Thoughts On Gameplanning
To me, a great game plan answers two questions: Where am I looking for the pitch, and where am I trying to hit it? When hitters have simple, actionable plans, they can compete with confidence.
Golf provides a similar comparison. Before every shot, a golfer evaluates the situation, the information, and the tools available, then chooses the right shot for that moment. Hitting works the same way. The “shot” changes depending on the pitcher, the count, the situation, and the hitter’s skillset.
Thinking about game planning this way made me view it as an onion with multiple layers, each one giving us more clarity.
Layer One: Matching Pitcher and Hitter Angles
Start with the angles the pitcher creates. Release height and release side, paired with vertical and horizontal approach angles, help you visualize the entry of the pitch. Then look at the hitter’s heat zones. What zones does he truly cover well? Where does he hit his ground balls, line drives, and fly balls? When you know his batted ball direction and batted ball type, you get a clear sense of his natural swing direction. Layer one is the angle match.
Layer Two: Matching Pitcher and Hitter Arsenals
Next, understand the pitcher’s identity. Is he a contact pitcher or a strikeout pitcher? If he creates contact, are there more ground balls or fly balls? If he is a strikeout arm, does he create chase, or does he create misses in the zone? This tells you exactly how he wants to attack hitters.
Then, understand the hitter’s identity. Does he hit? Does he slug? Does he work at bats? Does he dominate specific slots such as the wide crossfire look, the downhill slot, or the low carry slot? And where in those slots does he produce his best contact? Once you know this, you know what clubs he possesses and what shots he can realistically hit.
Layer Three: Matching Pitcher and Hitter Approach
Now blend the approaches. On the pitcher side, identify when and where he is in the zone with his fastball. Does he attack early or late? Does he throw secondary pitches for chases or for in-zone misses? This helps determine when you want hitters to be aggressive or selective.
On the hitter side, ask when he typically makes contact. Is he early or late in counts? How does he miss? Does he produce soft contact, in-zone fouls, or true whiffs both in and out of the zone? With this, you can determine whether you want him to create ground balls, line drives, or fly balls. When you know where the pitcher attacks the strike zone, you can tell the hitter where to aim. If the pitcher stays away but in the zone, the hitter might be asked to flatten the barrel and work backside. If the pitcher misses away but out of the zone, the hitter might need to force him over the plate and hunt something he can drive to center field or to he pull side.
The final layer is understanding pitch movement through the lens of release angles. Average carry plays differently from a high slot than it does from a low slot. Run and cut behave differently from wide slots than from narrow slots. A wide, low slot fastball with run may appear to stay straighter on the pitcher’s glove side. A high-slot carry fastball may play flatter when it is down in the zone. All of this matters because the hitter is searching for chances to get in the way of pitches rather than chase ideal shapes that do not match his strengths. From all this information, we can design practice environments that allow opportunities to execute the plans pregame that the players will use come game time.
How Much Information Do Hitters Actually Need?
A natural question that comes up with any detailed gameplanning system is how much of this information you actually give to hitters. The truth is that the depth of the plan and the amount of information shared are not the same thing. What you build behind the scenes can be complex. What the hitter receives should be simple, clear, and actionable.
Every day, you would run a hitters meeting before the game. It is short, usually around five minutes. You would talk generally about how the opposing pitcher gets beaten. Does he walk hitters? Does he give up hits? Does he give up extra base hits? You can talk briefly about what type of contact he tends to give up and how he attacks the zone. This gives the group a foundation.
The layers you use to create the plan, the ones involving angles, arsenals, movement profiles, and approach patterns, are how you shape both the group identity and each individual plan. But what the hitters get is a very simplified version. You frame it around three questions. Where do we expect to see him? What are we trying to do? How aggressive do we need to be? Then you give a clear reason for each.
Once the game begins, the plan becomes more individualized. That is when you have conversations with hitters between at-bats. That is when you give them a specific shot selection or a specific look based on how their swing plays against the pitcher’s angles and arsenal.
For example, if we are facing a low slot fastball pitcher like Bryan Woo, you might give a hitter a very clear and simple plan. Here is where the fastball is likely to show up. Here is when it will show up. Here is the shot you should be trying to hit. You might tell him to force the pitch down and create a ground ball or a low line drive, depending on how the hitter’s profile matches his movement and entry angles. Certain hitters do better when you only talk about where to look. Others do better when you only talk about where to take the ball. Some need both.
The key is recognizing that the complexity of the system exists to help you simplify. The more precise you are with your planning behind the curtain, the more concise you can be with the player standing in the box.
Gameplanning should not overwhelm hitters. It should free them. The job of the coach is to take all the layers of the onion, filter them, and hand the athlete something they can execute with confidence!
