Thanks for the replys…what I forgot to mention that the drill involved the players standing on the plate while the coach threw the ball at the players. If they moved out of the way and dodged the hit, the whole team had to run. Each player had to "take" 4 hits.
My son who is 16 plays on a very competitive baseball team. The other day at practice, the coach was doing a drill as he says "is advanced & designed to teach them how to get hit by a pitch safetly. We teach them not to move out of the way, unless it is near their head, so that they can get the free base"
Anyone heard of this? is this standard? common practice?
Thanks!!
Ridiculous drill. That's insane. I'm also speechless. There's a lawsuit with the coach's name on it. He just hasn't seen it yet!
The goal of the coach is make baseball practice simulate a real game…with REAL game situations. He should be trying to make it as realistic as possible. Standing on the plate to turn away from pitches makes no sense. It absolutely makes sense, muscle memory and tracking (visual acuity and depth perception ) wise, to practice turning away from pitches in the batter's box. For this drill coaches use tennis balls, incrediballs, etc.
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January 20th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I will reiterate:
Many coaches and players don't look kindly on players that run out of the box when balls are thrown at them, especially at the high school level. Most guys aren't throwing hard enough to cause an injury (unless thrown at the head). The only "safe way to get hit by a pitch is try to let it hit you in the back or thigh, anywhere that has a lot of cushion and would do at worst bruise you. Throughout my career I just turn my back and wait and see where it hurts. That is what my coach told me, unless of course it is coming at the head.
I will also mention I'm a sophomore in high school playing at the varsity level for the second year, and I have been hit numerous times in my career. (I stand rather close to the plate and don't really dodge the pitches.) It's a touchy subject for the coaches since you don't want anyone to get hurt, but "taking one for the team" is a part of baseball. Most baseball players have the reactions to move if the pitch is coming at a dangerous area (like the head). If their reactions weren't up to par, they probably wouldn't be able to hit a baseball and thus would not be batting against a good pitcher in a competitive league anyway.
And now add:
It seems like a rather useless drill but if he wasn't throwing the balls very hard I suppose it was rather harmless. He was just trying to make sure everyone knew that getting hit by a baseball isn't so bad and no one needs to be fearful of it and should see it as a way of gettng on base. I would never do a drill like that if I were a coach, but I understand what he was trying to accomplish. More than likely though, he got the wrong kid upset and the coach may get into some trouble.
A little story:
I once read that the first time Chipper Jones played baseball with his dad, he asked his dad to pitch to him. Chipper's dad hit his son right in the face. Chipper got right back up and was ready to hit. Chipper says that after his first experience in baseball involving being hit, he never had to deal with an overriding fear of being hit.
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January 20th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Ridiculous drill. That's insane. I'm also speechless. There's a lawsuit with the coach's name on it. He just hasn't seen it yet!
The goal of the coach is make baseball practice simulate a real game…with REAL game situations. He should be trying to make it as realistic as possible. Standing on the plate to turn away from pitches makes no sense. It absolutely makes sense, muscle memory and tracking (visual acuity and depth perception ) wise, to practice turning away from pitches in the batter's box. For this drill coaches use tennis balls, incrediballs, etc.
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January 20th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
you DONT get ur base if you dont try to get out of the way in some leagues but that is not wat most caches will do because it is crazy painful to get hit by a 60MPH pitch let alone 80MPH i get benched if i dont try to get out of the way because if it gets you wrong you could be out for a month
they teach you how to get hit but they dont throw baseballs they throw tennisballs usually i play in AAU very competitive
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January 20th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I think its rediculous to, My dad kinda did the same thing with our team about 5 years ago when I was 11. He used tennis balls instead. If its the drill im thinking about,n its the one where u turn to take the hit right? Anyways, natural reaction is to move so move, u dont want to be turning while dodging a car do u?
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January 20th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
yes, it's very normal. If you take a 0-2 curveball and jump out of the way, you'll probably strike out on the next pitch. Its a way to get on easily, and you are guaranteed to get on. If we don't take it and jump out of the way, we either get a good talkin' to or run. It's not like an offspeed hurts. When you are playing against someone pitching 90mph + it is, but there are only a handful of them in HS or club ball. Every serious baseball program will say take a dose (HBP). Heck, my coach offers a steak dinner for anyone who takes a beaning to the head. He doesn't like us to get a head dose, but it shows courage and team spirit. It does more than getting someone on base. It pumps up the team and shows the coach you will take one for the team. I had a problem with taking doses, but i recently was hit and i finally realized it didn't hurt. Just make sure you turn and let if hit you off the butt, back or thigh. It won't hurt, but it will gain you team points and recognition from the coach…
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January 20th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
That sounds crazy to me!!!!!! My nephews play high school, American Legion, Federation League baseball, all of which are highly competitive. I've heard coaches stressing to never get out of the way of a curveball!!! My oldest nephew is a big boy, & if pitch is gonna hit him in the butt, he will let it. The entire team will also start yelling once a player gets hit in butt, "Don't rub it".
But to have a coach fire fastballs at the kids is insane, even when coaches throw batting practice, sometimes a kid will get hit, but it was unintentional!!! What would happen if coach throws inside fastball on purpose, hits a kids hand, & breaks a bone???? If it was an accident, thats one thing but on purpose is ridiculous. Sometimes these youth coaches think they are 1 step from the pro's. Some of them are very pompous people, with huge egos. I think this coach was a little out of hand!!!!
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January 20th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
we do something like that but we use tennis balls
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January 20th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
If this "coach" really is doing this "drill", he ought to be arrested, or at least run from town on a rail. As a coach myself, the closest I go to anything close to hitting my players with a ball (insane) is a drill where I send my players to the plate without a bat and make them take pitches. This is a good way to show them how to read a pitch and rids them of any fear or mental confusion they might have at the plate. Though I would never think of hitting anybody just to supposedly teach something or other, and it sounds like this "coach" is trying to justify an environment more than teach a lesson, I would show them how to avoid a pitch and even practice this - under extremely controlled circumstances. I would never denigrate a hitter for ducking from an appropiate pitch, anyone who does is a moron. I would work with any hitter who ducks unnecessarily though. If this "coach" is in fact trying to do this he is doing it in dangerous manner. This "competitive baseball team" has no morals if it's coach is teaching "skills" like getting plunked. What's next in the name of competition - maybe steroids?
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January 20th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
I have never heard of such a thing. Someone needs to tell the coach that it's against the rules for a batter to allow himself to be hit by a pitch.
Then there is the liability concern with a coach deliberately hitting players.
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15-year umpire
January 20th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Cheating 101, and if he's a coach, then he knows it. I'm sure he's aware like every coach that a batter must make an effort to avoid being hit by a pitch. Could you ask him where the drill originated? I don't even think they do this in the Taiwan LL where there a many unique and unusual baseball drills. Second thought- maybe he got it from a Taiwan dojo.
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