Hands dropping

CaCO3Girl posted:

ABC_Baseball posted:

My kid is that age and he has been taking lessons since he was 6.  The more lessons he takes from somebody that knows what they are doing, the better his swing will be in my opinion.  He doesn't take them on a regular basis, just when I think he needs them.  The older he has gotten, the less lessons he has needed.  I've also learned a lot and can now see issues and try and make him aware so he can correct them.

At 11u now he does tend to drop his hands.  He is aware of it and at our last hitting session with guys at our academy, he came over and asked me if he was dropping his hands.  Good habits will pay off in the long run.  It doesn't hurt that he is able to dissect and fix his own swing.  I would hate to have him continue to do something wrong for 2 or 3 years and then have a hard time "breaking" the bad habit.  At this age, a lot of times coaches are not really experts.  They may have played high school baseball, but that is not the same as someone that has played MLB baseball and knows something about hitting at that level.

I have a 6 year old daughter, she has asked to play baseball like her Bubba.  Okay, no problem.  But the thought of paying for private lessons to tweak the squish the bug concept from a MLB player for a kid who still wears pull ups at night because she can't wake up....what is the dictionaries definition of wasteful?

By the way, my son also knew what his body was doing wrong in a swing by age 11, but that was through his coaches telling him, not paying for extra lessons.  If the coaches don't know how to swing a bat you have the wrong coaches.

Maybe you were lucky to have coaches who had the time to sit and work out each player's swing, im sure most dont, I know I dont.

Pretty good article breaking down the chances of a minor leaguer seeing the bigs.

http://www.blessyouboys.com/20...to-the-major-leagues

CaCO3Girl posted:

ABC_Baseball posted:

My kid is that age and he has been taking lessons since he was 6.  The more lessons he takes from somebody that knows what they are doing, the better his swing will be in my opinion.  He doesn't take them on a regular basis, just when I think he needs them.  The older he has gotten, the less lessons he has needed.  I've also learned a lot and can now see issues and try and make him aware so he can correct them.

At 11u now he does tend to drop his hands.  He is aware of it and at our last hitting session with guys at our academy, he came over and asked me if he was dropping his hands.  Good habits will pay off in the long run.  It doesn't hurt that he is able to dissect and fix his own swing.  I would hate to have him continue to do something wrong for 2 or 3 years and then have a hard time "breaking" the bad habit.  At this age, a lot of times coaches are not really experts.  They may have played high school baseball, but that is not the same as someone that has played MLB baseball and knows something about hitting at that level.

I have a 6 year old daughter, she has asked to play baseball like her Bubba.  Okay, no problem.  But the thought of paying for private lessons to tweak the squish the bug concept from a MLB player for a kid who still wears pull ups at night because she can't wake up....what is the dictionaries definition of wasteful?

By the way, my son also knew what his body was doing wrong in a swing by age 11, but that was through his coaches telling him, not paying for extra lessons.  If the coaches don't know how to swing a bat you have the wrong coaches.

I understand what you are saying, just do what you feel is best.  At 6 no kid will have a big league swing.  At 10 there is a difference between a kid that has been taught properly vs. one that has not.  All of the coaches for my son's team are dads.  We don't have paid coaches at this point.  Most played high school baseball, I think one of the assistance played in college.  The coaches basically run practice and put together the schedule.  I think they have learned a lot too over the years.  They learn from talking with other coaches and picking up what the "experts" at the academy do with our team during workouts.  The more work we do with the academy guys, the more expensive our fees as it is built in.  I do however supplement by getting my kid pitching lessons at the academy as well as taking him to see a former MLB player for hitting lessons.

This is my philosophy, if I wanted my kid to learn karate, I would get him karate lessons.  If I wanted him to learn to play the piano, I would get him piano lessons.  I think most anybody can run, but if he wanted to be a sprinter, I would get him a track coach/trainer.  Baseball is no different.  When he was 5,6,7, sure I was out there with him in the backyard practicing how to hit off a tee, off of a pitch, learning to throw, learning how to catch (we still do this).  He progresses beyond my basic teachings quickly.  Just like with pitching, mechanics are important, that is why guys have coaches.  I don't think its ever too early to get a coach once you have the basics.

