Improving hitting power.

How much power do you expect a 9 year old to have???

TRhit

Well, I would like to see them hit balls about 450ft, but I don't think that is going to happen!

I wasn't talking about a numerical measurement, I am merely wanting them to hit to their potential(which they aren't currently doing). I also made a comparison of other teams with similar talent, again this has nothing to do with distance of homeruns!!!


I just need some advice from some of the knowledgable people on this message board about mechanics that will HELP my players be the best that they can be.


Have a great night!!!

Gees....9 year olds should be "worried" about the hot dogs and fries...

Take them to McDonalds for fries and a shake.

Unless a kid is "big" for his age, a 9 year old is typically thin and starting to stretch out and has little muscular "development"...

Let a kid be a kid or you'll burn him out at 11.

I am with BEENTHERE on this-- at 9 years old the name of the game F-U-N !!!!!

TRhit

This method always worked for me. My kids are playing high school ball now. when they were young if they ever got into a slump I would tell them before the game that I had an extra snackbar ticket for each of them. That didn't work for every body but the overall team average did increase. letting them play butts up a little longer before the game helped too.

TR and Beenthere....It's hard for me to believe that you two knowledgeable gentlemen truly think that 9 year old baseball is only about fun. I'm guessing that your posts are a polite way of saying you think "rocket" may be overdoing it a bit.

Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. I have coached some kids at that age level who were fast learners and couldn't get enough of any type of instruction you gave them. Never had a whole team full of them and it's hard for me to believe that you could have, but if you do "rocket", you've got quite a special group.

As far as your question about mechanics, getting the hands a little further back is only one ingredient that may help create more power. You said...

quote:

---

the lack of power has something to do with the position of their hands during their stance. I noticed a couple of clips that showed some kids of similar age that had very powerful looking swings. They had their hands back more than my players.

---

It's also more important to compare where the hitters hands are located at front foot toe touch than comparing where they are at in the stance.

Do agree that the "fun" at this level should not be forgotten and I prefer Burger King over McDonalds anyday.

BBCoach...The only people that think that 9 year old baseball is not about fun is the PARENTS!

Fully 50% of 9 year olds have no clue about the game and their bodies are in such VARIOUS stages of development that they should be left to their own devices less that PARENTS/OR OVER-HYPING COACHES screw up the kids love for the game.

From my experience, it is usually the fathers that "insist" that Johnnie work on his game every waking hour, while mommy is planning the next tournament with the parent boosters!

Once again, at a 9, a kid should be permitted to be a kid. The "intensity" part should come about at 13-15.

BASEBALLCOACH

It truly upsets me to see 10U, 9U,8U, 7U and 6U teams playing tournaments on a regular basis---even to the extent that there are advertisements for players and tryouts in newspapers and on the internet.

At these ages they should be learning fundamentals and practicing and having fun--- when you compete regularly in tournaments you are not leaving time for "true" practices

This relatively new practice of travel teams at these ages is the reason , at least in my mind, that kids get to HS without having a basic foundation in the game.

TRhit

Beenthere...my post was not an attack on you, was it? I am in full agreement that parents get way, way too carried away at this age. Was also not suggesting that litte Johnnie must practice every waking moment. TR stated that:

quote:

---

At these ages they should be learning fundamentals and practicing and having fun--- when you compete regularly in tournaments you are not leaving time for "true" practices

---

I'm assuming when he said "learning fundamentals" and holding "true practices" he meant they were receiving some form of instruction, which was the point I thought I was trying to convey. Although it may be more the exception than the norm, some 9 year olds do have a clue and do benefit from instruction.

Just for the sake of this discussion, my children are way past nine and I don't coach a traveling team in these young age groups.

I only have a daughter and she is 10 but she can bring some big time heat. We had a coach come to us out of St. Louis and tell us that they could get her 60 - 80 games this year with an indoor schedule starting in November of last year. One parent bragged that they got in 88 last year. GIVE ME A BREAK! I agree that F-U-N should be the only concern. Heck, I am not even a firm believer in putting them in one position and letting them specialize. On the team that my daughter is playing on, I had one major question and that was whether the kids get to play more than one position or not. I don't care if they win. I want my kid to want to go play. BTW, they start on April 17th in a tournament and will play 40 games. Even that amount seems to me to be a bunch for a 10 year old kid. JMHO!

