Hitting and Hitters Discussion Up in the box or back in the box

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not for sure if either is right dave patek one of the best hitters in the world, according too BILL Hillhouse says move all the way too the back of the box saying why make pitcher any faster by moving closer too her,but my personal opionion says you have too be able to adjust too the pitcher and what she throws.

 

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I have worked with Dave and with Howard. Kirk and I set together at his Clinic at Greenville. Both teach the same Stance. The main difference between the two is how they teach the back foot drill, so that you do not squish the bug. Dave likes to use a object such as a plate or 2X4 that you must step forward for Linear motion. Glad to see a Texas hitting Coach post again on here. Elliot. I will forward you a picture of the hands device. Sorry we could not get together.

 

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Just going back thru this thread. Too bad it wasn't set up as a poll. The following hitting instructors and those that study hitting all say do not stand in the top of the box. Dave Paetkau, hitter, Lenski, and Ifubuidit. Since all of these OFC members study hitting, sounds like you shouldn't be at the top of the box, unless you are an elite player like Bustos. Then you have some very good travel ball coaches all say NO. Yet if you go to the post ' Coaches what do you hate to hear" I bet you will hear coaches yelling to every batter get up in the box. My dd's 13U team had this issue last year. Hopefully more will take the advice of the experts and attend camps to learn the correct methods.

 

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Ichiro sets up in the middle of the plate and by the time he makes contact his front foot touches the box and contact point is way out in front.

ok.... if you hit a ball at the back point of the plate you have 90 degrees of fair territory. If you hit and outside pitch at that point you have less than 90 degrees of fair territory.

if you hit a ball 2' in front of the plate a grounder has 94.1 degrees of fair territory, a fly ball on a 200' fence has 91.2 degrees the further up you make contact, the bigger the playing field is.

12 years ago we didn't slap, and there was a thing called the compact swing (that looked pretty goofy but was all the rage) progress happend and things changed.

we don't work with athletes the caliber of Buestos or Bonds - we work with Ali's and Erin's and Heidi's and Jendy's and Kayla's (all got D1 scholarship offers from my team last year) We need to put our players in a position to be their best. If they can hit from deep in the box then by all means swing away - if they can't, We move them up and we have had team batting AVE's of 380-400 over the last two years. Not sure how you measure success but an NSA world series championship, TWO Compuware Championships, 4-2 at ASA Nationals (33rd) and 38 loses to 100+ wins over the last two years should be a reasonable measure.

I'm not saying I'm smarter than any of the experts. But just like a good hitter - you need to do what is comfortable for you. What we have been teaching has worked very well for the athletes that we have been coaching. (and we have been progressing in what we teach every year).

 

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David I went back and reviewed a lot of swings off RVP and two that stand out as in the front of the box are Ichiro and Andurw Jones and the rest are slightly forward of home plate, even, or behind the front edge for MLB and for the NPF it appears Kelly Kretschmar and Stacy Neveman are ahead of home plate and the rest appear to be even or slightly behind.

Ichrio has a job to advance the runner or get on base however I do not remember him being in a home run derby.

Then I looked at the home run derby clips on RVP and Sosa's clips appears to be a little further ahead of home plate than everyone else and you know the person throwing the ball is not a flame thrower by any means and is just trying to get the ball over the plate so the player can hit it. The hitters are trying to time it no matter who is throwing and drive it out of the park.

In my own opinion and not speaking for anyone else....our kids have no issues when they go West to play against the better pitchers and the data speaks for it self as I have no say what so ever in scoring the game. None of our hitters are ever in the front of the box to my knowledge...the problem arises when the high school coaches (not picking on the high school coaches however it is true, as it does not happen with the travel ball coaches I know) start moving the hitters ALL their hitters forward without regards to their ability and not understanding they are messing with their timing. Then you see 12 to 14 strike outs and you just scratch your head.

What if your kids were hitting .440 to .600 and had more walks and a higher on base percentage, higher slugging average?

If each kid is a weapon in your line up use them to your advantage....I just recently saw on the History Channel the tactics used to fight the war (1776) with countless men being slaughtered by standing up and shooting each other.

The Indians hid behind the trees and did what ever they could do not to be shot (this is where the humor comes in) not to be sacrificed at the plate because we believed in something so strongly that we refused to even try it another way after 12 to 14 strike outs were already recorded.

If I can help you in some way I would be happy to....Measurable, observable and then how could we test it to see if it made an improvement.

 

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Like I said I am open for improvement and we have evolved every year - I used to teach that goofy compact swing 12 years ago. By in front of the plate I mean their back foot is in the middle of the plate which forces contact to be in front of the plate on almost every pitch.

just recently I was watching a very good hitting team and how their upper bodies move toward the ball on every pitch. It changes the attitiude of the batter "whether to decide not to swing vs deciding to swing..." I love that mind set and that early motion (loading) helps them get that motion. we have been doing it with slappers for years. why not with sluggers. So incorporating that into the swing and why is something we are doing with our hitters now.

yes i would love a 440 AVE and yes we are striving for that so I am always open to better ways - I think I'm just more open than others.