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| SOFTBALL BAT SPEED |
As important as bat speed is for baseball players it may be even more important for
softball players. The distance from home plate to the pitcher is significantly shorter
reducing the amount of time a player has to react. Not convinced? Jenny Finch has
Pools, Mike Cameron, Dimitri Young, Mike Piazza, Paul Lo Ducal, and Richie Sexson
have all failed. These are/were some of the best hitters in major league baseball
and the fact that they didn't make contact gives you an idea of how difficult hitting a
softball can be.
Becoming a better softball hitter much like baseball can be accomplished through
better mechanics, vision training, and of course bat speed training. Think about it
this way - If you have less time to react you are at a great dissadvantage. The
easiest way to increase reaction time is to increase your bat speed. Take two has a
bat speed of 65 mph and player 2 has a bat speed of 85 mph. That difference in bat
speed is going to allow player 2 to wait much longer on a pitch. That means they
have a better chance at making contact and it gives them a better chance of picking
up off-speed pitches.
There are players who posses great hand eye coordination yet they always seem to
hit weak ground balls or shallow pop-ups. Often times this is a tell tale sign of poor
bat speed. These hitters possess enough hand eye coordination that they can put
the bat on the ball, however they have to start their swing so early that they can't
differentiate well enough between off speed pitches. So although they might get the
bat on the ball the chances of reaching base are still slim. Take that same player
and give them an additional 10 or 15 mph in bat speed and suddenly they can sit
back and waite longer on the pitch. Now the same hitter will be hitting line drives
rather than the typical weak grounders, pop flies that they could never square up.
softball players. The distance from home plate to the pitcher is significantly shorter
reducing the amount of time a player has to react. Not convinced? Jenny Finch has
Pools, Mike Cameron, Dimitri Young, Mike Piazza, Paul Lo Ducal, and Richie Sexson
have all failed. These are/were some of the best hitters in major league baseball
and the fact that they didn't make contact gives you an idea of how difficult hitting a
softball can be.
Becoming a better softball hitter much like baseball can be accomplished through
better mechanics, vision training, and of course bat speed training. Think about it
this way - If you have less time to react you are at a great dissadvantage. The
easiest way to increase reaction time is to increase your bat speed. Take two has a
bat speed of 65 mph and player 2 has a bat speed of 85 mph. That difference in bat
speed is going to allow player 2 to wait much longer on a pitch. That means they
have a better chance at making contact and it gives them a better chance of picking
up off-speed pitches.
There are players who posses great hand eye coordination yet they always seem to
hit weak ground balls or shallow pop-ups. Often times this is a tell tale sign of poor
bat speed. These hitters possess enough hand eye coordination that they can put
the bat on the ball, however they have to start their swing so early that they can't
differentiate well enough between off speed pitches. So although they might get the
bat on the ball the chances of reaching base are still slim. Take that same player
and give them an additional 10 or 15 mph in bat speed and suddenly they can sit
back and waite longer on the pitch. Now the same hitter will be hitting line drives
rather than the typical weak grounders, pop flies that they could never square up.
One of the most dominant hitters to ever player softball, Crystl Bustos, generated a
bat speed around 80 mph.
bat speed around 80 mph.