Sorry for hijacking this thread. One drill we do to help improve power is to hit a deflated basketball off of a tee. However, you have to watch load and make sure that they can handle the drive through the ball. With younger kids you need to supervise this closely. We do this drill in my Advanced Hitting Camp during the summer and the one thing that does concern me with the younger kids is their wrist handling the pressure of impact.

"There comes a time when you have to stop dreaming of the man you want to be and start being the man you have become." Bruce Springsteen

CoachB25,

Hitting a deflated basketball will most likely cause tendonitis in the elbows - amongst other things.

My opinion - find another drill.

baseball...No, I don't think so. But if it was, so what? This is a baseball discussion board with tons of opinions.

Kids "grow up" soon enough.

I say let a kid be a kid. Fly a kite. Pull a wagon. Pull a girls hair. Climb a tree. Play baseball on a field with right field out. Have a popsicle. Ride your bike. Stay outside all day long during the summer and run and play 'til you're exhausted!

Beenthere &TR - Couldn't agree with you more (except Wendy's would be my choice of fries)!! You know, this made me think back to the days when my son was 9. His travel team won everything back then - but one thing that sticks out in my mind was that the coach told them that they could not go swimming the day of a game, that they would be too tired to play! And out of those 13 boys, there were only 3 left still playing when they were seniors in HS. Possible burn out? I vote for fun at 9 years old.

Nothing, at all, wrong with teaching a 9 yr. old how to hit..It's a good age to begin the baseball education..

Have re-read my posts and can't figure out where I said don't let a kid be a kid, or fly a kite, pull a wagon, pull a girls hair, climb a tree, play baseball on a field with right field out, have a popsicle, ride your bike, or stay outside all day long during the summer and run and play 'til you're exhausted! But then I'm not very good at reading between the lines.

Since this is a message board full of opinions, mine is that a 9 year old can benefit from instruction(even in baseball).

itsinthegame, while I have only done this a little while, I have never had one kid have tendonitis. I have had some kids with some pretty good pop. I like the drill. I guess that is why they have vanilla and Chocolate ice cream. To each his own. Oh, I may have been at this more than a year or two. LOL!

"There comes a time when you have to stop dreaming of the man you want to be and start being the man you have become." Bruce Springsteen

Sounds like you need a better quality of aluminum.

Whatever you make fun for a kid is what the kid will want to do. If you put pressure on them and force it on them they will dread it and when they are finally in controll they will go the other direction. When my son was 7 8 9 10 11 I would make sure that we had activities that had nothing to do with baseball at all. Fishing biking playing with our dog etc. What I found was after we went fishing or whatever he would say "Dad do you think we could go hit some tomorrow"? Of course I would always say yes. I have never told my son that it was time to hit or throw. I have always waited for him to come to me and say "Dad can we throw some today". Of course I said yes. Now that he is 14 he has a true love of the game and just can not get enough. But I still say "Hey Jeff lets go fishing tomorrow and take a day off". Make everything about the game fun fun fun fun fun!!! If he has a bad game tell him its ok. Dont critique every game and practice on the ride home. Kids that excell at baseball eventually will put enough pressure on themselves without needing our pressure on them. We need to be calm place during and after the storm. Hey thats just one guys opinion I am by no means an expert.

WOW! How did this topic get so far off the subject? I was just wanting to have a little discussion on hitting mechanics! You people sure know how to get off subject!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I was hoping to get some responses from some knowledgable people who actually enjoy discussing hitting mechanics. But, this never even had the opportunity to happen.



Don't you even think for a minute that you can compare me to some of those crazy coaches. There is NO ONE who cares more about their players than me. Our number one priority is safety, followed by the desire for FUN, and we also hope to learn a little about the game as we go along. WHAT CAN POSSIBLY BE WRONG WITH THAT?????? If it is the number of games that we play that concerns you, then you obviously have no idea what you are talking about. We give our players a schedule at the first of the year, and we allow them to chose how many game they(and their parents) WANT TO PLAY(doesn't that suggest fun?).


