Overview
A pitching machine is one of the tools used by baseball teams to hone and groove players’ swings and raise their confidence levels. Hitting a baseball is widely acknowledged to be one of the hardest things to do on a consistent basis, and a pitching machine can give a hitter the time he needs to fix the flaws in his swing and work on his strengths.
Step 1
Set the machine to deliver fastballs at a speed you know you can handle. You are just starting to practice so you need to warm up. If you struggle against a good fastball (85-plus mph), start off by setting the machine to deliver 80-mph fastballs. That will allow you to hit the ball consistently and develop your confidence level.
Step 2
Raise the speed after you have taken 10 swings. You have to start challenging yourself. Try to hit line drives. You are not going to try to kill the ball, you are trying to make solid contact. As the pitch comes in, your weight should be on your back leg. Take a small step forward and bring the bat through the hitting zone.
Step 3
Use the machine to practice against the breaking ball. Many hitters struggle when they see curveballs, and using the pitching machine to get comfortable against the breaking ball will make you a better hitter. Once you realize that hitting a curveball is about timing and mechanics, you can become a much better breaking ball hitter. It may take a while.
Step 4
Set the machine to deliver pitches at random to give yourself a real test. Instead of throwing just fastballs, curveballs or change-ups, this setting will test you because you won’t know what is coming. This can be very difficult because recognizing the pitch as it comes to you takes a lot of practice. In many ways, hitting off a pitching machine that is throwing pitches at random is more difficult than off a live pitcher. You may be able to read a pitcher and figure out what he is going to do by his motion or the count. You can’t do that against a machine.
Tips and Warnings
- Use the pitching machine to hone your swing and work on a weakness. It is an especially good tool to use if you are a designated hitter who wants to be warmed up when you go up to face a live pitcher.
- Don’t overdo it in the machine. Taking more than 40 swings may tire you out on game day.
About this Author
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Football — The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.
