Pitching machines or not

[carolinablue]

I'm not calling a lot of games right now, just one here and there during fall ball. I am however, helping coach a 16 Y/O fall team my son is playing on. I just got back from the batting cage after throwing a couple hundred pitches for batting practice. I'm getting old but I still have a little bit left. Anyway I had an interesting discussion with one of the other coaches. He likes to use a pitching machine a lot and I don't like them at all. The one they use is the type with those two rubber wheels on top and you feed the ball through a small tube. The ball just basicaly comes out of nowhere and the hitters are just reacting to the ball. Eventually they will adjust and start hitting the ball a little better. I feel that you can not simulate a pitched ball with one of these machines because a hitter is timing the pitchers delivery and trying to pick the ball up out his hand. Watching them hit off the machine I see a lot of double strides, half swings and lunging at the ball. They are just guessing and I feel this opens the door to a lot of bad habits ( muscle memory ). If you just want to work on the mechanics of your swing only you could use a tee or soft toss. I know a lot of you guys are probably ex-coaches or maybe even still active and was wondering you opinions on this.

Edited September 12, 2008 by carolinablue

[Umpire in Chief]

I've never coached and I was a well below average baseball player. I think a pitching machine has its purpose they are more consistent than people and help people develop especially at the younger levels. But to turn the corner and make the next level they need to be able to know how to track the ball in the pitchers hand, coming out and getting comfortable with different arm slots and different deliveries. None of these can really be simulated with a machine. But in terms of making contact and learning to cope with different speeds.

[BrianC14]

I'm not calling a lot of games right now, just one here and there during fall ball. I am however, helping coach a 16 Y/O fall team my son is playing on. I just got back from the batting cage after throwing a couple hundred pitches for batting practice. I'm getting old but I still have a little bit left. Anyway I had an interesting discussion with one of the other coaches. He likes to use a pitching machine a lot and I don't like them at all. The one they use is the type with those two rubber wheels on top and you feed the ball through a small tube. The ball just basicaly comes out of nowhere and the hitters are just reacting to the ball. Eventually they will adjust and start hitting the ball a little better. I feel that you can not simulate a pitched ball with one of these machines because a hitter is timing the pitchers delivery and trying to pick the ball up out his hand. Watching them hit off the machine I see a lot of double strides, half swings and lunging at the ball. They are just guessing and I feel this opens the door to a lot of bad habits ( muscle memory ). If you just want to work on the mechanics of your swing only you could use a tee or soft toss. I know a lot of you guys are probably ex-coaches or maybe even still active and was wondering you opinions on this.

There's a reason why the 'big boys' use a human being to throw BP before every game, and it has everything to do with timing.

Next time you have a chance to see a Major League game, try to go early (I always do) and watch the BP pitcher. If he's a good one, he'll briefly hold the ball up over his head and then throw to the plate. If batters want to work on a particular pitch, they can do so for a certain number (or all) of the pitches when they have their turn in the cage. Try doing that with a machine.

It's all about getting the timing down. You're correct when you say that most batters are just reacting to the ball. Pitching machines can't offer that.

I work a lot of games at a local private high school. This particular school has a long tradition of challenging for the state championship, year after year. They do use (one) pitchng machine, but it's located in their indoor facility, and used only during the winter, when pitchers are told to rest their arms. During the spring and during the season, they use the batting cages all the time, but they ONLY use live pitching for BP.

There should be no wondering why they do this. :mad: