12 y/o Rotational Hitting (w/ video)

quote:

Originally posted by jah313:
Hi,

I am new to posting on the site, but have been lurking for months and there is a ton of great information, so thank you.

My 12 y/o son just finished tournament LL baseball and will be moving to fall ball on the big field. He is a good player (catcher/pitcher) of average size. He comes home from camp every day and practices on his own and loves the game. Although he rarely strikes out, he also does not hit with much power. On his own, he started watching videos on rotational hitting and seems to be getting better. He tends towards hitting a lot of ground balls. The link below is him in slow motion.

http://youtu.be/w9ufV9jbJes

If you would not mind could some of you take a look and give me advice that I can pass on to the boy.

Thank you for your time.

jah313: Welcome to HS Baseball Web!

Now to your son's swing. First off, has he had any formal instruction? Second, his swing is better than mine was at that age!

He has something that my hitting instructor friend calls Lead Leg Flare. This means that he opens the front foot without the use of the back side. This makes it more difficult to hit the ball to the opposite field with authority. He squashes the bug, which means that he gets limited weight shift.

His barrel path looks pretty good, as does his spine angle at contact. The swing looks pretty quick, no bat drag that I can make out. Those of us who can actually count frames here can tell you how many frames he takes to contact.

He needs:
Rear hip coil (google this, lots of explanations but I'll send you a PM with some information)
A running start (This will increase his bat speed)
Not to counter-rotate his shoulders (it looks like he does this, but a frontal view would be best to tell this).
To not squash the bug. With proper rear hip coil and weight transfer, this won't be an issue. He doesn't have to get up on the toe, just off the ball of his back foot.

I'll send you a PM with some information.

EDIT: PM sent

He has had some instruction the last few winters.

Here is an updated, better video from the side and front.

http://youtu.be/m0BJBLPlS6A

More comments are encouraged ;-D

He's counter rotating

Plenty of good going on for 12. You'll get lot's of differing philosophies on hitting. For me, I don't like the back knee getting outside of the ball of the foot. If he stays stacked better (in this case, keeping back knee inside ball of foot), this will shift his weight more appropriately to that point and will probably limit some of the counter-rotation concerns as well.

He looks really good. Really good.

I would try one thing before changing his swing. On the 2nd video, at 0:12, he makes contact around his front knee.


The optimal tee placement and the ideal contact point is at the (ball of the) front foot (see below). Use the heel of the front foot for outside pitches/tee.



If you hit the ball 10-12 inches too deep, the bat head is still going down (which drives the ball into the ground), and bat speed has not reached it's max potential. (Weak grounders as you describe)

Hit the ball at your front foot, and your bat will be going faster, and will be on the proper (slightly) upward plane.

Sultan a question - have you find that the excitement of the game tends to cause younger players to be out front often and that working a deeper perceived contact point can help them be more patient in a game situation?

quote:

Originally posted by NDD:
Sultan a question - have you find that the excitement of the game tends to cause younger players to be out front often and that working a deeper perceived contact point can help them be more patient in a game situation?

Maybe for a few cuts, but not as a general routine.

Thank you