chicken or the egg

Looking back over the past five years, the ONE THING I'd do differently with JP (he's a HS senior whose best tool is hitting for power) it would be far fewer batting lessons.

 

When we get them thinking about mechanics, we fall into the "You can't think and hit at the same time" trap.

 

Occasional tweaks by a qualified hitting instructor? Yes.

 

But there's a fine line here, and it's easy to cross.  

What I've done with my son for the past 3 or 4 years is have him work with a hitting instructor primarily during the winter months. The guy my son uses is very good and played in the minors for the Royals.

Every winter he brings it up a few notches as they work on specific things to increase my son's hitting IQ.

During the spring, the instructor coaches on a college team and has a summer coaching gig with a NECBL team as well.

So he never sees the coach during the spring. MAY see him once or twice in the summer. Likewise in the fall. During the winter it's once a week.

The rest of the time?  Self diagnosis. Between feel, video, and coach feedback he makes the adjustments on his own. And that part, is what has been the greatest benefit to him.

Huey,

Do have  college near your town? Have your son practice with the team. His reflex will improve and his knowledge of the art of "real" hitting.

Does your son swing a weight bat daily?

do you have a full length mirror in your home?

 

Bob

I don't know anything, but this is an interesting question.  If your son continues to swing with the very bad mechanics won't it be harder to break those habits?  Or does he not plan on swinging a bat for awhile?

I think it depends on age, my sons got lessons in 6 week segments from age 10 to 13. Once a week with instructor then reps with dad, from 13,15 they joined a travel team that had coaches who reinforced and or tweaked things a little bit, at 15 and continuing forward they do lesson in the offseason every other week. As they grow and mature the lessons are much more approach based and less mechanical. As kids mature the needs change from the instructor.

 

so basically it kind depends where your son is in the time line of his baseball swing.

My son takes about 3 hitting lessons a year...both a money and time issue.  When school is out, we go see this guy for a couple weeks, then usually a trip to florida.  With this guy, it's mostly mental, after the lessons my son comes out aggressively driving the ball in games.  He's got a pretty good swing, hits ok all year long, but usually a step up after seeing this guy. I think this guy just does something to his head.

 

We got to the semi's of the Ft. Myers 13U perfect game last year with him hitting 4 or 5.  Had a good tournament at the plate.

BTW Huey my sons personal batting practice pitcher (me also) sucks...so I sit on a bucket behind an L and do soft toss for them from 15' or so feet away. they both hit between 3 and 6 days a week with me for 8 months a year. it depends on the season, winter they are just with lessons and teams it is my offseason! March-April we hit close to 6 days a week, May-August there is so much being played and practiced we cut it back to 3 or so days and often only 50 swings, fall it tends to kick up a bit as the schedule is lighter. November is off month and December is light.

 

Overhand BP may be best but I don't believe it is mandatory. I think muscle memory and quality reps are the key.

Old School;

 

Do you remember Rudy Jamarillo former batting coach of the Texas Rangers?

I visited Rudy in the batting cages at Arlington Stadium.

He was throwing under handed around the corner of the "L" screen to Rusty Greer.

Rudy was sitting on a chair 20' behind the "L"

screen. Of course the screen full size in front of his face.

 

 This is a reaction drill both for the hitter and the pitcher. There was another

Texas Rangers hitter who had played in Japan. Mentally, I timed the velocity of the batted ball from the impact to the end of the cage. Rusty batted baseball impacted the rear screen quicker than the second hitter.

 

For a "little guy" Rusty had great bat speed. A White Sox asked me if I could tell "bat speed" over the phone. "I said absolutely"

 

Bob

agreed I believe I can hear bat speed, especially when they practice with wood.

Thanks for the responses. My son gets a few lessons a year. I am also in the you can get too many lessons camp. He's a 15 year old sophomore this year. Power is his number one tool. When I said his swing looked way different , I meant he looked more like he was thinking about his swing. More compact thinking just put the barrel on the ball. Which isn't bad in itself but, he's not fast. That is why I was wondering about the timing of the lessons. I know an instructor would like to build his swing . I just don't know if it is better to be close to what that swing is or walk in there cold . The mirror is a good idea and I would like to find an app for my iPhone to tape him . My back is feeling better. So hopefully we can get this show on the road soon.