Posted by: Coach Ron (ron_reardon@msn.com) on Thu Mar 17 06:06:23 2011

There was thread last year on the value of pitching machines and like everything else in baseball debates nothing was concluded. I've been working with our team of 12yr olds for the past 3 months and I like using the pitching machine from time to time as it allows the kids to focus on getting the bat around quickly on fastballs. Like all drills, use of a pitching machine is only one tool to help develop hitting mechanics. And like all drills, certain aspects of the swing mechanic are developed by using the machine and some are not. As with tee work, there is no pitcher motion to pick up on and no ability to adjust the swing timing to match the pitch speed. That doesn't mean that tee work is bad and by extension niether are pitching machines. Hitting into the practice bag isn't bad either just due to the fact that it lacks focus on the extension and follow through phases of the swing.

With the machine, all pitches are generally the same speed and mostly on target. The benefit of the machine in my view is as a tool to hit certain "types" of pitches--fast pitch, outside/inside pitches, etc--which cannot be thrown consistently in a live pitching environment. In addition, the machine is useful in that it takes the pitchers motion out of the equation and keeps the batter's focus on the release point which I see as a beneficial training tool as well. I agree that no tool in the arsenal of training aids should be overused and sometimes as a matter of convenience the pitching machine is prone to overuse. But as part of a carefully constructed training program I think it is invaluable.