anyone care to share fundamentals for 9/10yo batters avoiding HBP

Teach them to take their left shoulder (rhb) to the catcher and lower the bat. Turn in towards the catcher with the lead shoulder. (lhp) should turn the right shoulder towards the catcher lowering the bat. IMO this is the only way it should be taught at any age.

Good advice coach. I still see coaches teaching their kids to square around and face the pitcher in order to bunt. If the ball is thrown at them they have nowhere to go.

Teach them what Coach May said about the tuck and turn away from the pitch and then to emphasize the point (maybe not at your age - never coached them) throw tennis balls at them. It won't hurt and they get used to doing it and not being too shocked by getting hit. Still hurts but at least they won't open their face to the pitch.

Coach2709 beat me to it. I found while doing camps for kids that many younsters coming out of pitching machine leagues had no idea how to get out of the way or to get hit by a pitch. I throw tennis balls or foam balls at my high schoolers to teach them the right way to do it. It is also a good way to work off some aggression! Just kidding.

for my son when we work on hitting, i have three or for 'baby balls' in the bucket o' balls...they are very soft but are still baseballs...i think they are used for teeball...anyway, he never knows when it's coming but when i get that ball out of the bucket, it's coming straight at him.

he's never been HBP in a game or with a real ball since he's never faced a live pitcher in a game. in practice, he does quite well hitting live BP but just has not had to face the beaner yet.

ironically::: he is fearless in the batter's box but doesn't want to pitch because he's afraid of hitting someone! as a coach, i gotta get him over that and i tell him the sandy colfax quote a poster signs off with on this forum abt pitching inside.

but as father, i'm sort of proud that he's willing to face the pain but is reluctant to inflict it.

it's a problem though b/c he started off pitching very well with good speed and accuracy but as we get closer to opening day and he faces more live batters [some who are a bit clueless abt getting out of the way of a pitch, others who are quite diminuitive in stature] his speed has declined and everything is outside. he actually shed a tear or two confessing his fear when i got a bit assertive with him to "throw the ball" .

gotta figure this one out. it will work itself out with time and experience i think.

I had good results using a plastique ball pitching machine such as the "Grenada".

We had a drill using whiffle balls, where the kid had to recognize where the pitch was going. If it was over the plate he watched it through. If it was at him he had to turn the front shoulder closed to take it off the back, not the chest or hands. Then, second time through, you move on to swinging if it's over the plate. You're out if you jump away from or take one over the plate, or if you swing at one that hits you. Make it a contest and see which player stays alive the longest.

quote:

but as father, i'm sort of proud that he's willing to face the pain but is reluctant to inflict it.

I don't think that there is a pitcher out there that didn't feel this way. They get over it fast.