Take Your Practice Swings into the Game

Question:

My 11 year old son hits much better in the more competitive AAU than in LL. In AAU, he really drives the ball. Line drive extra base hits. His mechanics are good. quick hands, uses legs, stays down on the ball. In LL, he doesn’t use his legs, swings at bad pitches, doesn’t drive the ball. I know its a mental thing. He says he is tense. I think its a holdover from last year. His first year in LL majors, he did not hit well then either. (partly because he got hit on the elbow.) He works really hard, takes extra BP. But this is primarily mental. How can I help him overcome this psychological barrier.

Answer:

It’s true when people say that this game is more mental then physical. You talked about him taking extra batting practice, which is very good, however how muck time is he spending creating good mental habits. As much time as he spends in the cage he should spend visualising himself having success. Let him go over mentally all the success he has had in his AAU league. Have him go up to the plate with nothing on his mind except him knowing that he going to have success in that at bat. With this attitude he will always dominate.

Teaching Players of All Ages

Question:

Your material is top rate. I am having incredible results with both my kids (boy – 7 and girl – 9). I am managing my son’s team as well as a coach for my daughter’s team. My approach thus far is to cover all aspects of hitting fundamentals with all the kids starting on the set up and working forward. My time with each player is limited to about 10 minutes a week. Are there fundamentals that I should focus on that will get more observable results than others? With these kids getting limited reps, the progress is slow. I have completed the entire swing and am wondering if I start back at the beginning as most kids still struggle with the basics. I would appreciate any thoughts.

Answer:

With young kids, I recommend you start with their legs. Make sure their legs are in the proper position, so that they can complete their swing staying on balance. The practice time you are able to give them is not enough alone.  Give them specific areas to work on, such as working on balance in front of their mirror at home. If they have a tee at home, give them something specific to work on. If you can get more help, I would set up more drill stations so the kids can get more swings. They need to swing the bat everyday to improve their skills.

How to Be a Well Rounded Hitter

You want to train yourself to become a complete hitter. Part of being a complete hitter is being able to hit the ball to all parts of the field. This is important because when you are capable of using the whole field, the pitcher is not able to pitch you in one particular way. In other words he will have to work harder to keep you off the bases. Additionally, the defense can not shade you to one particular area in the field.

DARRYL STRAWBERRY
In the 1996 World Series, you might have noticed how the Atlanta Braves defense was playing Darryl Strawberry. The defense shifted to the right side of the field, except for the third baseman, Chipper Jones, who moved to the shortstop position. This left the whole left side of the infield open. The reason for this was because:

• Darryl was basically a pull hitter.
• They were trying to get him out by pitching him on the inside part of the plate.

This is what can happen to a pull hitter – they can be easily defensed. Darryl was basically a pull hitter, but he had a lot more success when he used the whole field.

HITTING THE BALL TO THE OPPOSITE FIELD

To hit the ball to the opposite field:

• Get a pitch on the outside part of the plate
• Hit the ball deeper in the contact zone
• Keep the barrel of the bat above your hands
• Stay inside the ball

Most young hitters have the ability to pull the ball. However, to be a complete hitter and on your way to being a master hitter, you must develop the ability to hit the ball to the opposite field. One of the reasons that young hitters have a difficult time hitting the ball to the opposite field is that coaches are always telling them to pull the ball and to hit the ball way out in front. In order to handle the ball on the outside part of the plate, you must wait for the ball to get deeper into the zone. Contact for the outside pitch should be made even with the front foot or slightly deeper. You will find that this will help you to hit the curve ball as well.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Your stance may show the pitcher where your strengths and weaknesses are. For example

a right handed hitter that stands off the plate in a closed stance and strides towards the plate is going to handle the ball on the outside part of the plate better than the inside pitch. His weakness would be the inside part of the plate. This is opposed to a right handed hitter who has an open stance, and stays open on his stride – his strength will be the inside pitch. His weakness will be the ball on the outside part of the plate. This holds for left handed hitters as well. This is why I recommend that no matter how you stand at the plate, when your stride foot comes down, you should be at a parallel stance. Some hitters have to use the open or closed stance because of flaws in their approach. If you are one of these hitters, make sure that you are disciplined enough to swing at the pitches you can handle (your strengths) and do not swing at the ball in your weak area until you get two strikes.

AREAS OF THE ZONE

Let’s examine areas of the zone that you may be pitched. If you are being pitched inside, and you are looking inside, you will want to hit this particular pitch to the pull side of the field. f you are being pitched middle away, look to go to the opposite field.

A key point here, and many Major League hitters do this, is to look for the pitch down the middle.  By doing this, it is easier for you to adjust off the ball down the middle, than it is looking on the extreme outside or the extreme inside. There will be times when you will look inside or outside. For example, if a pitcher consistently throws you on the outside part of the plate, it is to your advantage to look on the outside part of the plate and hit the ball to the opposite field. If this is the case, you need to let the pitch on the extreme inside go.

If you feel the pitcher is trying to work you outside, then look outside. Do the same with inside.

Many youth league pitchers do not have great control yet, so it is best to look middle. However, at the high school level or above, the pitchers are starting to gain better control.

A point to remember is that you can look outside and still have a chance to hit the inside pitch, but if you look inside, you will have virtually no chance to hit the outside pitch. This may sound complicated and as if it were for advanced hitters only, however, all young hitters should start to learn how to use the whole field and to look for pitches in different areas. The chart picture illustrates the areas of the strike zone. Take note of where the high averages are. Find the area that you hit best.

