i cant catch up to fast pitchin need a bit of help

[baseball2234]

im a sophomore on varsity and ive been doing good but i can only hit pitching up to around 80 mph...pitchers that i face that throw harder than that i just cant like get solid contact, all jam shots or swings and misses. What adjustments can i make to be able to get around on these pitches, i see a lot of pros taking an early leg lift and waiting on their back leg. any advice? thanks

[Mark H]

Any answers without a clip will be using either the WAG method or perhaps charitably the SWAG method. For those not familiar, WAG is the wild @## guess method. SWAG is the more accurate and highly recommended scientific wild @## guess method. Giving myself credit for using the SWAG method I'd say your swing takes too long from decision to contact so when you face faster pitching you are having to start early and guess. Smart betting money is probably thinking bat drag at this point but that's definitely a SWAG. Many on here would be delighted to help you if you can get a swing posted on the net for us to view. Here's some clip analysis to give you some ideas. http://imageevent.com/siggy/hitting/...lcp2i01.lion_s

On the slower pitching, do you at least occassionally hit for power and do you hit some monster pull foul balls? By the way, it ain't about the leg lift.

[baseball2234]

yeah i hit for power on slow pitches, ill try to get a clip tho

[LAball]

May I ask what kind of grip you use. Line up the knuckles or box grip?

[PhilliesPhan22]

May I ask what kind of grip you use. Line up the knuckles or box grip?

possible to do both? I line up the knuckles but still have the box.

[Rydell]

Stride in Time

Most HS players I see dont get their front foot down in time. By "IN TIME", mean have the front heel down no later than when the ball is 2/3 thirds of the way to home plate. This occurs in part because players are told to keep their weight back until the last possible moment. This idea creates not enough time to separate and a flash rotational move, with pop-ups & weak grounders.

Hope this helps

[TG Coach]

Some kids get to high school and jut lack the necessary bat speed to compete at that level. It's why there are tryouts and cuts. It's why there's a bench. It's why some kids hit below the Mendoza Line.

[Mark H]

Now we've moved from swag to wag to just depressing. Don't let the naysayers and nitpickers get you down kid. I look forward to the clip.

[virg]

Don't let the naysayers and nitpickers get you down kid. I look forward to the clip.

b-b2234:
Read that again and remember it because it's right-on! Never let ANYbody tell you "what-you-can't-do"!

[BallCoach06]

Most HS players I see dont get their front foot down in time.

I agree with this. Now, IMO when the foot should be down will differ from player to player, but I feel this is the biggest thing when kids start moving up levels and see better pitching.

I just saw a piece yesterday with Chris Young of the Diamondbacks and he talked about the importance of getting the front foot down.

[Mark H]

We might be able to credit this as SWAG in terms of it's appicability to this hitter's swing but we're still just guessing which medicine he needs because we're guessing what the diagnosis is.

[Ursa Major]

A while back -- maybe 18 mos. to two years -- part of a thread on this issue had some suggestions amounting to "go to a batting cage with a machine set for a fast speed, then (with the permission of the operators), move toward the machine so that you have very little reaction time. The idea behind this stunt is that the hitter is forced to eliminate all slop from his swing. This presumes that the hitter is knowledgeable enough to figure out how to best make that adjustment, rather than just cheating the hands and shoulder forward and just punching at the ball. I'm not necessarily endorsing the idea -- just resurrecting the concept and noting that some folks swear by it.

[SimiBaseball]

Some kids get to high school and jut lack the necessary bat speed to compete at that level. It's why there are tryouts and cuts. It's why there's a bench. It's why some kids hit below the Mendoza Line.

Thanks for the input there coach. Very encouraging and on point.