His first! (maybe)

That's the part that always counts.

I would enjoy it for your son. He will hit one in a game very soon.

 

I will never forget the first my son hit. He was nine and I was coaching first. It was a no doubter over a 200' fence. I gave him five and congratulated him as he rounded first. His teammates met him at home and the celebration was on (this was the first time any of this TB team had ever hit a HR). After the game some of the parents asked me why I was so calm. I told them it was bc I had taught him to act like it was something he did regularly. The real reason was bc I had croc tears in my eyes and couldn't see my way to home plate!!! He's hit quite a few since and I can only really remember one other, his most recent that would cleared a 250' and maybe a 275' (no kidding)!!!

Dad:  I'd count it. No other 10 yr old has hit one (tourney, league, or BP) off that hard throwing ace.

I'd count it!  You'll always remember it.  I remember Ryno's first HR like it was yesterday.  Since he has never been fast, inside the park, or "little league" HR's were out of the question.  He would hit the ball farther than everyone else, but what would be an HR for a decent running kid, would only be a double.

 

Anyhow, early in his 10 year old All Star Season, the Coach asked Ryan to bunt.  He had never been asked to bunt before, and it showed.  He fouled the first one, and then, fouled the second one.  I am mortified, because he didn't do his job.  Next pitch, he puts it over the fence.  At that moment, I thought the coach should ask him to bunt more often...

It counts until he hits his first one in a game. Chances are he's not far from doing it in a game.

Definitely count it!  Definitely enjoy it!  You never know when that next one will come.  

 

My son hit three homers in little league before he was 10 years old  -- well, in fairness 2 were legitimate homers, the first was really a 4 base error -- it won a championship in walk-off fashion though  (and was one of the events in his baseball life that made him want to come back for more.)

 

Between those little league "glory days"   and this summer as a rising college freshman he hadn't hit another one until just a couple of weeks ago  -- a grand slam of all things.   8 years is a long time between homers!   So you can imagine how pumped he was.

 

Maybe your kid is bigger and stronger than mine and there are  lots more to come for him.  But even so, there is nothing like that first one. 

Oh it counts . hope the pitcher ( I know, YOU) didn't get to flustered. HR happen to pitchers, gotta keep throwing strikes . Enjoy it!

It counts...and always will  My son is 18 now and I still laugh every time he hits a bomb off of my 60 mph fastball.  Sometimes he'll hit 3 or 4 in a row and start laughing so hard he can't swing anymore.   Never gets old...enjoy!!!

Count it and remember that he hit his 1st off you, when he's 12 and swinging wood you can relish in breaking his 1st bat(like I did last night). Dad has a 2 seamer with some run on it.

Awesome, thanks all!  Later that day, he went out and hit one off his friends dad!

Well, still no HR, but on Sat he did jack one 200+ in a game but the fences were 230.  He was pumped about that.   He is doing OK this season.  3rd in BA, and that is because he is so anxious to hit, he swings at a lot of bad pitches.  No strike outs but a lot of hits right to ss or 2nd.  Some weak hits, but not many, just a lot of grounders.  I am trying to teach him to be patient and to let him know that swinging at a bad pitch will result in a bad hit.  Any other thoughts on how to teach him to pick his pitch?  He did better these last two games, so maybe it is working.

My son once had a hitting coach that said Home Runs are accidents, shoot for solid line drives and you will eventually get enough lift for a HR.

 

As for advice on what to swing at, that same coach said "This is your box" and showed my son a pretty small strike zone, until you get to strike two ONLY swing if it's in this box.  Seemed like an effective strategy for 10u.

While it's a great feeling for them (and dad), I would keep the focus on line drives. While he may sacrifice some "power" for hits, this focus will help him tremendously as he moves on to fields larger than 200'.  And I've always been a believer that homeruns are mostly line drives that go out.

Awesome!

