Mike came charging in off the mound into the dugout looking like he was going to explode…

"I just don't get it," he growled to himself while slamming his glove down on the bench in frustration. "It doesn't seem to matter where I throw the ball--high, low--they hit it."

"You're not keeping the batters off stride," came a sudden voice of wisdom from the corner of the dugout. It was Bill Jones, the Bucks pitching coach.

Bill always keeps a sharp eye on his pitchers. He's a real stickler on setting up a batter. He knew where the "holes" were in every batter's swing because he memorized their scouting reports.

"You've got to vary the speed and the location of your pitches, if you want to set up a batter.

Any batter, even a weak one, sooner or later will adjust his swing to hit a pitcher who throws nothing but a steady serving of low-and-away pitches." Bill explained.

"Remember the radar pitching drill we did with the radar gun and radar ball last week?" Bill asked Mike.

"Yeah," Mike answered, as if to say so what.

"Do you remember why we did them?" Bill asked, this time drawing Mike in.

"We did those pitching drills to measure the difference in the velocity of my pitches." Mike answered a little more intently.

"That's right. Then, we had you practice hitting different spots with the Designated Hitter batting figure at the plate and used the Batter's Box Drill, so you could practice hitting your spots at different speeds under game conditions." Bill explained.

"I remember all that." Mike replied.

"Do you remember your results the first time we did the drill?"

Mike's face suddenly lit up as if he had just been reminded that the spare key he needed to get into the house was under the doormat he was standing on.

"Yeah, I do. All my pitches were coming in at the same speed--a steady serving for sure. Then, we worked on throwing each pitch fast, faster, fastest and slow, slower, slowest."

"I can still see the Batter's Box Drill in my mind's eye with the Designated Hitter standing at the plate giving me a perfect view of the entire strike zone from both a left and right-handed batter's perspective."

"It really helped me learn about setting up a batter. And, helped me develop the consistency I needed to hit my spots throughout the entire strike zone.

"I remember you explaining how that by doing just these drills, I would develop pinpoint control over six pitch variations of every pitch I had…six fastballs, six curveballs, six sliders and so on. Enough pitches for setting up a batter and keep them off balance in any league."

Mike's voice was becoming more confident now.

"You got it," said Coach. "Last inning you forgot to vary your speed."

Reflecting on the last inning, Mike added: "Yeah, I sort of let myself fall into a pattern of throwing everything at the same speed. Well this inning will be different! I'm going to work on setting up a batter just like I was practicing the radar drill."

"Now you're cooking with gas. But, before you have to go back out there, lets review your pitching plan. I want you going out to that mound with a plan as to how you're going to use your stuff to set up a batter and retire him.

When it came time for the Bucks to take the field, Mike stepped onto the top step of the dugout and looked back at Bill with a confident smile and said, "With my stuff and a little bit of cunning and good control, I'll out duel any batter in this league!"

"Go get'em kid!" Bill yelled back to him.

Now You Can Use The Designated Hitter For 30-Days To Help You Learn How To Set Up A Batter
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