You do realize that hitting an outside pitch requires a full extension of the arms? Not talking about a batting stance.

When you played SP, did you ever notice that when some hitters were fooled on a short pitch, they would step into their swing and hit a pitch that was going to hit in front of the plate for a solid line drive, often up the middle? That full extension is what put the power behind what many expect to be a weak hit.

But if your DD is going to stick with a tight, compact swing, you are partially correct. The ball is hitable, just not by your DD.

Outside pitch? A good hitter will put it into the opposite field. A not so good hitter...well this is a competitive sport, is it not?

Even on 3-0?!??!?!?!!? :confused: :cool: ;)

If it wasn't a strike on 0-0, it's not a strike on 3-0! :)

I do realize it if the outside pitch is 6 inches off the plate.

Until DD gets in a better mood, (or I buy her the car I promised if she led the city in something (she was second in SB's), these videos will have to do.

This video is a big Mike sized guy. Notice his back arm is not fully extended at point of contact. Wonder what he would say if I moved his T 6 inches further out?

YouTube - Hitting Outside Pitch #2

If you don't like scum of the earth baseball guys, here is one of my favorites (and your favorite announcer:) Listen for the words "don't cast out". Freeze the frame at point of contact. Look at the location of the back elbow.

YouTube - Jessica Mendoza Softball Training - HIT: Outside Pitch : Softball.com

Even if the runner starts running down to 1B on their own without you calling it?? :confused:;):cool:

If it wasn't a strike on 0-0... :cool:

Even if they duck under it!?!?!? Lemmee guess..

Boy thats some weak sauce right there. Who ever heard of that rule?

:cool:

:D

Are we talking about the same thing? I'm missing something here... :)

I'm saying if you wouldn't call it a strike on the first pitch, why would you call it a strike when it's 3-0?

Maybe I'm just slow this morning...

Couldn't care less about baseball.
JM is talking about two different things. She refers to the outside pitch, but her demonstration and mechanics concern opposite field hitting, not necessarily being able to hit the pitch off the plate. Of course, players terminology usually reflects their training and outside influences which is probably why there is the continuing reference to "mound" and "rubber" on a softball field.

You need to remember, stepping into the pitch is relatively new to the women's/girl's game. Fifteen-twenty years ago, many of the girls playing the game had a swing which more resembled a batter standing erect and dragging the bat around with hip rotation. Usually, it was only at the higher levels of play that you saw players attack the ball. Once the NCAA really developed a good softball program along with the Olympics did more people take the women's game in a more serious manner and it has been soaring since then. And with that advancement came the advanced mechanics which, IMO, is a good thing.

However, you want to discuss ideal mechanics of a text-book swing. My discussion is purely whether the pitch is hitable. If the batter has two strikes and knows the the pitcher is getting the outside corner and maybe a bit more, are you going to just concede the strike, or teach your batter how to hit the damn thing?

Look at JM's feet. She is standing closer to the plate which is okay. But I would be willing to bet that if she had to hit a pitch off the plate, she wouldn't have a problem.

Good lord man, have you never heard of the 3-0 courtesy strike?

What NUS did you go too!!?!!?!

Let's see... "Courtesy runner?" Nope...

"Courtesy Internet?" Nope...

"Courtesy flush?" I know what that is, but no...

Nope, nothing about the courtesy strike in the rule book. :D

I concede that stepping into the pitch is necessary when its off the plate, and I have some homework to do on this concept.

The Blue team's pitcher in the video is going to U of Houston. (Red team's is going to U of Texas) The first game of the series Blue team's pitcher lived on that stripe in the opposite batters box and Blue gave it to her. All 4 of our lefties were powerless to do anything about it except for a futile last minute lunge. Completely shut us down because we did not know how to handle it.

Game 2 was a different story for DD with a new PU. He was not giving that off the plate pitch as a strike and DD had two solid slap hits.

Something I haven't pointed out yet that you probably have surmised is that DD is a 100% slapper. My sense is that rather than step towards the pitcher she will need to step more towards the plate with her crossover step.

If you have a suggestion on this crossover step, please let me know. Specifically, as long as she doesn't step on or in front of the plate, will Blues have a problem? More specifically, say on the left crossover step the toes land in the 6" area between the plate and the stripe with the heel landing on the stripe. Is she still in the box?

I am enjoying the discussion. Thank you.

Yes. To be out of the box, her entire foot needs to be out of the box and on the ground at the time of contact.

What many slappers do is time the contact with the ball so the foot has not touched down yet (supposedly). Word to the coach: the foot out of the box is difficult for the umpire to see, so if the timing is close, it is unlikely to ever be called.

Yes, she is in the box.

However, as previously noted, I'm just stating the pitch is hitable. As a slapper, that obviously isn't your DDs forte, but you cannot change everything based on different batter's manner.

If your DD isn't interested, find a player who likes to lay into the ball and have her swing at a teed-ball on the opposite BB line just above waist height. Then adjust to chest and knee high between the plate and the line. See which ball she hits more solidly. Obviously she will need to be up on the plate in the BB.