Hitting down on the ball

My advice would be to tell him to go back to what he was doing.Doubt he will get benched for getting base hits.

Welcome jpk3!

Don’t you just love baseball coaches? I think there is confusion on the whole “hitting down” on the ball concept and many coaches confuse this with being aggressive with the front side and getting out through the ball. MLB batters have a flat to slightly up plane and are on plane for a long long time.

If you can post some video some of the batting experts around here can give you some advice….Afterwards an argument on some trivial aspect of this swing will break out your son can be honored with a thread with 200 posts and 10,000 reads…

In practice hit down on the ball and creat backspin to make the coach happy. In game, hit like normal, .. line drives.

Have your son tell the coach he's wrong....It's time, someone needs to set a precedent with this coach.....

Good idea BlueDog, your right....but.... How long do you think he will be on the team when the 16YO kid tells his coach he is full of it.

Actually he could suggest he look at some MLB swings in slow motion and ask him to point out how the batter is hitting down on the ball.

Thanks for the info. I agree BFO telling the coach he is wrong will only make the proble worse. So the best way to hit is to have more of a flat swing with a little upper cut to it to drive the ball Is that right? Really want to get me son back on the right track. I can't believe how messed up he got by trying to do this style. Does hitting this way actually work for anyone? What is the best way to get out of it? Tee work, soft toss, or just a lot of cuts in the cage?

If you can not hit and you can run then hit down on the ball and run like hel. Otherwise run like hel from this approach. It is a hitting theory that many HS coaches teach. It is an approach to put as many balls in play on the ground as possible in order to give your team a better chance to win "in theory."

Fly balls take one play to record an out. Catch the ball
Strike outs take no play to record an out.
Ground balls require it to be hit where it can be fielded.
If hit where they can be fielded someone must field it.
They must make a good throw.
Someone must catch it.
Before you reach the bag.

Hence teaching your team to hit down on the ball is an attempt to put balls in play. This idea that you hit down on the ball to create backspin in order to create carry is pure nonsense.

Get on the plane and drive the ball. See the ball deep get the bat in the zone and keep it in the zone and extend.

It is a tough situation when a kids coach is trying to teach them something that will hurt their ability to develop as a hitter. Very tough situation. The best way to deal with this is to produce with your swing and hope he leaves you alone because you are producing with what you are doing. Chopping down on the baseball is the most ignorant hitting approach and it is taught at many High Schools. Good luck

There is a 2011 high school player who is extremely talented. He can do everything very well except he has a swing that swings down on the ball. Until he changes this it is impossible to project him as a hitter.

If and when a coach gets a hold of this kid and teaches him how to hit, we might find out that he is a first round type. Until then who knows, what he's doing now doesn't work at a higher level.

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:
There is a 2011 high school player who is extremely talented. He can do everything very well except he has a swing that swings down on the ball. Until he changes this it is impossible to project him as a hitter.

If and when a coach gets a hold of this kid and teaches him how to hit, we might find out that he is a first round type. Until then who knows, what he's doing now doesn't work at a higher level.

And the longer you wait the harder it is to change. It might be time to buy the coach The Science of Hitting. Good luck.

Thanks coach May. That sums it up nicely. As I said earlier that is exactly what my son has been doing. Putting the ball in play on the ground, with very few hits and a ton of ground outs. How can anybody teach this when it is so anti productive? We worked last night off the tee for a good hour just to try to get him to stop chopping down. We made some progress. Tough to change after thousands of swings the wrong way. When he turns how should this hands be? I'm trying to get him to have them go a little more of a rounded ark to the ball, trying to hit it square. From what Ive read here that seems to be what is most suggested. Any other suggestions,tips or drills will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help.

They teach it because it is productive. Its team productive at the high school level. You dont recruit in hs. It is so much easier to teach everyone the same thing than to teach each hitter as an individual. So they clone them. They teach them to all chop wood. Its productive at the high school level because it limits fly balls. Fly balls are easy outs. It produces tons of fielding opportunities. And at the hs level some will get through. Some will get booted and some will be thrown away. So they teach it because they believe it gives them the best chance to win with the talent they have.

What it does is allows the poor hitter to put the ball in play on a more frequent basis. It also destroys the hitter with potential to be a very good hitter. Since more hitters fall into the first category - there you go. Its kind of like the youth coach that says "Hold the ball and run it back it." Yes that will allow you to win more games because you wont throw it away and allow runs to score. But it kills the kids ability to actually learn how to throw and catch in a game situation.

I am not trying to bash hs coaches. All of them do not teach this. But many do. I have seen it first hand. And I have heard this philosophy preached at clinics in the past. And it made me sick to my stomach. And the previous poster is 100% correct. The longer you wait the harder it is to change. And is some cases it can never be totally reversed once truly engrained in the hitter.

Are we on the right track with having more of an arked swing to the ball and hitting it square? Ive seen some posts that talk about the benifits of using the inside batter tool. Will that help with this type of problem? Anything to speed up the correction process.