Switch Hitting Questions and Answers

Question:

When should a player start switch-hitting? What do you consider a good age to begin? How proficient should the hitter be from his strong side before he begins learning to switch-hit? Do you consider learning to switch-hit to be a big advantage for being recruited by college/pros? Just off the top of my head, it seems that many of the top hitters in the Majors are not switch hitters.

Answer:

My son and I started to work on switch hitting when he was about 10 years old, but he didn’t start switch hitting in games until he was 13. I wanted him to get a real feel for balance through his swing and develop more strength before I put him in a game situation. When he started switch hitting in games, he hit only left handed for the entire year (he’s a natural right handed hitter). This was the year he was going to go to the big field and I thought he might struggle somewhat switch hitting, but most kids struggle when moving up to the regulation size field anyway so I didn’t worry about it. He ended up having some success and has improved to the point to where he is a better hitter from the left side.

If you want your son to switch hit, you should have a reason for having him do so. Does he have some speed? If he has some speed, or potential to have speed, then there are some advantages to hitting from the left side. If he is going to be a power hitter with little speed, than I would say let him stay on one side. Most switch hitters are natural right handed hitters, there is a different advantage for left handed hitters. Most pitchers are right handed, hitting from the left side hitters will not have to deal with the offspeed pitch breaking away from them. Another big advantage to switch hitting is that players won’t be platooned if they are proficient from both sides of the plate.

If my son would have been a natural left handed hitter, I don’t believe I would have taught him to switch hit. But don’t hold me to that because I have a 2 year old and he hits off the tee lefty, I think because he watches his brother hit from the left side so much.

COACHING–AN AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY!!

Take it lightly or seriously, but the fact is indefensible that a coach has positive and/or negative effects on his or her players.  Much of my work is because of the negative influences; it’s good for my economy, but I honestly wish that this was not a prevalent problem.  A tremendous amount of needless emotional suffering, consequent  performance debilitation and the danger of present and future influences in other areas of life attest to this dilemma and beg for positive changes.  To quote Katherine Graham,”To love what you do and feel that it matters–how could anything be more fun?”  It obviously does matter how you treat your players.

A coach who embraces a negative philosophy should not expect better conduct or peak performances from his or her players and should be held accountable.    Like it or not, we’re talking role model here and  one cannot separate actions from influence.  To many who coach with a positive approach, I congratulate you for allowing your players to have fun, which also influences better performances and helps mould character in beneficial ways.  To those who are negative, including the successful, please give the positive a try.   A considerable number over the years have made radical changes and with  greatersuccesses, because the positive is far more powerful than the negative.   Begin to really love what you are doing and the fun will begin!!  Choose HEAD GAMES  as your guide.  This philosophy is holistic and regardless of circumstances, the mind and body will utilize the inherent phenomenal power.

Major League Baseball’s All-Time Leaders

Baseball Basics:
Major League Baseball’s All-Time Leaders

Who is Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in career hits?
Pete Rose is the all-time career hits leader. He surpassed Ty Cobb in the 1980s.

Who is Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in career strike outs?
Nolan Ryan is the all-time career strike outs leader. He also had seven no-hitters during his career, which is a phenomenal figure.

Who is Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in career batting average?
Ty Cobb is the all-time leader in career batting average. His average is .366.

Developing a Short Swing

It is essential that hitters develop a short, compact swing now. The longer they wait to begin this development, the harder it will be to achieve. Get his/her hands down to approx. shoulder level, and make sure he/she does not lift them while striding. They should be at shoulder level about 6-8 inches from the body, and approx. even with his back foot when his stride foot lands softly. From there, start the lower half (approach–inward turn of back knee and back heel rotating off the ground) while keeping hands back (creating torque between lower and upper body, then pull the knob to the top inside half of the ball with both hands–this will guarantee he pulls long enough to obtain the proper short stroke.

Also, make sure he keeps the barrel above his hands and near his back shoulder as he brings the barrel to the ball–otherwise, he will cast the barrel away from his body–long swing.

Important: Hitting the Right Pitch

Being selective at the plate is vital for a team’s success.  Why is it important?

• The win/loss record is very poor when opposing pitchers throw less than 115 pitches per game.
• Low pitch counts keep the opposition’s pitching staff in stronger positions.  Starter is able to go longer while team is unable to see 7th through 11th pitcher on staff.
• When opposing pitcher has 5 to 6 pitched innings, his confidence increases.  Hitters want to see all of the pitcher’s repertoire and early hitting eliminates seeing all the pitcher’s pitches.
• Non-selective hitters don’t get the job done in “clutch situations’ because pitchers are trying to make tough pitches starting from the first pitch.
• When the “set-up” men come into the ball game, outs on the first and second pitch is poor hitting.

Having the Proper Bat Angle

Let’s talk about the bat angle.  At what angle should you have the bat?  Should it be up at a 90 degree angle?  Should you tilt it back towards the catcher?  What is most comfortable for you?  The most efficient place to put the bat is at a 45 degree angle behind your back shoulder.  This is the best position to launch the bat from.

It is the most efficient way to get the bat through the zone.  Since this is hard to see you may either use the mirror drill or have a coach help you with this.  The reason why I don’t recommend a 90 degree bat angle is because in order to hi, you must first get the bat into a 45 degree bat angle.  If you start at 90 degrees, you will cause unnecessary movement to get the 45 degree angle that is necessary to swing from.