Posted by: Joe A. () on Thu Apr 11 06:51:22 2002

My daughter plays fastpitch softball. She is a great hitter during pratice. When she plays in a game she struggles. She claims she has a hard time doing pitch selection (swing or not to swing). Any suggestions or tips.
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> I teach my kids something I read about called "zone hitting".
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> With less than 2 strikes, I tell the kids that "the pitch belongs to you", i.e. they have the advantage over the pitcher.
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> First, they need to figure out where their "sweet spot" is. Where is the very best place they can hit a pitch, based on experience? With no strikes, they need to be looking at that location, expand it to about the size of a shoebox, and if the balls not there, they're not swinging.
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> With 1 strike, the zone expands a bit. I tell the kids, initially, a "1 strike" zone is about the size of a basketball. That means nothing over the belly-button, and nothing below about 3 inches above the knees, for most kids.
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> With 2 strikes, the "pitch belongs to the pitcher". He's got the advantage. They need to (a) choke up on the bat, to make it a bit quicker, (b) expand the zone to about shoulder level (above the armpits!), just below the knee, and 3 inches either side of the plate. In "2 strikes mode", the goal should be to make contact, any kind of contact in the expanded zone. In fact, if in doubt, pound the pitch into the ground for a foul. I tell the kids if they make it to full count, and spoil 3-4 pitches on a 2 strike count, they've had a quality at bat (the next teammate will hit the pitcher, because they wore him/her out).
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> Obviously, the kids have to learn to adjust their "zone" with the pitching. If the pitcher is hot, hitting corners, moving it around well, they'll have to expand their mentally defined "zone" a bit to keep up with him. If he or she is all over the place, they tighten it up.
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> Most of all, I tell the kids to get mentally prepared. Step out after each pitch, take a big breath, mentally go through the count, how many outs, what the zone will be for the next pitch, what kind of pitch they're looking for, etc..
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> Your daughter may be scared of the ball. Barry Bonds describes a tracking drill that sounds pretty good, which is to have the player stand in with a glove at the plate, and take BP with the glove. Instead of hitting, they track and catch the ball with the glove.
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> All the above, a little at a time, and then lots and lots of strokes. Some kids grab the "zone hitting" concept, and they become "hot" the next day. Others just get confused. I try to teach them the "basics" first, and when they seem to be picking that up, I talk to them about the other details (i.e. watching what the pitcher is throwing, etc.).
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> Regards.. Scott

Zone hitting is really a silly thing to teach kids. If the pitcher throws a strike that is not in the zone the batter lets it go. The strike zone is about 10 times bigger then a shoe box. So, there are 9 strikes the picher could throw that the bater will not swing at. PLUS many softball pitchers make a special effort to throw a strike on the first pitch. Its not unusual for the first pitch to be the best pitch a batter will see. This is true because a very high percentage of batters let the first pitch go by. Probably because they have coach who teaches them "zone" hitting." Pitchers giggle at these hitters. Pitching coaches love these hitters. Its funny when they let two good ones go by and wind up swinging at a ball in the dirt or over their eyes. They go back to the dugout throwing their helmet. The coach shakes his head and wonders what wrong with "her."

So, now the batter has given up 1/3 of their advantage. So now the batter enlarges the "zone." Now its a basketball, heheheh, which might be about a 6th the size of the strike zone. So the pircher can throw 5 strikes that the batter won't swing at. Now the batter will give up 2/3 of the advantage. Plus, she now has to swing at "anything" that is close. Any average pitcher with 2 and 2, 1 and 2 or 0 and two will not throw a good pitch and the batter is in a deep deep hole.

I don't see how it helps a kid who can't hit to tell her not to swing at strikes. Or to give away her advantage. Plus, if a kid could identify a ball that will be in a shoe box size area in the contact zone they are not having trouble hitting.

This is silly advice. Don't tell your daugher to do it.

F. J.