Pitching and Pitchers Discussion "Keep It Low"- here's the research to prove it!

[FastBat]

Thought this article was interesting. It provides evidence about the results of a 3-year study on the most successful pitch placement locations,
which locations resulted in the most hits, and which resulted in 3rd strikes. It is surprising to me because I have asked my dd's pitching coach, "why is my dd not practicing hitting her spots high." She usually says, "you don't want her to practice throwing high." This article provides the research last to why. I guess her pitching coach really does know what she is talking about, lol! I think that first stat makes me a believer!
Below is a portion of the stats provided in the article:

78% of all hits were from pitches above the batter?s thigh
22% of all hits were from pitches below the top of the thigh

39% of 3rd strikes were from high pitches (chest to top of the thigh)
61% of 3rd strikes were from low pitches (knees to top of the thigh)

"KEEP IT LOW"
We recommend never throwing high fastballs especially over the outside half of the plate (zones 4, 5, 7, and 8). Instead, use the inside corners, and the low-outside corner. Our advice for most situations is to keep the fastball low, and use only the screw ball or rise ball for upper-half pitches. We also like to see pitchers occasionally use a down-and-in rise or screw. A screw ball thrown to an opposite-handed batter can also be thrown low-and-away ?making it a good ?chase? pitch. For most drop ball, change-up, and curve ball situations, the best location is low and away. (Article by Gerald Warner of www.PitchSoftball.com)

This is where I found the article: http://www.pitchsoftball.com/Page4.html

 

[Pacerdad57]

Same thing DD's coach preaches, knees, knees knees. Screwballs, drops

 

[wristbandbuddy]

78% of all hits were from pitches above the batter?s thigh

much more than I think as compared to pitches below top of thigh

 

[FastBat]

Well, I am starting to believe this more and more. I love the umps with the low strike zones. But, I swear umps don't call those low near missing strikes, at the higher level of TB, even in the same age group. I think there is a difference in strike zones between high level travel ball and league play, at any age. That's the benefit a pitcher has when playing as competitively as they can handle, when talking travel ball. But, it's a big jump from one to the other.

 

[coachjwb]

Down is absolutely where you want the majority of your pitches to be, but I disagree with the statement that you should never throw or practice hitting spots high. Successful pitchers in baseball and softball mix up their locations, and can hit their spots at all corners of the plate. The stats above are great and drive home a point for sure, but I didn't see any 100%'s or 0%'s in there. Some hitters are great low ball hitters and/or "have a hole" up in the zone ... and it's always best to keep a batter honest/guessing the location.

Again, I definitely believe in working the low part of the zone a majority of the time, but a good pitcher utilizes all parts of the zone.

 

[4TheLoveOfTheGame]

Totally agree and it's all about placement. Do I want a girl throwing a belly button high fastball down the middle of the plate? Absolutely not. Do I want my pitcher to be able to throw on the inside of the plate under a girls hands who's crowding the plate. Absolutely! There's not many absolutes in life and the same goes with pitching. There are so many dynamics in a pitcher-batter dual. Bat speed, where does the batter lineup in the box, are they righty or lefty, do they slap hit, etc, etc. ? The better a pitcher is at moving the ball around and hitting spots, the more successful she's going to be imho. Obviously there's more to pitching as a girl gets older than command of pitches ie velocity, ie mastering 2nd & 3rd pitches, but at some point a pitcher needs to be able to command pitches and be a pitcher rather than just trying to blow pitches by a batter or "just keeping the ball down".

Down is absolutely where you want the majority of your pitches to be, but I disagree with the statement that you should never throw or practice hitting spots high. Successful pitchers in baseball and softball mix up their locations, and can hit their spots at all corners of the plate. The stats above are great and drive home a point for sure, but I didn't see any 100%'s or 0%'s in there. Some hitters are great low ball hitters and/or "have a hole" up in the zone ... and it's always best to keep a batter honest/guessing the location.

Again, I definitely believe in working the low part of the zone a majority of the time, but a good pitcher utilizes all parts of the zone.

 

[daboss]

We practice the "red zone" at the knees, then hitting corners in the red. If you are truly interested in many of the statistics in fastpitch, a woman named Sharon Drysdale, retired coach from Northwestern U. wrote many books as she made it a 30+ years study of the game. Her works are on the shelf of almost every well-known D1 coach in the country. She truly is a fastpitch guru.

 

[Spartandad]

My daughter is a low ball pitcher. Works great when, on the rare occasion, you get an ump that will call low pitches as strikes. I always tell her if we are visitors to watch the umps strike zone first thing. Know what you can shoot for and adjust accordingly. Sometimes tough to get a mid thigh called as a strike any more. There is definitely truth to throwing low balls and I am glad she does because the results are just as this study indicates.

 

[Byers]

Good luck getting those low calls from the umps at GAPSS this weekend. Or anything not down the middle for that matter