2 strike philosophy

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Our team seems to strike out more than any teams I see all weekend long. We are up there getting full cuts at every pitch. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of looked at strike threes too. We are scoring an average of 1 or 2 runs a game. I was hoping some of you could share your approach to batting with 2 strikes (other than "you gotta protect")

 

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I don't really change much of anything. The only time I want our players changing is with runner on third and one out or runner on second and no outs, and even then only if one run is important at the time. In those situations I'm looking for some contact.

 

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one thing that drives me nuts is facing a good thrower and spotting her a 1st pitch strike . Are your kids being aggressive enough and not spotting her a strike . If you go behind 0-1 against a great thrower you are asking for trouble .

 

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Howard Carrier, hitter and Tim Duncan( Boulderdad) and others use a term called attack mode. I will let them post it in detail.

 

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We too struggle with looking 3rd strikes. I tell them do not let the umpire decide your at bat. I want good cuts at hittable pitches. Not balls and strikes.

 

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I was hoping to hear some thoughts on choking-up a bit and shortening everything up in an effort to make some contact. Is this merely a way to become an "easy out" or is there some validity to putting it in play and making them make a play on you?

 

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That in my opinion would depend on the age group, in the younger ones you can get away with that, not the older ones.
They need to see the ball and put the bat on it.
Yogi Berra always said he was a bad ball hitter. You have to put it in play or foul it off, the more you foul off pitches the more likely the pitcher will make a mistake. Now take into account I am NOT saying to swing at over your head pitches etc. but the border line ones because the umps could call them either way and we have seen our share of those this year.

 

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So much additional thought is needed here as was previously stated. IMO, the age of the team is probably more important than anything else.
I coach in the 10 & 12U divisions. My mission in that situation is just to get a ball put in play. Never want to give the pitcher the upper hand by getting too far down in the count, because crafty pitchers will throw a waste pitch in hopes that the batter goes chasing. They will also attack corners with pitches a ball in or outside in hopes to get the called 3rd or a swing at a bad pitch. Having umped 14 & 16U at Lasers this past weekend, I can honestly predict with 99% certainty the pitch call location of an 0-2 or 1-2 pitch. I saw it several dozen times.
Now that she is in this position (down in the count) , the simple goal is this....put a ball in play or foul off the tough strikes. Choke up? Absolutely...especially in the younger age divisions. Put a ball in play & force the defense to put her out. Get a piece of anything that looks like a strike.

Rule #1..don't let the umpire decide your fate. Swing & miss at strike 3 (that would have been a called strike)....attagirl!!!!
Watch strike 3....not so good.
Just my opinion...

 

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so much goes into each individual AB , is this particular hitter a power hitter ? contact hitter ? does she have speed where ' shortening up " would be a good idea ? Its a great question. I've seen slappers get blown away on strikes 1-2 , then strike out making no noticeable adjustment at all. Another question is " shortening up" a good idea if the team hasnt really practiced it ? if you run across a great thrower who is really on her game by the 2nd time thru the line up you know you prob are not going to get more than 1-2 runs ( at best) and shortening up makes good sense. Look how Alabama changed their AB"s a ton in between games 1-2 against OK and Rickettts in 2012 . To me that was great coaching .

 

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I like to use the words "expand your strike zone" instead of protect with my DD. I do this to try and avoid her thinking she's in trouble, which makes her more tight and anxious which destroys good hitting mechanics. Great hitters stay calm, relaxed, and focused on the center of the ball, regardless of strike 1, 2 or 3. I want her to stay in this mode even with strike 2 on her. The only thing different I want her to do is expand the strike zone and everything else remains the same. Like any other skill this takes a lot of practice and I ask her in out personal batting sessions at home to put her mind in that mode to help develop the skill. I think many coaches and parents largely neglect the mental aspect of the game and should work as hard on the mental game as they do on the physical skills. If you can master both, you will be a great hitter and player!