From what I can tell, a proper swing is something that has to be built.  Young kids naturally "cast" the barrel when they swing a bat the first time.  The drills that are done to help you understand what keeping your hands inside the ball are important.  I know in my son's case they have paid off to date.  If he wants to try and play baseball as long as he can, he only gets his youth once to play and get better.  I would like to do all I can to help him be the best he can be.  That includes putting the right folks around him.

ABC_Baseball posted:

CaCO3Girl posted:

ABC_Baseball posted:

My kid is that age and he has been taking lessons since he was 6.  The more lessons he takes from somebody that knows what they are doing, the better his swing will be in my opinion.  He doesn't take them on a regular basis, just when I think he needs them.  The older he has gotten, the less lessons he has needed.  I've also learned a lot and can now see issues and try and make him aware so he can correct them.

At 11u now he does tend to drop his hands.  He is aware of it and at our last hitting session with guys at our academy, he came over and asked me if he was dropping his hands.  Good habits will pay off in the long run.  It doesn't hurt that he is able to dissect and fix his own swing.  I would hate to have him continue to do something wrong for 2 or 3 years and then have a hard time "breaking" the bad habit.  At this age, a lot of times coaches are not really experts.  They may have played high school baseball, but that is not the same as someone that has played MLB baseball and knows something about hitting at that level.

I have a 6 year old daughter, she has asked to play baseball like her Bubba.  Okay, no problem.  But the thought of paying for private lessons to tweak the squish the bug concept from a MLB player for a kid who still wears pull ups at night because she can't wake up....what is the dictionaries definition of wasteful?

By the way, my son also knew what his body was doing wrong in a swing by age 11, but that was through his coaches telling him, not paying for extra lessons.  If the coaches don't know how to swing a bat you have the wrong coaches.

I understand what you are saying, just do what you feel is best.  At 6 no kid will have a big league swing.  At 10 there is a difference between a kid that has been taught properly vs. one that has not.  All of the coaches for my son's team are dads.  We don't have paid coaches at this point.  Most played high school baseball, I think one of the assistance played in college.  The coaches basically run practice and put together the schedule.  I think they have learned a lot too over the years.  They learn from talking with other coaches and picking up what the "experts" at the academy do with our team during workouts.  The more work we do with the academy guys, the more expensive our fees as it is built in.  I do however supplement by getting my kid pitching lessons at the academy as well as taking him to see a former MLB player for hitting lessons.

This is my philosophy, if I wanted my kid to learn karate, I would get him karate lessons.  If I wanted him to learn to play the piano, I would get him piano lessons.  I think most anybody can run, but if he wanted to be a sprinter, I would get him a track coach/trainer.  Baseball is no different.  When he was 5,6,7, sure I was out there with him in the backyard practicing how to hit off a tee, off of a pitch, learning to throw, learning how to catch (we still do this).  He progresses beyond my basic teachings quickly.  Just like with pitching, mechanics are important, that is why guys have coaches.  I don't think its ever too early to get a coach once you have the basics.

From what I can tell, a proper swing is something that has to be built.  Young kids naturally "cast" the barrel when they swing a bat the first time.  The drills that are done to help you understand what keeping your hands inside the ball are important.  I know in my son's case they have paid off to date.  If he wants to try and play baseball as long as he can, he only gets his youth once to play and get better.  I would like to do all I can to help him be the best he can be.  That includes putting the right folks around him.

My son is 14u, and I have seen many dads like you because we too are surrounded by academies.  You are well meaning, and you have good intentions to give your son the tools to suceed and in the short term your son will be one of the best players out there.  The problem is long term.  

At twelve Johny will hit bombs over the fence because he's 5'6, 130#'s and your son might still be 4'6, 80#'s soaking wet, and him not being able to hit like Johny will likely hurt him because he's had the best training, maybe he was on the best 11u team in the state....it all changes when the puberty stick hits.  I'm a fan of letting progression of skills just come naturally because the day will come when others will be bigger and stronger and I just hope your kid can handle that he isn't the best anymore and he understands it has nothing to do with effort and everything to do with time.  

