Posted by: JPK (jpkall@cox.net) on Tue Mar 25 07:50:37 2008

I have coached LL for about 4 years now and in my opinion pitching machines are good for off season training but during the season live pitching is best. What I have observed is that players who don’t get enough live pitching don’t pick up the ball quick enough coming out of the pitchers hand. This may be the timing issue you referred to. The root of the problem is that they don’t see the ball until it is 1/4 to 1/3 of the way home so as a result they are late. Another possible problem is that the batter is having a focusing problem. When using the machine they know where to focus their eyes every time because it is always in the same place. With a pitcher the release point changes with every pitch and your eyes won’t focus on a spot in empty space they need something to lock onto. What I teach my players is to focus on the pitchers hat until after the pitcher breaks their hands and then shift their focus to the release window. This helps them to pick up the ball better because their eyes are focused and set at the proper distance and don’t have to search for the ball.

I hope this helps,
JPK