 

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Kids talking to each other? So they know what pitch to expect. Learning to communicate and looking for a pattern helps batters, IMO.

 

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I'm not opposed to all backwards Ks. If it's a 3-2 count, nobody on base and the pitch is a 50-50 pitch, I'll take my chances in letting the umpire decide my fate.

 

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Attack mode for us. Choking up, never. If you do choke up, do you practice your swing that way?

 

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Great point, Joe ... it definitely depends on the situation ... 3-2 is definitely different than 0-2, 1-2 or 2-2. Runner on 3rd and 1 out ... you obviously want to err to the side of putting it in play though ...

I'm not a hitting guru by any stretch of the imagination, but it just never made sense to me to do something different than your normal/best approach to the ball, with the exception that you do expand the zone some if the situation calls for it as noted above.

 

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This is great stuff here. I also use attack mode but will say protect the plate. At practice I do a ' pitch selection ' drill . Try not to let the hitters swing at bad pitches to get down in a count against these great pitchers. I also have seen and teach to swing and miss on purpose at strike 3 if you see a way out of the strike zone and the catcher cant or wont catch it. Sounds wrong but its been done to us a lot. If you can video tape hitting practice and show kids, also, the coaches eye app is awesome. it will help a bunch too. Another thing we do is .. We dont say 'batting' we say hitting.. when we get in the box we are there to hit, not bat. This helps some kids. Now our girls say I went to the hitting cages, we did hitting practice... Try some eye and brain training drills too... like with soft toss.. put the ball on your hip, make the hitter say ball this way you know her eyes are focused in the ball.. before she swings, make her say HIT. This triggers nerves and her brain sends triggers to her muscles to swing hard. this is also good for muscle memory when swinging. a hard focus, soft focus drill works with pitch selection.. I use a big mag light with a moveable beam. in our cage, I will line all the kids up behind home plate, put my pitching coach on the rubber... I have the lights shut off, its dark, I use the flash light.. soft focus, big beam, see the pitcher, cfer, ss, 2nd baseman, runner on 2.. ect.. hard focus- pitcher toes the rubber, turn the beam down on the pitchers hip. this works good if you are throwing live at practice that day. it has helped a few over here. hope this stuff can help your group..

 

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Sing it Lester..............my DDs NEVER choke up. It is not part of our plan. Both my DDs get in the box looking to hit.

12U - she has said on many times that once she gets 2 strikes she actually relaxes. Because now she is in full attack mode. Anything even close she is attacking. She plays on a 12U A team and is probably hitting 500+ on the year. She is always looking to hit.

14U - Same mind set. Except she steps into the box in full relax attack mode. She HATES walking. So for her the biggest challenge has been controlling the zone. In HS many teams started pitching around her and so she has learned to be more patient.

I can only say that aggressive hitters do not get stuck. They need to be aggressive the whole at bat IMO. You should not be changing much except expanding the zone of what you will swing at.

 

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Sing it Lester..............my DDs NEVER choke up. It is not part of our plan. Both my DDs get in the box looking to hit.

12U - she has said on many times that once she gets 2 strikes she actually relaxes. Because now she is in full attack mode. Anything even close she is attacking. She plays on a 12U A team and is probably hitting 500+ on the year. She is always looking to hit.

14U - Same mind set. Except she steps into the box in full relax attack mode. She HATES walking. So for her the biggest challenge has been controlling the zone. In HS many teams started pitching around her and so she has learned to be more patient.

I can only say that aggressive hitters do not get stuck. They need to be aggressive the whole at bat IMO. You should not be changing much except expanding the zone of what you will swing at.

This is so hard to teach. That agressive killer nature I feel is in a special group of kids. I have had a few and have had the other side of girls who are lost in the box. I would love to have that agressive anything close its crushed but find it is very hard to come by at 10u

 

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This is so hard to teach. That agressive killer nature I feel is in a special group of kids. I have had a few and have had the other side of girls who are lost in the box. I would love to have that agressive anything close its crushed but find it is very hard to come by at 10u

I think many are born. But I actually think it can be coached.

