Getting out front

This is an instance where practicing hitting the opposite way pays off.

Allowing the ball to get deeper will help keep his weight back.

mofireman: It sounds to me your son just needs to make an adjustment with his approach. In the game, his focus should be on right center, then if the ball is in, he can react.

Some things that I would have him do is put a tee upon the outside corner of the plate and aligned with his back knee. Force him to drive the ball to the right side. This really overexaggerates letting the ball travel.

I've never seen your son hit bp, but my guess is he pulls everything. In bp, you should focus on squaring every ball up (driving line drives past the pitchers ear, over the second baseman's head and over the shortstop's head. If you are constantly rolling over ground balls and hitting fly balls, it is more of a lack of focus and a lack of an end goal in mind....it is more just freeswinging.

Wow...did Quincy and I just agree on a hitting matter?

Yeah, you're both thinking the same thing and you bring up a good point. Most of his base hits are pulled to the left side with just an occasional ball hit up the middle or to the right side of the field.

I know some opposite field hitting drills would be great for him, so we'll certainly include those. I do believe that there are times that he is just free-swinging instead of thinking about a pitch location to look for based on the current situation.

Thanks guys!

Mofireman: More than just looking for a current pitch location, if you are looking to pull the ball, it is almost impossible to hit an offspeed pitch or a pitch away without being in front because mentally you are ready to yank...you see the ball and immediately jump at it.

If you are visualizing going the other way, you can always react with your hands in. Occasionally you may get jammed, but you will have the outer 2/3 of the plate covered and ready to drive balls all over the field.

I have two drills that I like to use when working with a player on timing/balance issues. All cage drills are done after tee work and side toss. I feel a player should prepare their body to learn through focused and controlled swings in the most controllable environment and work from there.

1)Three plate
-Set-up three plates in a cage approx 5ft from each other (ie: 45ft - 50ft - 55ft)
-Have the hitter start on the deepest plate and take 3-5 cuts
-Move forward one plate and take 3-5 cuts
-Move forward to the closest plate and take 3-5 cuts
-Finally move back to the original plate and take 3-5 cuts

This is a timing drill and although it may not be the most relevant drill for your case it is definately one that will help your son understand his timing better.


2)Bounce drill
-When taking BP in a cage this can be a slight variation for one round
-Every 3-4 throws bounce a ball across the plate for the hitter to hit
-You want to bounce the ball <5ft in front of the hitter so the ball bounces into the strike zone.

This drill is designed to teach the hitter to stay balanced on off-speed pitches. Each bounced pitch effectively simulates an off-speed pitch (timing wise.) Don't become focused on the hitter making great contact with the bounced ball, focus on the hitter's timing and balance at contact point (If he makes great contact super, just remember the ball will be traveling on a different trajectory than normal so the focus needs to be balance and timing.)