Posted by: Mister X () on Tue May 6 13:09:43 2003

I have not yet read or heard of a lucid approach to adjusting swing timing or teaching how to hit the off speed pitch. Statements such as “stay back” or “wait longer” or “keep you hands back longer” just don’t make much sense to me as a teaching tool. Not swinging at the curve works in Little League and maybe through High School ..but doesn’t cut it at the Collegiate or Pro levels. Some one said in the April discussions that maybe some “new adjustment on the fly” is what may be needed. So…hitting guru’s what do we teach?


"Stay back" and "wait longer" is all you can do. When you timing a pitch, and it is coming in slower than the previous pitch, you will have to wait longer (time it longer) than you did for the previous pitch to hit it. If the pitch is coming in faster than the previous pitch, you will have swing quicker (wait for a shorter period of time) than you did for the previous pitch to hit it. That's all there is to it. It is a mental thing. You just have to time pitches really well and be disciplined to wait for the correct amount of time that is needed.

The biggest problem is that nobody wants to be late on a pitch. It's like their manhood has been taken away because the pitcher can throw the ball by them. When you're timing a pitch, you're either going to be early, late, or right on. You can't worry about being late, otherwise you will always be early.

Why don't "stay back" and "wait longer" make sense to you as a teaching tool? They are exactly right, and you can't teach a kid to have the correct mental approach. You can't be in his head when he's up to bat, so it's up to him to do it right.