2 Swings

Ya have him hit live bp.

I dont like hitting of a machine b/c of the timing issue.

BBall21, welcome.

Having 2 swings is pretty common for a young player. A lot of it has to do with a lack of trust in the swing. Some kids develop beautiful swings hitting tees and flips and even machine pitches, because they know pretty much where the ball will be and the speed is consistant.

Then, when a pitcher is trying to get them out, they start to aim the bat at the ball instead of trusting their swing. The next 1 is right about live bp. The only way to get past it is to face pitching.

Try telling him it's OK to swing and miss. It's actually preferred to changing his swing to make contact.

Once he learns to trust his swing, he'll be fine.

Good luck!

Mike F

If he is seeing live arm in the cage thats a good. But he is probaly seeing it at a much shorter distance than in the game. He is probaly having timing issues because he is so used to seeing it and timing it from say 30 or 40 feet and then gets in the game and its coming from a longer point. This can cause kids to have problems figureing out when to load etc. I would have him take his bp from 60' or whatever distance he hits at at his level in games. I think you will find that this will help him in game situations. Nerves? Sometimes kids are really relaxed in the cage because its not a game situation. Then they get in a game and nerves take over. They are either too jacked up or just nervous that they will fail. Try to explain to him that its ok if he gets out or k's. All he is trying to do is have a quality ab and get a good pitch to hit. Its ok to fail. Its not ok to get upset about it. You are going to have failure its how you deal with it that matters. RELAX. BE CALM. JUST HIT AND DONT THINK ABOUT MECHANICS. He may be trying to be technically solid and thinking about all the things he has been taught while hes trying to acutally do it in a game. When its second nature to him he will not have to think about it. It will be natural and he will be fine. Good Luck

A major problem with machine and tee hitting is that every ball is seen as a hitter's pitch and this discourages plate discipline.

Just because he doesn't strike out won't change the fact that he hits a two hopper to 2B whenever he swings at pitches out of the zone, low and away. Also, as he gets older, he will hit less of those pitches anyway.

If you consistently reward selectively in BP, with praise and reminders, he will walk more and get better in-game pitches to hit.

I will give it a try, it all makes sense I will let him read it and hope for the best... Thanks for the response.....

Several posters have had good ideas. But it might be one factor and one factor alone. Confidence. When confident, he has the great swing. When in the game, especially early in the season, his confidence isn't rock solid. He gets tense - physically and mentally. And that tenseness degrades the mechanics.

how about an eye exam?