how to improve power and bat speed

quote:

Originally posted by tzz:
it is his first year with human pitch.

What species used to pitch to him?

Well I don't know how tall he is or how big, but I always discouraged 9 Y/Os from using a 30" bat regardless of the weight. We had good success with most kids that age with a 28". This is a 9/10 y/o we're talking about, you don't have to spend $200+ on a bat. There are a lot of youth bats in the $30 - $50 range.

Another thing to do is to pitch to him daily. If he's seen nothing but machine pitch, then he needs to get comfortable with real pitchers throwing. He can also get with another kid who pitches and take turns pitching to each other. Good luck.

Have him hit off the T and do some soft toss on a regular basis. Get a 28 inch bat.

Just guessing, but he might be leading with his hands too much and dragging the bat through the zone. As a result he hits the other way most of the time with little power. A typical coach will think he's late and tell him to hit the ball out front. He'll start the hands even earlier and make the problem worse. Remember I have no clue and am just throwing out one possibility for you to look for.

If that is the problem one thing you can do is throw him nothing but soft lobs in BP for a while. That'll force him to keep his hands back a bit more.

Check to see if he is opening up the front side too early in an effort to create power. Plus his lead foot could be opening up which in turn will cause him to open up the hips too soon. Letting the ball get deep and hitting deep in the zone will really help him. Just some thoughts.

does choking it up on a 30" bat equal using a shorter bat? what are the disadvantages with choking up? i have heard some negative things on this forum abt that.

i did spend a bit on the bat but the sale price was very significant and it was birthday money from relatives...not $200 but more than $100...kind of crazy...so i bought the longer bat thinking we need a few years out of it. if i could do it again i would spend $50. but it's a cool bat that sounds like wood.

i will look closely at his swing to analyze the insightful comments offered here.

thank you.

tz, a great tool for looking at swings is a video camera. Viewed in slow motion it is far easier to see hitting flaws that very few people can pick up at full speed.

Some good points here, esp. (IMO) Coach May's and StyleMismatch's.

I have often filmed both of our teams and have seen numerous young players open up their front foot and hips too soon, leaving the bat way behind their body's rotation. This does indeed often lead to weaker oppo field shots. Try it sometime on purpose. Similar to Epstein's Torque Drill, open your foot and hips so that your chest is facing the pitcher, but keep the bat back. Now try to hit oppo w/ power from there. Lots of weak slices.

Get a camcorder and see if this is what's happening. If so, tell him to keep his right foot planted longer; it will come up on his own. I often see athletic/aggressive hitters struggle w/ this the most. They get their bodies moving too soon/fast and get out of sync.

Good luck.