 

My son hit his first high school HR in batting practice last week. Cleared the 30 foot net and two rows of school buses. He came home with a big grin on his face. No way would I tell him it didn't count

My son is 19 and still has not hit one....

His motto as a hitter, "Drive for show, putt for dough...."

Well, no HR during a game this season, however he was just a couple feet shy of one when he hit half way up a 4 foot fence.  He ended season well though by really pounding some doubles.  For him and his speed (or lack of) that is pretty darn good.  He lead the team in BA and slugging % as well as doubles.  He had 6 more then the next closest kid.  I will admit it did seem like something just "clicked" for him the past two tournaments.  I am thinking it had to do with being patient and seeing the results (good line drives).  He also wrapped up the season with a couple of great plays in the outfield as well.   Now that the season is over, I am looking forward to some free time before football season starts. 

One at age 9, 175' fence, Five at 12, 200' fence, Two at 13, 250' fence, Then they start playing on HS fields typically 310 around here. Zip so far in HS, then to make matters worse his summer team is on a college field 330-390-330. Always chasing...

HR's are exciting, no doubt, and they always put at least one run on the scoreboard, but are they necessarily a good thing in the dead bat era?  In the 2014 season my kid's HS won its league easily despite not hitting a single home run (and not giving up one either).  Even without home runs, the team scored in double digits more often than not and had a habit of putting games away early.  2015, while they battled to a tie for second in league, the #4 hitter hit 2 home runs and the #1 hit one.  #3 and #5 reportedly cleared the fences in practice fairly often.  A couple other guys were close as well.  Some fans of the team feel that the home runs that they did hit hurt them more than they helped because they fell in love with hitting the long ball, and so their failure to score as much and as often as the 2014 squad resulted at least partly from the guys swinging for the fences instead of swinging for line drives.

'03- be patient, they will come. Just have him really work on getting the lower half doing its part.

 

My son had his first practice with a new team tonight. His first swing on his first AB for the new coach produced a line drive oppo HR. He fouled off the second pitch and then punched the third pitch over dead center. Then he had the last AB for the practice and on his last swing he pulled one that cleared the 16' scoreboard by 10ft or so. He one-hopped a 275' fence last Friday while I was tossing BP to him and his best bud. Everybody likes the dinger, but I was also very proud of the scorchers up the middle that the SS and 2B couldn't handle. 

Congrats, As others said above, count it until he does it in a game, positive reinforcement at a young age.

 

Every so often son's 1st comes up, he was 10 on a 12 year old team, hit it off scoreboard, the coach (a truly great coach and man) went and got the ball and after the game had everyone circle up while he inscribed the ball, son still has it.

 

To flash forward to last week, in a big wood bat tournament son hits one 390 feet, the fence was 395, bounces and hits fence. 

This was against a good team so OF got there quickly. Glad to see a good swing & mechanics.

In the spring he hit one 450 (metal bat) but vs a HS with no fence, though it was only a triple due to a speedy LFer who was playing way back, we were no less proud.

 

At each age you bump the bar up and enjoy it when your son exceeds it,

I envy you - those early years are a real blast

 

Son's coachs credo:

"Homeruns are doubles that go out"

Homeruns are definitely fun. My oldest hit is first in a rec game at 11, Crushed it. Only HR he every hit. Still talks about it.

youngest boy hit a lot when he was younger, first one at 9, something like 20 as a 12 year old on 200' fences. At 13 he went to big boy fields and fences, Generally 300 to hit it out. Didn't hit one until he was 16 again. 16- 18 hit probably hit 20, but there was a 3 year gap where by 15 he was frustrated. So enjoy em when they happen. But always shoot for line drives 

HR's are rare and exciting for everyone.  Your son proved he has the pop to put it out now it's just a matter of reps.  Very Cool! 

 

A little brag.  My son has three this year during live games on a his 13U team playing on the big fields.  Granted it's not with BBCOR but heck still pretty impressive for 13.