5 Keys for Handling the Jam

Jamming hitter's with inside pitches is a very common approach pitcher's use to limit power and effectiveness. Either hitting these pitches or deciding to let them go by isn't easy but there are 5 keys your hitters can use to help them keep from getting jammed.

On every pitch the hitter's job is to quickly determine if the pitch is hittable (doesn't mean it has to be in the strike zone) and if they're going to hit it. Period. Sounds simple enough, but those two simple decisions happen in the blink of an eye, and are the reasons that your players hit great in practice and struggle horribly in games. It's all about making good decisions and making them fast enough!

Let's look at 5 keys for making good decisions on Inside Pitches to keep your hitters from getting jammed:

1. Line It Up - Make sure your players are positioned in the batter's box so their hands are within the batter's box itself. The inside lines of a batter's box are 6 inches from homeplate. The line itself is usually 2 inches thick so that means if your players place their hands over the chalkline of the batters box that their hands are only 4 inches from homeplate – no wonder they're getting jammed. Make sure they aren't jamming themselves with improper alignment in the batter's box by keeping their hands – when they're in their batting stance – inside the chalk lines.
2. Step It Up - Make sure your players stride directly toward the pitcher instead of toward homeplate. Striding toward the plate will bring the batter's hands too close to the ball and will cause her to jam herself. No matter how short or how long of a stride a batter takes, the stride should always go toward the pitcher and the ball and NOT toward homeplate itself.
3. Shorten It Up - During the swing your hitter should take her hands immediately forward to contact instead of taking hands straight out toward homeplate. This is called barring out or casting and causes the batter to lose valuable time in her swing. (Note - hitter's want to always keep their hands between their body and the ball no matter where the pitch is. This is called “keeping your hands inside the ball”. If a hitter's hands get beyond the ball then the ball will no doubt hit the players hands instead of her bat). Your hitter should take her hands forward from her batting stance directly toward the ball (just as she does with her stride) and she should think about having her swing be short before contact and really long and forward after contact.
4. Speed it Up - Focusing too much on the bottom hand coming through the zone can result in your hitter's lagging their barrels too much and not being in position to contact the ball. This would really show itself on an inside pitch with a lot of pace on it. Try instead to have your hitters work on exploding their top hands to create contact which will speed up the barrel through the ball.
5. Smarten Up - While numbers 1-4 are more mechanical adjustments the batter needs to also make a mental adjustment to better hit inside pitches. That mental adjustment is to expect an inside pitch and then adjust on an outside pitch – expect Inside adjust Outside. This means to be in the batter's box expecting the pitcher to throw an inside pitch and then if she pitches it outside simply make an adjustment. Another way to say it is to expect to be jammed and adjust outside.

For more help with your player's hitting adjustments check out the Hitting module of our Level 7 Coaching Certification Program, watch our online Hitting Drills, turn your 3 legged pitching machine into a pitch selection machine with Swing Zone, and check out our Hitting Drill Manual.