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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