Coach Pitch Vs. Machine Pitch

[lange4]

Which one do you think is better for the 7-8 year olds. I can see both sides, but I believe that the machine gives more consistantcy for all the teams in the league. Coach pitch has more to do with what coach can throw the best strikes at a speed the kids can hit. By the way, the machine is set at 35 MPH.

[Keith7]

I played in machine pitch when I lived in Lake Dallas but my little brother played coach pitch when we moved to Gainesville.. I like machine pitch better because throwing can be inconsistent when coaches throw.. Pitching machines also tend to throw a little harder and that helps the kids out too. That being said, I have also seen batters hit by a pitching machine while in little leagues so they aren't perfect.

[Emerson1]

If I was a coach I would want to do it. You could throw harder to your good players and soft to the sucky ones.

[GrTigers6]

When my kids were in west columbia playing little league they did coach pitch the first half of the year and player pitch the second half. It worked out well it even helped them move up to the 9-10 year old league better. as for the machine it seemed to be all over the place. Funny thing is when I was pitching to them we were 0-5 and when they pitched they were 5-0 so either i was too good a pitcher ( lots of strike outs) lol or really bad.:thinking: :D

[lange4]

If you saw players hit with the machine you had a really bad machine or a coach that did not know how to position his hitters. And by the way, I believe all hitters can hit a flatter ball (thrown hard enough to not have much arch on it) better than one that is thrown soft with arc.

[Keith7]

Originally posted by lange4
If you saw players hit with the machine you had a really bad machine or a coach that did not know how to position his hitters. And by the way, I believe all hitters can hit a flatter ball (thrown hard enough to not have much arch on it) better than one that is thrown soft with arc.

this was about 15 years ago in a league with little money and poor machines

[lange4]

Lets talk line-ups. Which do you believe is a better way to go. Your consistant hitters hitting 1-2 with consistant power hitters 3-4-5, then inconsistant hiters 6-7 then hiters who may never hit it at 8-9-10-11-12. Or do you mix the non-hitters in with the hitters. One way, you are probably going 2 innings with out a baserunner, but you will have a rally ever time the top of the line-up comes around. The other way, you are mixing outs into the rally and may end it prematurely. I really do not know the best way to go.

[themsu97]

Coach pitch is way easier on the players that are not so good... the good players will hit no matter what...

if you are a good coach at coach pitch... there should never be a game where any player does not at least put the ball in play... you learn as a coach how to hit the bat with the ball... most of the kids who cannot hit swing along the same plane every time thus why they cannot hit... so you have them take a few practice swings in the box then throw to the bat... they will at least put the ball in play and in coach pitch that gives them a chance to reach base...

I would put a bad hitter in between the better hitters as to give myself a chance at a rally every inning...

the problem from all of this though is the problem that I having now... kids who hit the ball well who benefitted from a coach that hits the bat...
however, the same can be said for machine pitch... since it is a machine the ball should be coming to the same spot on the same plane a majority of the time... a coach can thing have his kid adjust in the box or his swing to make contact with the ball...
the object is knowing how to adjust your kids to give them the most success...
which to me is why the first years of kid pitch are very brutal on a young player, the ball is no longer coming along the same plane... the kids have to learn to make adjustments in their swing which is very difficult for the average to bad player...
hand eye coordination is the key... the ol' ball on the rope is great