Tip #1 (9/25/2011) - Hitting is about TIME! You have more than you might think!
~ Coach Perich
Without question, the number that is identified by greatness is 90. Pitchers wish to attain it, hitters fear it, and parents associate it with their kid being able to compete at the highest level of baseball. Because of this, I am constantly correcting parents who try to mimic this magical number in an attempt to get their kid ready to hit upper level pitching by shortening the distance in which they throw batting practice while increasing the velocity that they throw the ball to them. Though this may seem like a reasonable solution to a parent who cannot throw the ball 90 mph in order to get their hitter “used to seeing” that velocity, this practice actually does more harm than good.
The reason that this is so, is strictly because what coaches and parents are forgetting about is that a pitcher who is throwing 90 mph is throwing that ball from 60 feet 6 inches, and at that distance it takes the ball ~0.5 seconds to get from the pitchers hand to the hitting zone (see chart below). It is extremely important to understand that this amount of time is crucial for a hitter to be able to complete all the mechanics of a good swing, and cutting down on that time results in hitters cutting corners on their swing in order to just make contact instead of trying to drive the ball.
Without turning this completely into a lesson in aerodynamics, a 90 mph fastball loses ~14 mph from the pitchers hand to the plate, therefore crossing the hitting zone at ~76 mph. This is what makes hitting hard throwers more difficult than softer throwers, because the faster the pitcher throws the ball from the mound, the faster the ball is going in the foot and a half distance in the area known as the hitting zone. Simply put the faster that the ball is traveling when the ball gets to the hitter, the less time the ball takes to get past the hitting zone, and therefore the less margin for error for the hitter to hit the ball in the strong part of his swing. Unfortunately, all of us then rationalize that we must then try to simulate this speed by throwing closer and harder, but that drastically reduces the amount of time that a hitter has to recognize and start their swing which is essential for a hitter to take a good swing. It is far more important for hitters to have the time needed to take a good swing than it is for them to have less margin for error to hit that pitch. Please take a look at the chart I created below to give yourself an understanding of how throwing batting practice at close distances can drastically reduce the time your hitter has to read the pitch.
After taking a look at this, take consideration that there is no such thing as simulating what it is to like to face a pitcher who throws 90 mph. The only thing that does that IS a pitcher throwing 90 mph. It is always best practice to make sure that hitters are always practicing taking good swings, and in order to do that, you have to make sure that you as a coach or parent are giving them enough time to do so.