Baseball Hitting

[vinnyhockey]

My son who is 11 is struggling at the bat and is playing all star baseball.

He is moving back from the home like he is afraid of being hit.

Moves the back foot back and does not stride into the ball

Any suggestions?


Vinny

 

[IE]

soccer???

 

[Morris]

He is only 11 don't push too much. Let him work his way out of it with a little coaching.

 

[IE]

j/k, seriously...

1.) Think and assess the situation BEFORE entering the Batter?s box.
2.) Relax and deep breaths (oxygen to the brain and muscles) as you dig in.
3.) Never speak or exchange words with the catcher. Dismiss him in your mind.
4.) Soft focus on the pitcher?s hat until ball appears in release window? switch!
5.) Your approach should be ?YES, YES, YES? on every pitch, be prepared to hit every pitch! Let your eyes and body tell you ?NO?.
6.) Treat every first pitch like a 2-0. Expect fastball down the middle and attack it!
7.) Step out after each pitch? deep breaths? think ?accurate barrel?? back to soft focus.
8.) No matter the count.. ALWAYS expect fastball.
ADJUST to off-speed.
9.) Move up in the box in a ?bunt? situation. Back in the box for ?hit and run?.



BASEBALL VISION DRILLS

Hitting Drills

Colored Horseshoe of Baseball

-This drill is used to warm up the eyes for live pitching.
-Color the ball between the inside seams and have the pitcher throw a variety of pitches from the mound or 60 feet 6 inches.
-In this drill, the batter picks up the spin as quickly as possible, calls out the pitch, and watches the ball into the catcher's mitt.
-If the batter has trouble identifying the pitch before he throws it, this helps the batter pick up the type of pitch if they don't recognize it at the release point. (Don't hit the ball, just call it in flight.)

Colored Baseballs

-Use 2-3 colored baseballs:
-------Red = Take
-------White = Hit Away
-------Green = Drag
-The batter must react to the color of the ball as soon as he/she recognizes the color.
-The drill can be used with live pitching or soft toss.
10.) ALWAYS BELIEVE YOU CAN! !!!!

 

[Morris]

soccer???

:mj07: :mj07: :mj07:

 

[zoomer]

Vinny, to properly hit your son has to stay back and keep his weight back over his back foot. He doesn't need to take a big stride, in fact all he has to do is clear his hips. He should be impacting the ball with his weight over the balls of his back foot.
(pivoting on the ball of his back foot)

By hitting properly, he will not be able to back away with his back foot as his weight will be already back. If in this position, he begins to pull off the ball with his front foot ("Bailing out"), then he is most likely afraid of getting hit.

 

[IntenseOperator]

soccer???

OMG

:mj07:

 

[lewehands]

Main thing right now is bat/ball contact. Forget the step untill he can make contact with the ball regulary. During practice in the back yard he should swing at everything. If is not thinking about the step it should also help eliminate him stepping backwards!

 

[lewehands]

or try soccer or hockey

 

[THE KOD]

POWER BAT DRILL

The purpose of the Power Bat Drill for a baseball player is much the same as a boxer using a heavy bag to train with. Boxers learn how to develop power in their punch by trying to power through the 120-200lb heavy bag. Baseball players learn to develop power in their swing by hitting through a heavier object than a normal 5oz baseball. The result is the same for both athletes? increased power through the point of contact! For a boxer, that means more of a chance to knock his opponent out. For a baseball player it means more of a chance to knock the ball out of the park!!


Tools you will need:

? A Batting Tee
? A plunger
? A flat soccer or basketball
? A hitting net
? A bat
? A winning attitude

Here is how the program works:

?Place the plunger handle into the batting tee.
? Place the flat soccer (different sizes for different age groups)
? or flat basketball (high school and above) onto the plunger.
? Execute your normal swing repeatedly

What you will see is that with the first few swings the barrel of the bat will stutter through the impact zone. By "stutter" I mean that it will decelerate at the point of impact for a fraction of a second before resuming its speed to the finishing position. The goal is for the hitter to strike the much heavier ball without having the bat decelerate at the impact point. This takes proper technique and explosion at the point of impact to achieve.

..................................................................

 

[Hooks]

Hey Vinney, Hooks here.
Played lots of baseball in my time. I usually led off. (LOVED STEALING BASES)
It's so natural to step away from the pitch when your so young. Especially after getting beaned.
His confidence will come back, especially if he already could hit.
All you need to teach him is 2 things,
1.- Get him to the batting cage and get him in the batters box.
Bring a piece of chalk with you if there's no dirt. If there is dirt, Take the knob of the bat and draw a circle that his front foot will be landing in as he takes his stride into the pitch.
He doesn't even need to have a ball thrown to him at first.
Practice his swing STEPPING INTO the pitch, have his foot hitting that circle over and over, then start having him see pitches and have him keep stepping into that circle, this will get him to step INTO THE BALL.
2.- Now it's time to locate the ball out of the pitchers hand as soon as he can. SEE THE BALL BABY!
He's young, it may take a while but if he can see the ball and watch the bat hit the ball while stepping into the pitch, he's going to gain more and more confidence.

If you have a tee, have him hit the ball into the fence over and over STEPPING INTO THE PITCH.

Let us know how he's doing later, HOOKS

 

[UGA12]

First and formost remember he is 11. Dont think I would do it with an 11 year old but putting a block in front or behind the front foot keeps hitters from striding or stepping in the bucket. Until he matures physically and starts developing muscle memory during proper training sessions I would not push to hard. One could talk hitting for hours on in but if you have an 11 year old that is scared of the ball Me thinks time is the only thing that will cure that. GL

 

[White Shadow]

I know he's young but if he's serious about playing baseball down the road, I suggest you look into bestbaseballswing.com. Great dvd put together by John Cohen (Head Coach, University of Kentucky). There are tons of tee drills and soft toss drills that focus on balance and hands. Saw him speak at a coaching clinic in january. Very impressive........

 

[The Sponge]

My son who is 11 is struggling at the bat and is playing all star baseball.

He is moving back from the home like he is afraid of being hit.

Moves the back foot back and does not stride into the ball

Any suggestions?


Vinny

Vinny get him in a batting cage and make sure it is a good one. Start off slow. His whole problem isn't mechanics but he is completely afraid of the ball. Like i said start of slow and increase the speed when he starts getting some confident. In the cages the ball comes right down the middle so he wont get hit. At first he is gonna jump away like he is doing now but once he sees the ball in the same spot he will start building confidence. This may take a while but this is what i would do. To me this is the biggest problem that has to be solved first before you work on anything. remember start off slow like the machine is throwing up ballons.

 

[yyz]

Punch him in the face pretty hard. When he gets up, tell him he probably won't get drilled like that at the plate.

 

[fatdaddycool]

Punch him in the face pretty hard. When he gets up, tell him he probably won't get drilled like that at the plate.

I would have to agree with yyz on this one. The only real good advice you've gotten on this matter so far.

 

[marcb1oo5]

i had this problem when i was that age also...here's what cured my fear, put a bat on the ground behind him, and when he moves his back foot away from the plate, he will step on the bat, the bat will roll, and he will bust his ass...it works