I was recently asked to work with a youth baseball team that was struggling with slow pitches. The coach told me before practice that frustration within his lineup was at an all time high and confidence was at an all time low for him. They just didn’t have the tools to tackle slower launches and be successful. It was my job in a two-hour practice to equip hitters with some baseball drills and a hitting approach that would improve their chances of success against slower pitchers. I have outlined the approach taken below.
1. Modified posture
The first thing we worked on was understanding why slow pitches caused hitters so much trouble with baseball swing timing. We all agreed that slow pitches primarily cause unbalanced swings. Logically, we needed to find the solution to what would create a better balance within the mechanics of the baseball swing. By the way, the simple verbal advice to “wait on the baseball” doesn’t work in this scenario. Most hitters understand that they should wait on a baseball if they are facing the field.
A great solution to the problem of imbalance is to hit with a wider stance and eliminate the stride. We moved the guys from their normal stance position to a stance that was about 6 inches wider (depending on each individual hitter’s preset width). This extended stance allowed the children to keep their weight back without hovering over their front foot. It’s just easier to feel the weight stay on the back leg this way. Also, when hitting a baseball with this approach, it is much more physically difficult to let the weight move forward the wrong way.
2. Remove drive side
One of the first things many hitters do when they encounter slower pitches is to train their muscles and try to smash the baseball. After all, it looks so good hitting! This is the wrong approach. I’ve taught hitters to eliminate the draw side (left field for righties, right field for lefties) from their radar system. By doing this, there was no reason to get to the field early as the focus was on hitting a baseball to the opposing field. This is not to say that all balls thrown by a slow pitcher should be hit to the opposite field, as it is all very well to throw pitches. It’s just that the focus shouldn’t be solely on getting shots out.
Patience is key when fighting a slower pitcher. Proper understanding of the baseball swing and baseball swing mechanics is necessary to win the fight. Learn to prepare ahead of time, and you’ll enjoy a greater degree of success hitting a baseball with slower pitches.