I have a Johny, and trust me when I say I saw some broken and dejected kids in the dugout and on the mound because they have been told they are awesome, they struck out a lot of kids, they batted in the top of the order and when they get knocked by reality they don't understand what they did wrong.  Please keep that in mind.

johnnysako posted:

CaCO3Girl posted:

ABC_Baseball posted:

My kid is that age and he has been taking lessons since he was 6.  The more lessons he takes from somebody that knows what they are doing, the better his swing will be in my opinion.  He doesn't take them on a regular basis, just when I think he needs them.  The older he has gotten, the less lessons he has needed.  I've also learned a lot and can now see issues and try and make him aware so he can correct them.

At 11u now he does tend to drop his hands.  He is aware of it and at our last hitting session with guys at our academy, he came over and asked me if he was dropping his hands.  Good habits will pay off in the long run.  It doesn't hurt that he is able to dissect and fix his own swing.  I would hate to have him continue to do something wrong for 2 or 3 years and then have a hard time "breaking" the bad habit.  At this age, a lot of times coaches are not really experts.  They may have played high school baseball, but that is not the same as someone that has played MLB baseball and knows something about hitting at that level.

I have a 6 year old daughter, she has asked to play baseball like her Bubba.  Okay, no problem.  But the thought of paying for private lessons to tweak the squish the bug concept from a MLB player for a kid who still wears pull ups at night because she can't wake up....what is the dictionaries definition of wasteful?

By the way, my son also knew what his body was doing wrong in a swing by age 11, but that was through his coaches telling him, not paying for extra lessons.  If the coaches don't know how to swing a bat you have the wrong coaches.

Maybe you were lucky to have coaches who had the time to sit and work out each player's swing, im sure most dont, I know I dont.

Typically three rounds in a cage soft toss, just like the rest of the team.

It seems to me that the key with youth baseball swings isn't to perfect the swing it's to perfect certain parts of the swing. If the kid won't turn his hips then focus on that until he does.  Don't try to fix his hips, legs, back foot, dropping hands, heads not down, flying open...etc all at once.  Pick one, get the kid good at it then pick a second one and make sure he still does the first thing.

CaCO3Girl posted:

johnnysako posted:

CaCO3Girl posted:

ABC_Baseball posted:

My kid is that age and he has been taking lessons since he was 6.  The more lessons he takes from somebody that knows what they are doing, the better his swing will be in my opinion.  He doesn't take them on a regular basis, just when I think he needs them.  The older he has gotten, the less lessons he has needed.  I've also learned a lot and can now see issues and try and make him aware so he can correct them.

At 11u now he does tend to drop his hands.  He is aware of it and at our last hitting session with guys at our academy, he came over and asked me if he was dropping his hands.  Good habits will pay off in the long run.  It doesn't hurt that he is able to dissect and fix his own swing.  I would hate to have him continue to do something wrong for 2 or 3 years and then have a hard time "breaking" the bad habit.  At this age, a lot of times coaches are not really experts.  They may have played high school baseball, but that is not the same as someone that has played MLB baseball and knows something about hitting at that level.

I have a 6 year old daughter, she has asked to play baseball like her Bubba.  Okay, no problem.  But the thought of paying for private lessons to tweak the squish the bug concept from a MLB player for a kid who still wears pull ups at night because she can't wake up....what is the dictionaries definition of wasteful?

By the way, my son also knew what his body was doing wrong in a swing by age 11, but that was through his coaches telling him, not paying for extra lessons.  If the coaches don't know how to swing a bat you have the wrong coaches.

Maybe you were lucky to have coaches who had the time to sit and work out each player's swing, im sure most dont, I know I dont.

 Don't try to fix his hips, legs, back foot, dropping hands, heads not down, flying open...etc all at once. 

If a player has that many problems, maybe it is time to pay somebody who knows how to teach the swing.  Whoever taught them previously didn't do a very good job.

