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I'm sure the situation my son is finding himself in is very common, and so we could use some advice.

He's a freshman, just starting the season. He's been working out with the team every day in an informal after school "camp" (read: a way to get around the Feb. 20th official start date.)

Here's the problem: the coaching staff wants to change his swing.

Basically, they teach a style of hitting different than what he has been taught for the last 4 years or so by his hitting coaches. They teach a downward bat path, from what I can gather, a more "linear" approach. They want a descending blow to the ball.

My son has worked with two different college batting coaches over the last four years who teach more of an "Epstein" approach. One of these guys was all PAC 10 outfielder for Oregon State a decade or so ago, the other was the hitting coach at a local college program. Both of them are very high on my son's swing.

My son has always been a very good left handed hitter, and under these two guys he has really refined his approach and grown to understand it very well. He went to his first PG showcase last month in Cal., and one of the evaluators specifically mentioned to him that they liked his "hands path" in his swing.

So, what does he do? This issue has barely started, and I'm hoping that we can prevent it from becoming a big ****ing contest.

Should he do as they say and keep his doubts to himself? Should he talk with the coaches and tell them he believes in his approach and wants them to allow him to prove to them it can handle varsity pitching? (I can't say I have a high degree of confidence a HS baseball coach is going to say "OK" to this.)

Anybody been in a similar situation, as a coach?
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Sticky problem for a freshman. I assume the coaches don't know him or his baseball background. Do the coaches know he has been taking hitting lessons?

Let's assume that his current swing is the more correct one. And it sounds like it might be.

I suggest he just lisen to the coaches, make a few swings like he's trying to adopt their suggestions then revert back to his swing. Coaches are used to kids struggling to make swing changes. Once he shows the coaches how well he hits, I suspect they'll leave him alone.

I wouldn't make a big issue of it now and possibly sour the coaches on him. If they just persist on the change something may have to be said later.
Especially since he's a freshman, I'd go along with the coaches plan, even if it isn't the best.

Give it a try, but keep working on his normal swing on his own time to retain muscle memory. Chances are that once things heat up, if he's driving the ball they'll leave him alone more than early on. If he isn't hitting and isn't doing it their way, he's likely to have problems.
I don't think I would be working with two different swings. You may end up with a hybrid of the two swings and totally screw him up.

But you're right catcherdad, if he's not hitting with his swing and the coaches see he's not trying to change to their way, he'll be in bigger trouble. So I would hope he is putting in the extra effort at home and in the cage to make sure that doesn't happen.
Similar thing happened to my son when he started high school except I didn't know who Epstein was and I wasn't sure if my son's swing was linear or rotational. I agree with 06catcherdad. A couple of bad hacks in practice won’t destroy his muscle memory and should appease the coaches. Explain to your son how to handle it and keep taking him to his hitting instructors and every thing will be fine and the coach will lay off; (if he's stroking the ball). Tell his hitting instructors about the situation and they can also talk to your son too. They’ve been there! If you do all that and your son struggles at the plate, you can do like thousands of other parents do ----- blame the high school coach. Big Grin
Fungo
Last edited by Fungo
I'm with you, TR, especially for things such as swing plane, or arm slot for pitching.

Ever see a coach try to change a pitcher's arm slot? My belief is that arm slot, much like swing plane in golf and batting, are best left alone because they come naturally as a by-product of body and other immutable things.

To give the coaches in my son's situation the benefit of the doubt, they have never seen him take a live at bat, and only know him through his reputation from youth ball. They want him to swing quickly enough to hit varsity level pitching.

They think their method results in a quicker bat. What they don't know is that he has had some at-bats against varsity level pitching, and has done fine.

The coaches are fine guys. Heck, one of them played for my dad in the 1960's on this same high school team, and was my neighbor growing up. There is no personal issue here at all.

My son is very stubborn, and is plenty mature enough to handle this situation with my only involvement being advice. I just want to make sure the advice I give him is well considered, so thanks for your input.
Some great advice.

Do what the coach asks the best you can. Make the team and try what he is teaching he is the boss right or wrong.
Once he makes the team your son can talk about his swing if it isn't working out.
Son had the same problem as a pitcher. The University player helping the varsity team tried to change his mechanics after years of pro training. He asked me what to do and I told him to try it because the coach is the coach. He gradually went back to his old way when the season started. Never heard a word about it.
Job 1is is to make the team and then get playing time. You do not want to create a problem.
Rob, you have to decide what is right for your son. There are no rights or wrongs to how your son is being coach since we've proven time and time again that you can find an "expert" on every aspect of the game and then find an "expert" to disprove what the "expert" told you. I'd find it hard to believe that a HS coach would be so ignorant as to not notice an agenda in your son's approach to hitting and being coached.

BTW, I'm never comfortable with a coach wanting to change someone right away. How long have they had the team picked?

Well, the real reason for my post, I don't know the rules for your state but I know them for Illinois. If your son is now playing HS baseball, then he can't be taking lessons from an instructor. In the State of Illinois, this makes your son ineligible.
Last edited by CoachB25
CoachB25:
Thanks... no such rule here as far as I know, but doesn't matter anyway because he is not currently spending paid time with his hitting instructors. (One of them just left for Germany to coach in a pro league there.)

I share your reluctance to change things right away... they haven't yet picked the team at all. The coaches have seen him in the cage only, over the course of twice a week BP for about 6 weeks.
Rob- If you would like, I could take a look at his swing for you or we could simply converse about hitting and I will tell you if what the HS coaches are suggesting is the right thing. If interested, I will show you how to get me his swing so I can analyze it. This is a crucial time in his development and you don't want to have him doing the wrong things.[EMAIL]jody@jodyreedbaseball.com[URL=www.jodyreedbaseball.com]

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