Taratko,

Do you actually believe that 9 year old players can't develop better hitting mechanics???? Your comments have absolutely nothing to do with my topic. You are implying that I want my kids to somehow get stronger. Did I ever mentioned that I wanted to get them on a weight lifting program or something similar? NO, my topic was about mechanics and how they relate to power! How dare you TRY to judge me without even reading my post!! YOU GET A LIFE!


I guess I will have to wait until later to get some help for my team.



To all of the other people who gave REAL advice, Thanks.

Gee whiz..just tell the little crumb crunchers to swing harder !

The best thing to do is teach them how to hit properly. At this age, power will either be there or it won't. You can't manufacture it.

TARatko, I respectfully disagree. I would bet some of my 10 year olds understand the game better than quite a few HS players.

Coach May, I agree with your post entirely. I have never forced my son to hit or throw (he asks me). We do non-baseball activities all the time. He does everything a kid is supposed to do - even get in trouble. Even our 10U team...when we play a tourney, we always go out after our games to bowl or putt putt or something fun.

redbird5,
Brings up something I've been wondering. Is bowling good for a pitcher's arm? I'm wondering if it develops the decellerators in the shoulder? I bowled a lot as a kid and had somewhat of a rubber arm although that may have been because I just didn't throw as hard as some.

CADad,

Not sure but our kids love it, especially with the bumper railings up!

It would make sense, though.

Rocket, can you spell patronizing and condescending?? Good grief! It's like a pack of wolves when the old-timers smell fresh meat!

My 10 year old and I got up Sunday morning at our hotel in NC. We left looking for a little greasy spoon to get some breakfast. While searching we drove past some LL ball fields. This was about 7:00am. He looked over to me and said "Dad? Do you think we could hit some balls after breakfast and before Connor's game?" Mind you, he had a Rec game last Wed, he starred in a play as George Washington Thurs night, had another Rec game on Fri. We got to his Travel practice 2 hrs early on Sat morning so that he could hit 6 buckets of balls (360) before his 3 hour Travel practice. We drove the 5 hours to Wilkesboro, NC after that. Now it is Sun morning and he wants to hit more balls!!! I said "what?! er, Huh? Sure." "You don't want a little break?" He said, "Look Dad, I have hit 14 HR's in BP in the last week and I haven't taken any deep yet in a game! I need to practice!!" So, after breakfast we go to the park, grab the gear, balls, etc. out of the back of the Tahoe and hit the field. He has an idea. He has me stand about six feet in front of the mound and throw hard (probably 68-69) so that he can work on his quickness to the ball! He hits two buckets like this and finishes by running three laps around the field. He started running recently because his brother suggested it.

We go to his brothers' game and Connor takes one deep and throws the ball to Boomer. On the way home he calls us from the team bus and the first words out of his mouth were "Tell Boomer that at least I hit HR's in games!!" Well, that was all it took and Boomer is pleading with me to find a field so that he can hit.

I guess it would be better if he were pulling girls hair!?! NOT! This is fun for him. This is what he wants to do. This is not about dad and my point is that some kids just love this stuff. I was the exact same way about ice hockey when I was 10. I can relate and I don't have a problem with him loving it. He also loves to hunt and fish and he does that stuff too.

Anyway Rocket, yes, they can learn to hit with more power, even at a young age. The key is BP. Teach them rotational mechanics and have them hit balls, lots and lots of balls. If it is your arm then do front toss. It is extremely accurate and very easy on the arm. Have them learn to swing with the "intent" to hit the ball hard. Rotate and crush the ball. I also very much like Mankin's hitting video found on batspeed.com.

Then, when they finally take one over a fence they will become INSATIABLE!!

Ross.

PS Heaven forbid that they actually enjoy hitting a baseball and spending quality time with dad!! Much better to play video games and watch TV locked in their room!! Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!

I agree with Bluedog, there's nothing wrong with teaching a 9 y.o. how to hit. No reason to dogpile the original poster.

At that age though I would not get too carried away with the Epstein technicalities. He says in his book that his stuff is mainly for 12-13 and up anyway.

at 9 just let em play but when they reach 10 its all about fixing mechanics to become a baseball player

Hey...didn't I post this already....Just tell the little crumb crunchers to swing harder. (did I get bumped here ?)