HITTING

My son had a similar problem, pulling everything. He's got two problems, he has a very quick swing, won't blow too many by him, but he's also impatient and won't wait back on some of this really slow HS pitching this season.

I urged him to try to hit every ball to the right side. At least think right, then trust your quick hands to get to the inside pitch.

I threw him about 200 balls and made him give me a pushup for each hit to left field. First bucket, 7 pushups, second bucket 1 pushup, etc.

I wonder for your son, if he constantly thinks right field, he'll be able to stay back on the offspeed but still be quick enough to get the inside fastball?

that was my thinking also, have him take everything to right.

Try this in BP - pitcher releases the ball, then count to 1 (or 2)

lots of excellent tips in the hitting forum. probably the #1 issue with many, staying back on the ball, hitting the offspeed. General advice is to work on going the other way, and in the forums on batting there are a ton of good drills. If you watch the pros in BP they usually start off going the other way and progress to pulling and hitting homers. If there were a magic bullet there would be a lot of happy kids!

Staying right-side is a great rule of thumb, but the pitch has to be in the zone. As long as he's not 0-2 on bad pitches, right-side's a great place to start.

GED10DaD

"Hit the ball with the front shoulder"
Back off the plate for a longer look at the ball.
This will keep the head in to the ball.
Many young players are strong foul ball hitters.

Pitchers see the inside pitch hit foul and they will throw another inside, now I have 2 strikes. Want to guess where the next pitch will be?

Most young hitters crept toward the plate, trying to pull the outside corner pitch.

When you parents pitch BP,mix in a plastic ball,
it acts like a slider. Keeps junior honest.

Bob Williams

PS: Did you know at the SF College of Arts has 4 former ML players as coaches. They have no field
[they use the St Mary's field] Campus is on Montgomery in SF] Brian Guinn was in our Memorial Day tournament this weekend.

many good baseball folks on here but may I suggest teaching him to stay inside the ball rather than just going the opposite way. I think this is a better long term solution for his hitting and will allow him to hit the ball to all fields. He should also be looking for the change after he has pulled hard foul if the pitcher has one. Good Luck

quote:

Originally posted by bothsportsdad:
many good baseball folks on here but may I suggest teaching him to stay inside the ball

What does this mean exactly? What tips or cues do you use to accomplish this?

Thanks to all for your thoughts!

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:

quote:

Originally posted by bothsportsdad:
many good baseball folks on here but may I suggest teaching him to stay inside the ball

What does this mean exactly? What tips or cues do you use to accomplish this?

divide the ball into quadrants and try hitting the ball off the tee and striking the rear quarter of the ball which faces you in the batter's box... as opposed to hitting the backside of the ball or getting the barrel outside the path and hooking it which is what this young man is doing every time he pulls it foul. Hitting the ball in this area will force the hands to be in the proper position.

if you visualize this in your mind on pitches at various locations in the strike zone you will see how it keeps the ball fair and allows you to hit to all fields.