My wife has NEVER asked girls to look for walks. She never even mentions getting walked. We only talk about hitting the ball. I think too many times players are told good job when they get a walk. Not saying you should ever swing at a bad pitch or not take a walk. I am only saying that you must be very careful with kids. They often want to make us happy and be successful. And at 10U the wait for walk kid can easily get the wrong idea.

Always encourage hitting and discuss walks as an unfortunate at bat when you did not get to hit. At 10U my wife would often have girls swinging at the 3-0 pitch. She does not want them looking for a walk but rather always thinking attack. At the end of the day it is always easier get them to taper back. But I have seen kids that never really get the motor going. Unfortunately, sometimes you must thin the herd.

Actually, I have a 3rd DD who is an 11U who just started playing. She was never really interested and so we never pushed it. And she is wired the same way. It has taken us this long into the season to have her taper back. She easily leads the team in going down swinging. But this past weekend she hit 6 line drives (4 for hits) and had a walk. So she is on her way. Her mother came to watch Sunday and she got walked and ground out and cried on the way home because she did not get to show off her hitting, she felt she had a bad day.

So I can only suggest that at 10U you MUST stop worrying about winning and worry about wiring. Get them thinking hitting and attacking at all times. I cringe every time I walk by a 10U field and watch a girl get walked and hear the crowd go wild. Like the batter did anything. She got on base by doing nothing. That is hardly a reason to celebrate IMO. Go crazy for the hits. But for the walks just clap quietly and tell her she will get her next time.

 

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I think many are born. But I actually think it can be coached.

My wife has NEVER asked girls to look for walks. She never even mentions getting walked. We only talk about hitting the ball. I think too many times players are told good job when they get a walk. Not saying you should ever swing at a bad pitch or not take a walk. I am only saying that you must be very careful with kids. They often want to make us happy and be successful. And at 10U the wait for walk kid can easily get the wrong idea.

Always encourage hitting and discuss walks as an unfortunate at bat when you did not get to hit. At 10U my wife would often have girls swinging at the 3-0 pitch. She does not want them looking for a walk but rather always thinking attack. At the end of the day it is always easier get them to taper back. But I have seen kids that never really get the motor going. Unfortunately, sometimes you must thin the herd.

Actually, I have a 3rd DD who is an 11U who just started playing. She was never really interested and so we never pushed it. And she is wired the same way. It has taken us this long into the season to have her taper back. She easily leads the team in going down swinging. But this past weekend she hit 6 line drives (4 for hits) and had a walk. So she is on her way. Her mother came to watch Sunday and she got walked and ground out and cried on the way home because she did not get to show off her hitting, she felt she had a bad day.

So I can only suggest that at 10U you MUST stop worrying about winning and worry about wiring. Get them thinking hitting and attacking at all times. I cringe every time I walk by a 10U field and watch a girl get walked and hear the crowd go wild. Like the batter did anything. She got on base by doing nothing. That is hardly a reason to celebrate IMO. Go crazy for the hits. But for the walks just clap quietly and tell her she will get her next time.

I 100% agree. I heard coaches all weekend tell girls its 3-0 your not swinging!
It drives me nuts. I told my girls this weekend if you look to walk and on hittable pitches and refuse to try and hit; when you walk to 1st I'm going to have you step off and get out by look back rule. LOL They didn't call my bluff

 

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I think choking up is more prevalent in baseball where they have to swing heavier bats. It increases bat speed and/or control. With the lighter bats in softball, it's less useful and may indicate they don't have the correct length/weight bat.

Hitters need to know their own strengths and weaknesses. They should have discipline early in the count to look for a pitch that is their best chance of driving based on the pitcher. If they're disciplined, the coach shouldn't be scared of greenlighting them on 3-0 counts because that might be the best pitch they see. They become less selective with 1 strike and open up with 2 strikes. Being selective doesn't hinder having an aggressive swing.