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After soph year of high school ball and travel the coaching staff convinced my son to do something he had been tuning out from me for a year. They convinced him he had to stop pulling everything. He was hitting flies and grounders to the right side on pitches he should have been ripping to left center.  

He started training in November. He didn’t feel right with it until January. It was undoing a process that had been in place from when he started playing. He has always been able to pull everything in the past.

Going with the pitch didn’t change pulling the ball or affect his power. What changed is outside pitches that were soft flies or groundouts to the right turned into line drives to left center. His average went from .340 to .520 (part of the improvement was getting stronger).

Before this change if I was coaching against my son I told him only the third baseman would be on the left side to prevent the bunt for a hit.

Last edited by RJM

"It wasn't something that just happened overnight,'' Turner said before a game at Wrigley Field. "We did it five days a week for four months, trying to fix [my swing] and get to where I can repeat it. Went to Spring [Training], had success. Throughout all last year, from that base we established, we made adjustments on the fly within the parameters of the philosophies we had, and started having success.''

https://www.mlb.com/news/secre...breakout/c-132701636

At least 25 years. 

A history of Tiger Woods' swing coaches
  • Butch Harmon (1996-August 2002)
  • Tiger Woods (September 2002-February 2004)
  • Hank Haney (March 2004-May 2010)
  • Sean Foley (August 2010-August 2014)
  • Chris Como (September 2014-December 2017)
  • Tiger Woods (January 2018-Present)

Sorry, my comments got cut off when I originally posted this.  My point is that swings aren't ever "fixed" or static.   I don't think there is a perfect swing in golf, baseball, tennis, etc....    There is an optimal swing for an individual at a point in time.  A professional is always tinkering and trying something new to adjust to the adjustments that have been made against him or her.

Last edited by fenwaysouth

Francis7,

I like the article you referenced about Justin Turner.

You've been around the diamond enough (not calling you old at all!) for me to realize that whatever I put in this message, you're probably well aware of.

I would suggest the following book for almost any player who's twelve and older:
Play Big by Tom Hanson

If approach needs some work, I think Steve Springer is a great resource.
For some drills, I like the information that Trent Mongero provides.

Obviously, there are tons of online resources - not all of them are good  - but there may be a nugget or two that your son latches onto that may be of some benefit.

@old_school posted:

Your son is HS SR correct? he needs to own it, you need to stay out of the way...i was forced to do it as well, it is hard and it sucks. Doesn't matter you still need to do it.

My father was a big time, high school three sport, star athlete. He went on to play football at a Big Ten. When he got injured he transferred and played baseball at a family legacy school (he was 6th generation) that is now a NESCAC.

He never gave me any advice. He never taught me anything. He told me if I have the passion to excel I would figure it out. My only memory of him working with me is when I was very little. He got on a knee, tossed me an underhand pitch and told me to keep my eye on the ball. I blasted a shot into his face. Practice over.

@RJM posted:

My father was a big time, high school three sport, star athlete. He went on to play football at a Big Ten. When he got injured he transferred and played baseball at a family legacy school (he was 6th generation) that is now a NESCAC.

He never gave me any advice. He never taught me anything. He told me if I have the passion to excel I would figure it out. My only memory of him working with me is when I was very little. He got on a knee, tossed me an underhand pitch and told me to keep my eye on the ball. I blasted a shot into his face. Practice over.

Good Dad advice and certainly could have been a worse outcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqcMRr0VIsk

Last edited by fenwaysouth

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