Attention Firecrackers IE Coaches, please read and make adjustments. No different from what Ive been preaching. Amanda Freed: How to Set-up A Batter I think the strategy of setting up a batter is becoming a lost art. There is a difference between mixing pitches and setting up a batter. When you set a batter up, you are actually setting the batter up to chase the pitch you want them to. If you set a batter up correctly, you can get them out on any pitch, even if its their favorite pitch. If you are neither a pitcher or catcher, this may not seem like it applies to you, but I am going to tell you how I would analyze you before and during your at-bat. Pitchers and catchers, what do you look for? On Deck: What does her swing tell you? 1) Is it long and loopy? Slow hands? -Think jam her inside and up. Chances are she cannot get her barrel around on time. Be careful with change up and away pitches. It is easier for someone with slow hands to get her barrel on an outside pitch. 2) Does she swing on a high plane or a low plane (meaning, does her barrel stay level by her shoulders or drop down below her waist)? -If its on a high plane, keep the ball low, preferable low and in. Chances are she will have a difficult time dropping her barrel to hit the low inside hard. Youre goal is to get her to hit it off of her shin. Mean I know, but thats the game. 3) When shes getting ready to get into the box, does she look anxious and a little tense? Is she really fidgety?: - If she is really high-strung getting into the box, she is probably pretty impatient. I would definitely try and throw her off balance with change ups. Either start her off with a change up or something tight in, make her pull it foul. Dont paint the black on this pitch, aim for her hands. She just may have enough adrenaline in her to take it over the fence if you hang it. A GOOD inside pitch thrown in the right situation is extremely difficult to hit hard and fair. When she steps into the box, look for… 1) Foot positioning. - Open stance: (front foot towards third if its a righty, first for a lefty) Chances are she is either having trouble keeping her front side in on the pitch, or she is protecting herself against the inside. Check to see if her body becomes closed at the time of the pitch. If she gets closed, JAM HER IN. If she gets the barrel on the ball she will most likely jam herself, or pull it foul. Closed stance: (front foot towards the plate) I would live inside on her. She is most likely looking for the outside pitch and protecting herself from getting beat on it. Go down and in, up and in, and make her fist herself out to the shortstop. Just watch to make sure that she doesnt step in the bucket when she strides. But again, in this case, a good inside pitch will still be difficult for her to hit hard and fair. 2) Hand positioning: - Low hands: Probably swings fairly level, but again, check on deck or warm-up swings. Be careful with the flat plane pitches (screw and curve) unless they have some up and down movement. Will probably have better success on the rise ball as well. - High hands: Im guessing shes pretty loopy so Im going to jam her tight to start off and find out what the plane of her swing looks like because it could really go either way. She may have a straight rise ball swing, or a long, looping drop ball swing. 3) Box positioning: - Front of the box: If shes in the front, I think that means she anxious. She is trying to bring more pitches into her strike zone. Id go with jamming her and working in the change up. - Back of the box: She is either not seeing the ball well, or she is very patient and wants you to bring the ball into the strike zone. Work ahead of the batter (first pitch strike) and go with your best moving pitches. There are so many other tips that you learn from watching and studying batters. As I go through the pitches that I would likely throw in certain situations, it is important to remember that this doesnt mean that you abandon every other pitch and just stick to one or two. It just means that weve identified a weakness and weve got to expose it. There are many situations where you learn to throw to the batter and not the plate. What I mean by this is if the batter is standing a fairly good distance off the plate, of course you automatically assume that she will have a difficult time reaching the outside pitch and is probably looking inside. What I am going to do is start her off outside and get a strike (hopefully?) Lets say she swings but looks pretty bad. The next pitch I am going to go right back at it, just a little further out and see if shell bite. She leans in, but takes the ball off the outside corner. Now Ive got her leaning to the outside. I know she doesnt like that pitch but Ive got her thinking that Im living on the out. She moves just a little closer to the plate, not much, and now I am throwing to her hands. Not to hit her obviously, but Im throwing just below her hands through her belly button. I know shes off the plate and looking to protect the inside but Im throwing to her, not the strike zone. She will do one of three things. Shell turn on it hard and pull it foul, shell jam herself into an out, or Ill force her back off the plate a little more. Remember a good inside pitch is difficult to hit hard and fair. Good inside does not necessarily mean a good strike. Now, I go back out to finish her off. Sounds like fun, huh? On the other hand. There are situations where you dont even need to waste time or pitches. You start a girl off low and in and she fouls it between her legs. Clearly she had a difficult time with that pitch so now you go with the same pitch, just a little further in and a little lower. This is not a waste pitch. You want her to see it as the same pitch. She takes a not so pretty cut over the top, again. Now shes frustrated and thinking, gotta protect, so you go right back at it, a little lower and a little farther in, maybe almost in the dirt. If she doesnt go for it, youve definitely got her thinking, and have set her up for the out, or change up. We joke out here that there is a 90/10 rule when it comes to listening. 10% of everything you hear is actually heard and processed. The other 90% just goes in one ear and out the other. So if you remember anything from this article, I want this to be your 10%. Every pitch you throw must serve a purpose. For example, if I know absolutely nothing about a batter as she steps into the box, Ive got to use that first pitch to gather as much information about her as possible. I like to start with a good inside pitch or a change up. Remember how we define that good inside pitch, and I like to keep the change up low and away. That is how I am able to gather the most information. If you throw a pitch right down the middle, or even on the inside part of the black and the batter does nothing but watches it, what have you learned? Throw every pitch with a purpose. Set the batter up to hit, or miss, what you want. Guess what, sometimes it slips or you make a bad decision. Big deal. Learn from it but keep plugging along. Remember, these are all just suggestions. I know not everyone has all the tools but you can make the best possible situation out of what you have! Take control of your own game and youll be more confident. Amanda
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 04:19:54 +0000
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