Posted by: Steve (laflammesteve@ymail.com) on Thu Sep 8 11:49:01 2011

> > What is the best way to teach players to wait on a low outside pitch? I have many that will lunge at the ball in front of the plate instead of waiting and hiting it to the oposite field.
>
> I teach back and then forward on the weight shift as a timing mechanism. The timing and speed of the weight shift occurs at pitch recognition.
>
> The other thing you can teach is to intentionally try and hit the inside half of the ball with the bat. When a hitter is trying to do this then they have to wait for the ball to get there.

Hi,
The inside tha ball thinking works as a good trick, I agree, for the outside pitch. You can do short quick toss (coach seated behing a screen) and feed pitches low and away, reinforcing when they hit it hard to oppo. Often times, however, it is not their swing that is wrong, but their timing makes it look wrong, as the low and away pitch is usually slower due to that's the preferred location for offspeed. Low fastballs are also slower than high fastballs. Mechanically, reinforcing a good front shoulder tuck upon load helps a hitter get set to drive the ball the other way with authority. Even the best hitters will lunge weakly at a low and away pitch if they're fooled by the speed and committed to swing.
Steve