CaCO3Girl posted:

johnnysako posted:

CaCO3Girl posted:

ABC_Baseball posted:

My kid is that age and he has been taking lessons since he was 6.  The more lessons he takes from somebody that knows what they are doing, the better his swing will be in my opinion.  He doesn't take them on a regular basis, just when I think he needs them.  The older he has gotten, the less lessons he has needed.  I've also learned a lot and can now see issues and try and make him aware so he can correct them.

At 11u now he does tend to drop his hands.  He is aware of it and at our last hitting session with guys at our academy, he came over and asked me if he was dropping his hands.  Good habits will pay off in the long run.  It doesn't hurt that he is able to dissect and fix his own swing.  I would hate to have him continue to do something wrong for 2 or 3 years and then have a hard time "breaking" the bad habit.  At this age, a lot of times coaches are not really experts.  They may have played high school baseball, but that is not the same as someone that has played MLB baseball and knows something about hitting at that level.

I have a 6 year old daughter, she has asked to play baseball like her Bubba.  Okay, no problem.  But the thought of paying for private lessons to tweak the squish the bug concept from a MLB player for a kid who still wears pull ups at night because she can't wake up....what is the dictionaries definition of wasteful?

By the way, my son also knew what his body was doing wrong in a swing by age 11, but that was through his coaches telling him, not paying for extra lessons.  If the coaches don't know how to swing a bat you have the wrong coaches.

Maybe you were lucky to have coaches who had the time to sit and work out each player's swing, im sure most dont, I know I dont.

Typically three rounds in a cage soft toss, just like the rest of the team.

It seems to me that the key with youth baseball swings isn't to perfect the swing it's to perfect certain parts of the swing. If the kid won't turn his hips then focus on that until he does.  Don't try to fix his hips, legs, back foot, dropping hands, heads not down, flying open...etc all at once.  Pick one, get the kid good at it then pick a second one and make sure he still does the first thing.

I dont mean to beat this to death, but how long are your practices? Thinking realistically, taking each kid and properly working with his bat would take what 45 mins to an hour x 12-13 kids, at each practice? When would you work on position specific and situational drills? I dont see how 3 rounds of soft toss is teaching anything, maybe all the kids have naturally beautiful swings and they are just getting reps.

The bolded, isn't that the same thing?

My point is, 3 rounds of soft toss isnt training any swing (unless your a natural), there has to be more hands on and if the parent does not feel capable the only alternative is paying an instructor.

CaCO3Girl posted:

ABC_Baseball posted:

CaCO3Girl posted:

ABC_Baseball posted:

My kid is that age and he has been taking lessons since he was 6.  The more lessons he takes from somebody that knows what they are doing, the better his swing will be in my opinion.  He doesn't take them on a regular basis, just when I think he needs them.  The older he has gotten, the less lessons he has needed.  I've also learned a lot and can now see issues and try and make him aware so he can correct them.

At 11u now he does tend to drop his hands.  He is aware of it and at our last hitting session with guys at our academy, he came over and asked me if he was dropping his hands.  Good habits will pay off in the long run.  It doesn't hurt that he is able to dissect and fix his own swing.  I would hate to have him continue to do something wrong for 2 or 3 years and then have a hard time "breaking" the bad habit.  At this age, a lot of times coaches are not really experts.  They may have played high school baseball, but that is not the same as someone that has played MLB baseball and knows something about hitting at that level.

I have a 6 year old daughter, she has asked to play baseball like her Bubba.  Okay, no problem.  But the thought of paying for private lessons to tweak the squish the bug concept from a MLB player for a kid who still wears pull ups at night because she can't wake up....what is the dictionaries definition of wasteful?

By the way, my son also knew what his body was doing wrong in a swing by age 11, but that was through his coaches telling him, not paying for extra lessons.  If the coaches don't know how to swing a bat you have the wrong coaches.

