Baseball Talk: Hitting, Pitching, Catching Strategy

I have now filed this play

 

When I started this thread, I really didn't care about method of hitting, what I was trying to get you guys to think about is "how do you teach?"

You have top down, bottom up, etc....

My favorite way, if you have a player that is just terrible AND he is at the point where he is willing to work, is to teach it backwards.

If you start and the end and work backwards, each phase you are teaching will be reinforced by completing the sections you have already done, instead of working into the unknown.

Golf instructors have used this and it only makes sense to me.

Ideas anyone?

 

NCBaseballfan, I've seen it done before, as to working backwards, at a Doyle baseball clinic. Instructor was Chet Greeson.

I agree with BearBryant about having to see it before you can hit it. Next time you're at the batting cage, walk down the side of the net 10 feet or so and watch the hitter's eyes. The guys that are struggling a bit usually are not trackng the ball all the way to the contact box.

I picked up from someone else a pretty simple way to get players "back on track". Throw them a dozen or so 4 seam fastballs and tell them to recognize the spin because shortly you're going to start mixing in 2 seam fastballs. The hitters think they need to know what pitch is coming to help them hit but the whole idea is just to get them to watch the ball. If they can recognize 4 seam from 2 seam in the cage and practice that, most will improve.

 

neckball - great name....

Real good observation, you have to use what's above the neck in order to hit the ball!!!!!

 

Recognizing a 2 seamer from a 4 seamer? I did not know that was possible.
I understand a curve ball rotation and a slider rotation (see the dot) but I do not quite see how you can pick up 4 seam and 2 seam fastballs.

 

I gotta agree with Applejack on that one. The spins are too similar. When you think about the rpm generated and the time the ball is in flight, I don't think you have enough time to do that. Sliders, yes.... the dot draws your eye towards it.

I have an old textbook around here on vision with a section that relates to sports - I'll try to look up some summary notes for you guys. The one thing I do remember from reading the section was that there are a lot of drills you can do to improve your visual baseball ability (not your eye sight). Things like tracking, visual concentration, visual reaction time .... stuff like that.

We don't train the eyes except by performing the routine drills. There are methods that you can do in you own home, without a bat, that will help your hitting...that's about all I can remember for now.

Over on the HSBaseballWeb, Mr. Physix posted a response dealing the the "critical flicker factor" which dealt with how fast moving objects appear to each of us. It seems like some people can actually "see faster", just like some people can throw harder.

 

Dynamic Visual Acuity & Baseball.

I found my book and shuddered at the thought of making sense of the information in a single post (it's my old Physiological Psychology text book).

So I took the easy way out and went to look for a web site that had (roughly) the same information. I found this one and it's a lot more understandable than the gibberish I would have ended up writing.

http://www.aoanet.org/conditions/sports_vision.asp

If we send our hitting coaches to this site, I'm afraid none of the kids will get to work in the cages this season...

It sure supports the old "See the ball, hit the ball" concept don't it!!!!

 

The idea behind the drill is not to be able to identify whether a two seam or four seam fastball is coming in a game but to be able to recognize that one spin is different from another. To be able to tell the difference you have to watch the ball. After two rounds in the batting cage, I've had 13 yr. olds who could recognize 2 seam and 4 seam. Again, the idea is to get them to watch the ball all the way in and not necessarily be able to differentiate between slider, cutter, curve, etc. It''s a practice drill that you use to train yourself to track the ball all the way in that you hope carries over to the game. In practice, you don't throw 4 or 5 different pitches hoping your players can name them all. Just see the ball, hit the ball.

 

I wonder what subtle clues people sometimes pick up when at bat - whether it's the ball movement or laces or spin.

I know when my son throws a 2-seamer versus a 4-seamer....
With my bifocals on, the two seamer whacks me in the left leg... the 4 seamer whacks me in the right!!

 

neckball "but to be able to recognize that one spin is different from another. To be able to tell the difference you have to watch the ball."

I've been hitting baseballs for 33 years and if you were to put me in batting practice right now, the only way that I could tell the difference in a two seamer and a four seamer is the action the ball makes but not from the spin.

A good drill is to tell your hitters to watch the complete flight of the ball if he does not swing. From the time the pitcher throws the pitch until the catcher catch the ball.
If they are to swing, keep your head down and see the ball hit the bat.