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Discussion Topic: Letting baseball get deep to hit.
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CoachCL |
06-26-2010 @ 5:25 PM
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Joined: Mar 2004
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My son now has a strange problem at the plate. He pulls everything. He sometimes is so far ahead that all hits is foul balls. I took him to a batting cage and with every speed he pulled the ball. This cage's fastest wasn't that fast, but still. He is on a 13-14 yr old Pony league all-star team.
Is there a way to teach him to allow the ball to travel in further before he pulls the trigger on his swing?
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365baseball |
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07-28-2010 @ 2:28 PM
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Joined: Jul 2010
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Have you tried private lessons from a hitting instructor?
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markrshields |
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08-03-2010 @ 11:08 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Coach/Dad....Opposite field and situational hitting are required skills at the high school level. Pitchers at the high school level will pitch your son away and induce weak ground balls and pop ups. He will become an offensive liability vs. an asset, and his effectiveness as a "baseball player" will be diminished.
It is very easy to pull the ball, and difficult to develop an approach that allows the hitter to go opposite field. The opposite field approach is learned on the tee, practiced on the tee, and perfected on the tee. He must learn to pull the knob of the bat to the baseball, and then barrel up on the ball as it crosses the plate. He may be ing his hands away from his torso, and looping around the ball to bring the barrel to the ball. That is just plain fundamentally wrong, but unfortunately a very easy habit to fall into at youth league levels of play.
I would take him back to hitting 101, and start with his balance, grip, stance, and trigger. I would then work on developing his "hands to the ball" approach to build muscle memory and timing off the tee. Have him hit into netting about 10 feet away, and reward the ball hitting the netting square in the middle, and punish the ball hitting the pull side of the net....drop and do 20 push-ups, etc. Once he consistantly hits the ball hard up the middle, then change the challenge to hitting the oppo side of the netting. His goal shoud be to translate that tee work into hitting soft toss the same way on balls that are placed middle of the plate and away. He should also practice the "fence drill" to develop the short compact swing that will complement his new approach to the baseball.
Good luck Dad..remember "Hard work always pays off".
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markrshields |
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08-03-2010 @ 11:25 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Dear Dad/Coach...It appears as if your son has developed a bad habit in youth baseball. It sounds like he is ing his hands away from his torso, and looping the barrel of the bat around the baseball resulting in all hit balls being pulled. In high school he will face pitchers who will prey on this weakness by pitching him away and inducing weak ground balls and pop ups. Not a formula for success.
He must learn to bring his hands and the knob of the bat to the baseball by pulling rather than swinging. Start with the "fence drill" to build muscle memory and swing mechanics. Work off the tee with the new compact swing and develop the habit of pulling the hands to the baseball, and whipping the barrel through the ball. Reward balls hit directly into the middle of netting 10 yards away, and punish balls pulled to the inside...20 push-ups, etc. Convert that short swing to the soft toss practice. Toss balls to the middle and away portions of the plate and reward line drives up the middle and oppo, and punish balls pulled to the inside. Let him know that he must learn this technique now, he's already way behind schedule in my humble opinion, so blisters on his hands are a given.
Good luck Dad. Remember...."Hard work always pays off".
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markrshields |
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08-03-2010 @ 11:28 AM
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Sorry about the double post...didn't see the 1st one get posted, so I repeated...my bad.
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smokeyburgess |
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08-03-2010 @ 5:06 PM
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Joined: Apr 2002
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CoachCL: At his age, if ( a very big if) he is getting his hits and especially if he is a big or strong guy, I would not do too much tee work to get him to hit the other way. As Mike Epstein would say over and over, "history is made on the inside of the plate." Tee work will force your head too much down and retard his rotation. I would and did have my Division 1 ACC son (who had the same situation) take outside strikes unless there are two strikes and have him wait for and crush the inside pitch (Ted Williams). Bunting the other way every BP will help with learning how to hit the ball up the middle with two strikes. But carefully limit the tee work!! Use soft toss.
Most important, I think it is a wonderful gift to be able to pull a ball hard and see so many players coached out of this strength -- use it and add to it without subtracting from it. Best of luck, Smokey
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