Does anyone here have any good advice for teaching a kidd to hit a curve ball consistantly???

Don't miss fastballs.

Swing at CBs when you have 2 strikes only.

PRACTICE ---PRACTICE ---- PRACTICE

Yeah, thanks TRhit I am learning how to throw one so we can do just that.

First the player have to recognize the pitch(a hitter can not hit a CB if he doesn't know the comming pitch is a CB)

secondly the hitter has to hold the swing until the curve breaks and swing at the ball depending it location.

A good drill to practice holding the swing to the last moment is: A soft toss from behim the hitter, who will have just fractions of seconds to swing after see the ball coming from behim.

First--and I'm serious--have the kid see an optometrist. He needs to see the rotation of the seams. Second, do drills where he stays back on the ball and drives it to the opposite field. Many, many players wash out because they are dead-pull hitters who never learned to get late reads and hit oppo.

I disagree with redbird5 that you should only hit curve balls with strike two. Most hitters are guess hitters and if you're guessing curve and get a fastball you're toast. Besides, it depends on the count. Also, some pitchers have patterns where they throw the curve on strike one.. if it is a hanging curve, mash it!

By the way, for all you youngsters out there.. DO NOT UPPERCUT when you hit the curveball. Hit it with your line drive swing. Why? because the downward angle of curve will do the rest.. and put it over the fence. If you upper-cut you'll generally pop-up, ground-out, or strikeout.

Does anyone think it is possible to visually detect the supination in the pitcher's throwing hand when he throws a curve? A couple years ago, the varsity coach at my son's high school passed out a tip sheet and this was one of the tips. However, as a pitching coach I know that seeing what the throwing arm/hand does during the forward acceleration (i.e. internal rotation) part of the throw is next to impossible to see with the naked eye. Well, at least it is with my eyes

The cue you'll hear the most (and I think it's a good one) is "keep your hands back."
If you've got a pitching machine that can throw them set it up and hit a ton of them... Tony Gwynn uses the term "carve the ball" ... when you take the soft pitch away to oppo.
Then have someone give you some soft toss where they mix in a quick toss with a delayed toss... they'll sort of fake the toss, you load up and take your stride but keep your hands back.. and then carve the ball into the net.
Then have someone throw you some good ole curve balls to practice hitting and get after it. good luck... the best way to get a fastball in the game is to hit the daylights out of a curveball in an earlier at bat.

One of the things we teach is to read the angle on the ball. Fastballs tend to come down out of the pitcher's hand, whereas curveballs, especially ones that are loopy as most in high school are, tend to go up right out of a pitcher's hand. If you can teach this along with spin recognition, when to swing at a curve and when not to, and being patient by letting the curveball get deeper on your body at contact, you will have a good start.

If a guy has a good curve that doesn't come up initially out of his hand, then you have to rely on spin recognition.

quote:

a hitter can not hit a CB if he doesn't know the comming pitch is a CB).

True if you are a guess hitter like most. Untrue if you are a "see it and hit it" type hitter, especially linear-approach hitters who learn to stay back on the ball.

Bum
"Reconize" a pitch it is not guessing. If you only "see the ball, hit the ball" without knowing the pitch is going to break, your swing will be empty.

quote:

Most hitters are guess hitters and if you're guessing curve and get a fastball you're toast

Why would you guess? I understand charts and tendencies but guessing is not part of this equation.

Also, I never said to look for a CB with 2 strikes. My hitters do not change their approach...we sit on a FB that we can mash...with 2 strikes we still look FB and adjust to the CB. We work on recognition of pitches but that doesn't mean they necessarily want to hit CBs when they are even/ahead in the count.

If you have to be a guess hitter in HS, odds are you won't be a hitter at the next level. Hitting is hard enough without trying to guess what the pitcher is throwing. Why not just sit on pitches you know you can handle until you get into a count where you have to handle everything?

Sorry, redbird5, I stand by what I say. Most hitters are guess hitters.

This is not to say its right. My own son I taught to stay back on the ball -- read the ball as Racab says -- and I believe that's the best approach.

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
Sorry, redbird5, I stand by what I say. Most hitters are guess hitters.

This is not to say its right. My own son I taught to stay back on the ball -- read the ball as Racab says -- and I believe that's the best approach.

Yes, most hitters are guess hitters. That is why they don't make it to the next level.

Most GOOD hitters are not guess hitters. Most GOOD hitters punish FBs and take CBs until you get to 2 strikes. Why would you teach anyone otherwise?

BTW, congrats on your son's no hitter. I am assuming you want there to be more guess hitters?

this is was i was taught. first, and probably the most important, you have to see the rotation of the ball. then, after you load, you wait longer to rotate your hips then you would with a fastball and see the ball break. the swing should be exactly the same, you just stay back longer.

Cleanuphitter, you have a PM.

Thank you, redbird5. It was a happy day, for sure.

There can be a situation where you jump on the curve. Just today I was observing a pitcher who, if he thought he was facing a good hitter, threw a first-pitch hanging curve every time. Might have fun with that one!

redbird5,
Henry Aaron was a guess hitter...according to Henry Aaron. I think he made it to the next level. If I remember correctly he'd pick the pitch and then sit on it until he got it.

Getting back on topic redbird5 and TR both gave good advice in the first few posts of this thread. There are situations where if a pitcher has shown a tendency to throw curves on a given count such as 0-1 and you aren't handling the fastball that well you might want to look for a curve before 2 strikes but generally speaking redbird is right on.

what i have been taught by an ex cleveland indian pitcher is "hips before hands". The concept being throwing your hips into the pitch like any old fastball but to keep you hands back long enough to recognize what he pitch is. all it really is is keeping you weight back and letting the ball travel. I would recogmend seeing as many curve balls possible and really keeping you wieght back on every pitch. more balls will go to the opposite field.

stay back, and hit the ball with the barrel on the way up