A Coach's Handbook

A passage from A Coach's Handbook:

On timing drills…

Off speed problems:  Not being able to hit an off speed pitch, whether it is a curveball or change up, is a result of two things.  One, is recognition.  The only way a player will get better at hitting off speed pitches (which should only be their concern with two strikes) is to see those pitches thrown at them.  Therefore, game situations are important, whether the hitter is in the box or picking up things from the bench.  Only so much can be simulated in B.P.  Second, once the pitch is recognized, the hands need to take over.  The hands must stay back where they’ve positioned themselves after the step, until the pitch has reached the plate, then unload to swing the bat. 

A great way to practice this is to take softtoss where the feeder tosses a sequence of flatter tosses to the hitter (simulating fastballs) and then mixes in a more lofted toss. 

The toss gets no higher than the hitter’s shoulders, and the idea is for the ball to land and be hit in the same spot in the zone as the fastball tosses.  If a player is meeting the ball in front of the plate or hitting it before it has reached a level that is between the hitter’s belt and knees, then the hands are not staying back long enough.  When a hitter can perform this drill where they can go back and forth between hitting the fastball simulated toss and the off speed toss they have disciplined themselves to be a good two strike hitter.  Before he can do this, though, he should probably just practice tossing with sets that involve all off speed pitches to get the proper feel.