I think there are some really good guys here that can help you out. I am not very good at all with explaining what I teach on a keyboard. I believe in getting in the slot and getting on plane with the baseball. A short stroke that allows you to see it deep and then long in the zone with extension through the baseball.

What I do believe is the hitter has to have the intention to mash. He has to have the desire to drive the baseball.

I am sure some guys will come by here and give you some good advice and they are pretty good at explaining in detail some things that can help. I have to be there , see the swing and then put my hands on it. Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
If you can not hit and you can run then hit down on the ball and run like hel. Otherwise run like hel from this approach. It is a hitting theory that many HS coaches teach. It is an approach to put as many balls in play on the ground as possible It is an approach to put as many balls in play on the ground as possible in order to give your team a better chance to win "in theory."

Fly balls take one play to record an out. Catch the ball
Strike outs take no play to record an out.
Ground balls require it to be hit where it can be fielded.
If hit where they can be fielded someone must field it.
They must make a good throw.
Someone must catch it.
Before you reach the bag.

Hence teaching your team to hit down on the ball is an attempt to put balls in play. This idea that you hit down on the ball to create backspin in order to create carry is pure nonsense.

Get on the plane and drive the ball. See the ball deep get the bat in the zone and keep it in the zone and extend.

It is a tough situation when a kids coach is trying to teach them something that will hurt their ability to develop as a hitter. Very tough situation. The best way to deal with this is to produce with your swing and hope he leaves you alone because you are producing with what you are doing. Chopping down on the baseball is the most ignorant hitting approach and it is taught at many High Schools. Good luck

You are right and I suspect when the new bats come into play in 2012,these same coaches are going to be doing alot of research on how to get the ball in the air for line drives.

quote:

Originally posted by jpk3:
Are we on the right track with having more of an arked swing to the ball and hitting it square? Ive seen some posts that talk about the benifits of using the inside batter tool. Will that help with this type of problem? Anything to speed up the correction process.

Without having any other drills or techniques that you have training and understanding with yourself,I believe the insider bat is an excellent training aid and would be beneficial for your son.

I am just a dad myself but I did go through hitting class with my son and learned some of the Epstein approach to hitting so I can continue his teachings on my own.

My son had a very good BA in his league this year and led the 11-12 year old league in homeruns as an 11 year old(5 homeruns) with few strikeouts and his all star coach still tried to change what he did at the plate.

The first tournament out,my son did what he had been doing all season and batted over .600 and 2 homeruns(1 was an opposite field shot off a curveball) to help his team win a state title and his coach was still arrogant enough to keep trying to change what he was doing.By the last game at national regionals,my son had lost most of his power and was a groundball contact hitter so I feel your pain.

quote:

Originally posted by tfox:

quote:

Originally posted by jpk3:
Are we on the right track with having more of an arked swing to the ball and hitting it square? Ive seen some posts that talk about the benifits of using the inside batter tool. Will that help with this type of problem? Anything to speed up the correction process.

Without having any other drills or techniques that you have training and understanding with yourself,I believe the insider bat is an excellent training aid and would be beneficial for your son.

I am just a dad myself but I did go through hitting class with my son and learned some of the Epstein approach to hitting so I can continue his teachings on my own.

My son had a very good BA in his league this year and led the 11-12 year old league in homeruns as an 11 year old(5 homeruns) with few strikeouts and his all star coach still tried to change what he did at the plate.

quote:

The first tournament out,my son did what he had been doing all season and batted over .600 and 2 homeruns(1 was an opposite field shot off a curveball) to help his team win a state title and his coach was still arrogant enough to keep trying to change what he was doing.By the last game at national regionals,my son had lost most of his power and was a groundball contact hitter so I feel your pain.

Have you been able to get back to your orignal swing? Never heard of the Epstein approach. Sounds like it is very effective. Thanks for the info on the inside batter.

That was his last ball games but he did get the opportunity the last couple of weeks as a 7th grader to workout with the high school team and I noticed he was right back to HIS old form in the cages.He has very specific drills that he is able to do,even by himself at this point that helps with his mechanics.

Do a google search for Mike Epstein rotational hitting.

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Chopping down on the baseball is the most ignorant hitting approach and it is taught at many High Schools.

Once again Coach May has hit the ball sqarely with the sweet spot on the plane of the pitch.

quote:

Originally posted by tfox:
That was his last ball games but he did get the opportunity the last couple of weeks as a 7th grader to workout with the high school team and I noticed he was right back to HIS old form in the cages.He has very specific drills that he is able to do,even by himself at this point that helps with his mechanics.

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[/QUOTE]Tfox, I looked it up. Did your son go through the class? How much did it help with his swing and power? You mentioned drills that he can do on this own. Did he get them from the course? As with most sights they give you a little info. then hope you jump in. Just want to make sure it is a quality thing and not just another gimmick. There are plenty of those out there.

Sorry about the quote lines. I can't seem to figure out how it works.