How to Keep Hitters Guessing

Hey There Friend!

Hope you've had a great week! I know many of you are preparing to compete soon, or have even had a few games already. I thought it might be helpful to give you a few tools to help your pitchers ATTACK hitters this summer!

Deciding what to throw should be pretty easy if you understand:

• Your pitcher's strengths
• How to disrupt hitters timing using those strengths

Identifying Strengths:
An easy way to learn what pitches/locations are most consistent is to chart bullpen sessions. HERE is an easy form to use.

• Circle S (strike or strike in the correct location) or B (ball or missed target)
• If the pitch was a BALL (or missed target), circle WHERE the pitch missed. This can be very helpful to understand where mistakes typically happen.

You can collect data on each pitch type, for example: fastball, change-up, any movement pitches OR on one pitch in different locations, for example: fastball inside, fastball outside, fastball low, fastball high.

Let's say you were charting the CHANGE-UP for 2 of the pitchers on your staff:

• The first pitcher was 4/10 on accuracy in the zone, so 40% strikes. 5 of her misses were too low and 1 miss was inside.
• The second pitcher was 7/10 on accuracy in the zone, so 70% strikes. The 3 misses were all a little too high.

Assuming you saw similar trends after 3-4 bullpen sessions, you would have some great information. Pitcher 1 isn't able to throw her change-up in the zone consistently yet, but does a great job of keeping the ball down. Pitcher 2 is able to throw her change-up for a strike consistently, but tends to make mistakes up in the zone when she misses. BOTH pitchers can be successful using the change-up against hitters. Pitcher 1 may use it late in counts more often to try and get a swing and miss, weak contact or to set-up her next pitch. Pitcher 2 may use it more often early in counts to get ahead.

How to Disrupt Timing:
Once you know your pitcher's strengths, the next step is to figure out how to mix them to get hitters to be early, late or in the wrong spot with their swing. If your pitchers throw different speeds (Fastball, change-up, off-speed movement), mixing these pitches will certainly create timing issues. Don't forget that where a pitcher LOCATES the ball is also a way to keep hitters guessing! Understanding and using "effective velocity" is very important. If this is a new concept to you, HERE is a simple chart that visually explains it. The closer to the hitter's hands the ball is thrown, the higher the effective velocity (seems faster) and the farther away from the hitter's hands the ball is thrown, the lower the effective velocity (seems slower). If you'd like to learn more about EV, check out Perry Husband's book, "Downright Filthy Pitching."

Establishing 4-Pitch SETS:
Once you know your pitcher's strengths AND have an idea of ways to use them to disrupt a hitter's timing, you can begin to craft some 3-4 pitch "SETS" that your pitchers/catchers can practice during bullpen sessions. Make sure that a batter is standing in the box as often as possible when they throw. They need to SEE a batter as they are practicing these sequences!

• Pitches 1 and 2 should be CALLED strikes. Think about what pitch(es) are most consistent to get AHEAD in the count.
• Pitch 3 and, if the hitter doesn't swing, Pitch 4 should be OUT pitches. The goal should be to get these pitches close enough (or make them LOOK close enough) to the zone to get the hitter to SWING, but in a spot where if she DOES swing, she is not able to be on time/make solid contact. Perfecting the OUT pitch is a skill that must be developed through LOTS of focused practice. It's much more difficult that it may seem! : )

HERE is a PDF for you to use with your staff. Once your pitchers/catchers have established and practiced their SETS, have them try running them against hitters during a scrimmage or live BP. It will become very obvious what pitch sequences run the best for each pitcher.

Communicating and PRACTICING how you plan to attack hitters BEFORE you start competing is one of the BEST ways to build confidence and trust between coaches and athletes Friend!

All my BEST,
Myndie