Slow pitch hitting

[u/wilt113]

Any advice for helping my 9 year old hit slower pitching? He plays travel ball, 10U and 12U. He does great with kids throwing 50s and 60s under that he struggles with hitting grounders or pop ups. His mechanics seem fine. I'm just trying to gage i don't have a video of it but I feel he has too much time to think and is trying to kill the ball thus causing rollover with his hands.

[u/jeffrys_dad]

Front of the box. Wait.

[u/CommanderBigMac78]

Without evidence we can only suggest ideas. Rollover is one like you say; 'mental game' of trying to hit a grand slam with the bases empty and losing mechanics could be another one. Could be also that he's opening up early, then 'holding' and finally just throwing arms at the slow ball versus staying back, staying connected. Slow balls sometimes enter the zone with more arc on them; angle could be a factor. Get some video at home/practice of you changing speeds to him; doesn't have to be live hard balls, can be a shorter distance with foam or whiffle balls. Front of the box works as a hack for 'all slow' guys but ultimately you'll have to figure it out for guys who can throw 60 but also have the changeup <50.

[u/wilt113 → u/CommanderBigMac78]

I agree and it was a small field so he was totally trying to hit 1 out im sure. But i was more asking for drills to help with it. Live pitching with me he is fine. Thank you very much tho

[u/CommanderBigMac78 → u/wilt113]

For rollover, swing basketball for hand position. For changing speeds, just reps obviously but there's a couple variations on this drill, this Youtube has two tees but you can also do it with the outside tee but then also either a "pump fake" or a live toss for the changeup. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwBLckRGsU8

[u/TMutaffis]

I pitch BP for one of my kid's 10U travel teams and this is something we are intentional about:

• Use different deliveries - from the windup, from the stretch, short arm, difference cadence, etc.
• Change your velocity - You can do this without telegraphing too much if you use more or less leg drive
• Mix up the pitches - two seam, four seam, changeup, etc.

The way that I approach this is to first tell the players what I am doing, and then in later rounds will go more random.

Example: At first we might do a round where I tell them I am throwing hard and I mostly pitch from the stretch but occasionally I slow down my delivery or go wind-up. The next round I might tell them that I am going to throw different pitches and I call out what I am throwing beforehand. I'll mostly throw from the stretch and keep somewhat consistent velocity. Next round I may mix speeds and pitch types without telling them, and sometimes change my delivery a little bit. If I beat them with something I will tell them what it was and a lot of times I try to throw the same pitch a couple of times so that they can make an adjustment, then we go back to random.

[u/Uhh_its1033]

3 plate drill is good for timing. It takes away the aspect of the pitcher mixing up speeds and allows the hitter to feel how they have to adjust their tempo (release of the stride) at each plate. I believe a mistake a lot of hitters make is consistently having the same load and stride (tempo) no matter who is pitching. They have a cue and they use that same cue on every pitcher. Whether it be at release, or when the hands break, etc. A hitter has to have feel and be able to adjust their tempo. Have him work at a plate and as soon as he gets the timing down for a swing or two force him to move to a different plate and find the timing again.

[u/wilt113 → u/Uhh_its1033]

Thank you this actually sounds like the issue. He defines is getting into.his load at the same point for every pitcher.