Softball Hitting - Ditch the Pitching Machine

You know you can easily hit for .800 if you want?

How? Just hit off a pitching machine!

Seriously, we are using the pitching machine way too much. We love pitching machines.

Pitching machines are a great invention but doing too much of it especially during the season is counter productive.

The machines do not vary pitch locations and teach your players to swing at every pitch without making a decision.

It's great to work on hitting mechanics and get a lot of swings in the off-season but nothing beats live pitching, front toss or other variations of live pitching to learn how to judge a ball and adjust to different pitches.

After a bit of practice, it's very easy to hit well off one of those pitching machines but it really takes away the decision-making ability.

Too many coaches and teams rely too heavily on them. It's detrimental and counter productive.

So, once the season starts, ditch the pitching machine. Learn to run effective hitting practices with live pitching and front toss to simulate game conditions.

This will train visual tracking, timing, and decision-making which are crucial to hitting success.

Train hard. Play Hard.

Who loves ya?

Marc
"Your Softball Peak Performance Coach"

P.S. Need help to boost your bat speed and crush the ball even more? Get more hitting power now.