I understand what you are saying, just do what you feel is best.  At 6 no kid will have a big league swing.  At 10 there is a difference between a kid that has been taught properly vs. one that has not.  All of the coaches for my son's team are dads.  We don't have paid coaches at this point.  Most played high school baseball, I think one of the assistance played in college.  The coaches basically run practice and put together the schedule.  I think they have learned a lot too over the years.  They learn from talking with other coaches and picking up what the "experts" at the academy do with our team during workouts.  The more work we do with the academy guys, the more expensive our fees as it is built in.  I do however supplement by getting my kid pitching lessons at the academy as well as taking him to see a former MLB player for hitting lessons.

This is my philosophy, if I wanted my kid to learn karate, I would get him karate lessons.  If I wanted him to learn to play the piano, I would get him piano lessons.  I think most anybody can run, but if he wanted to be a sprinter, I would get him a track coach/trainer.  Baseball is no different.  When he was 5,6,7, sure I was out there with him in the backyard practicing how to hit off a tee, off of a pitch, learning to throw, learning how to catch (we still do this).  He progresses beyond my basic teachings quickly.  Just like with pitching, mechanics are important, that is why guys have coaches.  I don't think its ever too early to get a coach once you have the basics.

From what I can tell, a proper swing is something that has to be built.  Young kids naturally "cast" the barrel when they swing a bat the first time.  The drills that are done to help you understand what keeping your hands inside the ball are important.  I know in my son's case they have paid off to date.  If he wants to try and play baseball as long as he can, he only gets his youth once to play and get better.  I would like to do all I can to help him be the best he can be.  That includes putting the right folks around him.

My son is 14u, and I have seen many dads like you because we too are surrounded by academies.  You are well meaning, and you have good intentions to give your son the tools to suceed and in the short term your son will be one of the best players out there.  The problem is long term.  

At twelve Johny will hit bombs over the fence because he's 5'6, 130#'s and your son might still be 4'6, 80#'s soaking wet, and him not being able to hit like Johny will likely hurt him because he's had the best training, maybe he was on the best 11u team in the state....it all changes when the puberty stick hits.  I'm a fan of letting progression of skills just come naturally because the day will come when others will be bigger and stronger and I just hope your kid can handle that he isn't the best anymore and he understands it has nothing to do with effort and everything to do with time.  

I have a Johny, and trust me when I say I saw some broken and dejected kids in the dugout and on the mound because they have been told they are awesome, they struck out a lot of kids, they batted in the top of the order and when they get knocked by reality they don't understand what they did wrong.  Please keep that in mind.

I don't see how this has anything to do with either the OP, or anything with respect to instruction.  If you can't concede that instruction, and the work that goes along with it, in and of itself is generally (assumes a knowledgeable instructor) a path to improvement, I don't know what else to say.  My daughter started gymnastics at age 6, she sure as heck could not have got to be a level 10 gymnast through a natural progression of skills.  You don't become a great (better) baseball player (or anything for that matter) by just going with the flow. 

CaCO3Girl posted:

 

My son is 14u, and I have seen many dads like you because we too are surrounded by academies.  You are well meaning, and you have good intentions to give your son the tools to suceed and in the short term your son will be one of the best players out there.  The problem is long term.  

At twelve Johny will hit bombs over the fence because he's 5'6, 130#'s and your son might still be 4'6, 80#'s soaking wet, and him not being able to hit like Johny will likely hurt him because he's had the best training, maybe he was on the best 11u team in the state....it all changes when the puberty stick hits.  I'm a fan of letting progression of skills just come naturally because the day will come when others will be bigger and stronger and I just hope your kid can handle that he isn't the best anymore and he understands it has nothing to do with effort and everything to do with time.  

I have a Johny, and trust me when I say I saw some broken and dejected kids in the dugout and on the mound because they have been told they are awesome, they struck out a lot of kids, they batted in the top of the order and when they get knocked by reality they don't understand what they did wrong.  Please keep that in mind.

The "puberty card" is way over played.  When the kids hit puberty, those that have the best mechanics will outlast those that do not.  Most will not play past high school.  So learning the basic mechanics at a young age and having fun in Little League is a good start.  By 13-14, it is the sprint to high school.  You have 2 years to become a high school level hitter.  How far behind do you want to be? 

Now all instruction should be age and level appropriate.