Pitching and Pitchers Discussion How do you teach pitchers to hit spots?

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DD is also a pitcher, we use the catchers mitt just placing where I would like her to "place" it. Her lead foot will help direct it depending on where she finishes with it is usually where the ball end up.

A little advice though, if you haven't already, grab some shin guards and a good five gallon bucket to save yourself some pain in the long run.

My dd steers with her feet, and when she has good mechanics going on, it is her snap that directs how high or low and use a 5-star drill. However, when she doesn't, she still steers with her feet and it is where the ball goes and try to use a 3 star drill. That's why I have the thread concerning wrist flips, to get you alls opinion.

Concerning the shin guards and 5 gallon bucket. Completely agree. The balls that are low and don't have guards, you'll be grabbing those shins acting like Mr. Parker in "A Christmas Story" or try to do a line from Clark W Griswold from "Christmas Vacation".

 

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Never aim, use proper mechanics, practice and the ability for any pitcher to hit their spots will come. Working off the power line is key to hitting spots, knowing where to step makes is much easier to throw the ball where you want it to go.

Chip has hit it right on. After a pitcher has developed good mechanics they hit spots by stepping "slightly" to the left and right of the power line. I say slightly because you don't want a pitcher to exagerate the step off of the power line for the same reason you wouldn't want your pitcher to slow down arm speed when throwing something offspeed. A good hitter will pick either one of these tendencies up and it will be lolly pop city.

 

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What I like to do with my 11 year old niece is to have her close her eyes and pitch. If the mechanics are good, the ball will come straight to my glove on the corner I call.

 

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What I like to do with my 11 year old niece is to have her close her eyes and pitch. If the mechanics are good, the ball will come straight to my glove on the corner I call.

Never heard of anyone doing that before. Seems like a sure way to twist an ankle on her front side. I don't think I'd be doing that.

 

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What I like to do with my 11 year old niece is to have her close her eyes and pitch. If the mechanics are good, the ball will come straight to my glove on the corner I call.

I do this quite a bit with the pitchers I work with. It is great for their confidence when they can feel what is working.

 

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we try to practice a few times per week, work on hitting one or two spots then adding another and then mixing it up. At practice, we use teh power line but may be a crutch since no lines during the softball games. Also incorporate many of the other comments on this thread. I've heard of trying to pitch with with her eyes colsed but never tried that.

 

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our pitching coach has my dd do it with her eyes closed. It seems to work.

 

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our pitching coach has my dd do it with her eyes closed. It seems to work.

Is this a drill that pitching coaches do with "young" pitchers that are having troubles hitting spots? My DD is a very successful pitcher with a very successful pitching coach and he never ever mentioned closing her eyes to learn to hit spots. Thats why I was wondering if that is something that you do with a young pitcher having troubles? Pitchers either learn to hit spots with good mechanics and good footwork or they don't. Eyes being closed doesn't seem to play into that equation. I'm gonna try to be funny right now, but if your pitcher is having problems hitting spots in a game are you gonna tell her to close her eyes? Pitchers need to find themselves, and feel the pitch with eyes open, full focus, total explosion, and the confidence that they are the baddest girl between the lines whether they are in practice or a game period!!!!! If they can't feel it with their eyes open then they need to choose another position!

 

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my DD is 9 so that could be the case.

 

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Some of you are totally missing the point of this drill. If your mechanics are spot on, you can hit a spot even with your eyes closed. The idea is to visualize the motion in your head and execute it on the mound.

If you are worried your daughter may "twist an ankle" then apparently she has a long ways to go with her mechanics before she can even start thinking about hitting spots. If your pitcher can't hit spots during a game then maybe it's just not her day and is time to change pitchers.

A flip side to your last comment. If your pitcher isn't good enough to go through her entire motion with her eyes closed and throw a strike then maybe it is she who needs to find another position to play.

Whatever works for your DD I guess. Myself, I firmly believe in this drill as I have seen the results in how my DN (dearest niece ) pitches.

Is this a drill that pitching coaches do with "young" pitchers that are having troubles hitting spots? My DD is a very successful pitcher with a very successful pitching coach and he never ever mentioned closing her eyes to learn to hit spots. Thats why I was wondering if that is something that you do with a young pitcher having troubles? Pitchers either learn to hit spots with good mechanics and good footwork or they don't. Eyes being closed doesn't seem to play into that equation. I'm gonna try to be funny right now, but if your pitcher is having problems hitting spots in a game are you gonna tell her to close her eyes? Pitchers need to find themselves, and feel the pitch with eyes open, full focus, total explosion, and the confidence that they are the baddest girl between the lines whether they are in practice or a game period!!!!! If they can't feel it with their eyes open then they need to choose another position!

 

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Pitching with your eyes closed is something I use when pitchers are trying to change too much or are struggling uncharacteristically for them. I don't use it to hit spots, I use it to teach them to trust themselves, instead of aiming. I want them to feel what they are doing, and if they can't see what the ball is telling them, they have to trust more of what they feel. When a girl is being completely inaccurate and the ball isn't anywhere close to the plate, or anywhere close to be catch-able, I have them close their eyes to trust their instincts, and not aim.

 

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Oh goodness...I don't even want to know what would happen if I tried to pitch with my eyes closed...it wouldn't be pretty. I fall down pitching with my eyes open quite often, actually... =/

Hitting your spots comes with time. In my case, I had never really considered myself proficient at hitting spots until the middle of my freshman season of college. I didn't do many drills to learn how to hit my spots, I pitched 150-200 pitches a day 5-6 days a week for 4 months straight. Boot camp style...
IMO, it's about 98% muscle memory and coordination and about 2% thinking about mechanics. I don't even think about stepping in and out or letting go later anymore (even though I know that's what I'm doing)..I've just thrown so many pitches that I know what it feels like to throw a ball at the chin or outside low.
But things that help me when I'm slipping with hitting my spots...instead of more repetitions where I just get tired and start wasting pitches, thinking about every pitch counting. And if I miss, I go for that same spot again until I hit it a couple times in a row. Also, if I'm missing the spot consistently I'll come back to it later, which usually helps. I get a lot more out of doing cycles of hitting different spots like 'low-in, low-out, high-out, high-in' than 'hit 8/10 inside then you can move on'. (But for learning how to pitch in and out, I think hitting a few outside in a row then a few inside helps build muscle memory. but I definitely agree with developing sound mechanics then the spots will come to you)
My coach tried to get us to do that this spring during conditioning...we had to hit 6 in a row in all 6 spots...it took us 3 days to finish..yeesh. =/