch. As the pitch comes in to the batter, she has milliseconds to make up her mind if it is a strike or ball, fast or change, drop or rise, curve or screw ball. These things are determined strictly within the confines of the batters mental and athletic prowess. Just a few milliseconds either way in the decision process determines if the batter is successful or not. To explain the link, let˜s exaggerate the situation.

 

If the batter were holding a ten pound sledge hammer in her hands and had to make those same decisions mentioned above, when do you think she would start her swing? Exactly, she would start either before the ball was released from the pitchers˜ hand or during the release so the sledge would be going through the zone as the ball enters it. She would not have time to establish what the pitch was much less determine a strike or ball.

 

If the batter were holding a broom stick in her hands and had to make this decision, the ball could practically be above the front of the plate before starting the swing and still get the broom stick through and make contact. She could tell you that it was an inside curveball and make solid contact because she had more than enough time to read the pitch.

 

A too heavy bat will not give the player the decision time it takes to read the pitch. You will find the swing trying to start too early. The swing may also wind up with a hitch in it (cocking of the bat backwards up and behind the head before going forwards to gain momentum). This is usually seen in slow-pitch and can cause more problems than you could solve. Some players may have that great eye to hand instinct and can still manipulate it through the zone but most can˜t. Give your player all the extra milliseconds they can possibly have to recognize the different pitches so that they may be successful but not get too light of a bat that they are cheating themselves out of extra bases. It˜s a very delicate balance that you have to chase through their whole careers. They are constantly growing in height, size and weight which gives cause to always pay attention to their swing and adjust as you see fit.

 

This, still, is even more complex than these few paragraphs offer. Give your kid the best chance to succeed by allowing her the time to make the right decisions.

[cornpup]

Dang ERA, you gotta lotta time on your hands today.

[ERA]

Thanks cornpup, but actually this is stuff I jot down over time and use it to explain the mechanics to batters. This problem of picking up the heaviest bat because you saw your number four hitter using it just doesn't fly with me. These kinds of mistakes are made all the time and it's time to address it.

 

I'll do better than that. Let me give an example. A few years ago, we were midway through a summer season when I began to notice that the girls on the team were not hitting as well as this one girl in particular. I began to study the differences because I knew the others were even more talented than the girl who was hitting the most. I discovered that the lighter bat was the reason for success. She was swinging a 20.5 oz while the others were swinging 22 and 23 oz bats. I began to video tape the batters and would do my homework. When you stop the film down frame by frame, you see the rest of the team starting their swings long before the girl that was getting all the hits off of the same pitchers. Some of the girls dropped bat weights and the hits exploded on the team. This is a fact. The trick was that at first I couldn't see it in their swings but now I can spot it immediately. It's just training yourself to know what to look for and it's not that I'm better at it than anyone else. Details will make the difference. Overdoing it will also kill you I know but it's dang hard enough to hit a ball moving all over the place much less trying to hit it with a telephone pole...lol!

 

By the way cornpup, my wife read your post and she said ditto!!!lol!

[Edited by ERA on 2-23-03 8:55P]

 

[cornpup]

ERA, I didn't read your post earlier, I just saw how long it was and decided to be a smart@$$. Anyhow, I just read it and couldn't agree with you more. Ken Griffey Jr. swings a 33" bat. Half the 18u's in fastpitch are swinging 34" bats. What's wrong with that picture. I know you were talking more about weight but it kinda falls under the same category. Softball dads are mostly to blame, but coaches should stand up and have more say about the length and weight of the bat that his/her players are swingin'.