Need Help

Just some simple mental approach suggestions...

-Celebrate in the success of his teammates ("..he's pushing too hard to hit HR's because last year he's the one who was hitting them... this year, other kids are hitting them").  You don't need the extra pressure on yourself.  You do need the hitters around you to continue to succeed in order to start getting pitched to again.  That's probably why it is starting to happen.

-Each pitch, take the approach of "I'm hitting 'til I'm not".  Have a clear focus on the zone you will fire on and expect the pitch to be in that zone.

-Forget about the HR's, just hit the ball hard where it's pitched.

It's quite common for a returning successful HS hitter to be pitched differently and/or around.  It's a game of adjustments.  Take what they give you.  If that is walks, take them.  Eventually, there will be no room to work around you - be ready for that.  If they found other weaknesses (wanting to pull the ball out of the park), they'll try to take advantage and pitch away.  Adjust and drive the ball the other way.

I read somewhere that Cal Ripken use to take a tee to the field and hit off it to rectify a slump.  Nothing like seeing the ball actually go somewhere, instead of in a net.  I'll be trying it with my kid.  I'm also looking for a "joboo" doll.  Good luck. 

Exact same thing happened to my 2013. He had a breakout sophomore year. Struggled early Jr. year, was swinging at bad pitches and waiting for the fastball that never came. He finally started looking for the off speed pitch, went the other way and didn't worry about his HR number. His Jr. year was tough, but he seemed to get it togther near the end. Now in his senior year, has been hitting very well and said it's due to all the "junk" he got last year.

If you son is getting behind on the first pitch "duce" have him sit off speed and take a hack. When he starts hitting the off speed pitches the FB's will increase. Trying to hit HR's will almost always cause a batter to fail. If he is a true HR guy, the bombs will come.

As Cabbagedad said, many kids struggle after a successful HS year. It sounds like he has the ability, he now needs a game plan. I know this can be difficult time right now, as you may start to question his ability (I know I did) but this might help him in the long run. It did for my 2013 as he will be off to play in the Pac-12 next year. 

Good luck

Thanks Guys...

All good advice. I'm gonna let him read this so he'll see what I'm telling him is what others believe too. He's too good of a hitter to be struggling like this.

I will say, he was the victim early on of some "PERFECT" pitches. I apologized to him for telling him a HS kid would make mistakes. This kid got just hammered with CB's that you can't do anything with and yet they found the strike zone. It was crazy.

I don't think he's swung at a single bad pitch all season but the amount of perfect pitches thrown are just unbelievable.

Yeah, meanwhile, he'll also have to work hard on off-speed stuff.  Tons of reps on CB's with the thought of taking it the other way unless it is hung.  Then, back to lots of cage BP with someone who can mix well.  After a few more likely steps backwards, he'll become a much more complete hitter and never feel like there are pitches he can't do anything with.  He should feel like he can at least fight off the perfect pitches.  When he does this, he'll start wearing down even the good pitchers  and getting more mistakes again.

Work hard on it the rest of this year and summer and that should make for a great senior year and a better shot at more. 

HE'S BACK!

He read these replies and got in the cage. He started working on staying inside the ball and  driving everything back up the middle. He's hitting frozen ropes now. Hit a 400 foot HR saturday that never got more than 20' off the ground. Confidence is back! He's even driving curveballs! This is who my son has always been.

Cabbagedad, the curveballs I mentioned earlier were very tight 12-6 cb's that dropped from his nose-to-his-toes in the strike zone. Only thing I ever seen done with those is beat them on the ground back to the pitcher? He was seeing 17-20 CB's in a row with no FB's mixed in. Most of the hooks found the glove with a few landing in the dirt in front of the plate. It was more like hitting in a mens softball league. Then we saw upper 80's for a few games with nothing to hit. He just got in a funk. 

We figured out that because of rainouts we had to play about 14 games in 17 days... no time to work on anything. last week he got cage work everyday for 6 days with only one game. Hitting Lights out now.

I came here because I've never heard him say he couldn't pull the trigger? He was looking at good pitches. It was painful for everyone around to watch. 

Thanks for the help gang

I've been playing baseball since the age of 6, and after about 10 years I can tell you I have received TONS of advice from hundreds possibly thousands of sources about hitting. I have been to at least 15 camps and over 20 private lessons not to mention the teams I have played on and the advice I have received from coaches and players on those teams. I can tell you hitting is much easier than what most people make it out to be. I think I have finally perfected the swing now and I can tell you my mechanics. 

1. Start with a wide base but not too wide that you feel comfortable. Figure out a happy medium between your base and your step. Make sure your step doesn't exceed a foot, in my opinion. You might see players like dustin pedroia, but you'll also see players like albert pujols. I prefer a wide base. It'll give you a lot more balance and ability to hit the ball, without losing any power. (No momentum is not what gives you power)

2. When it is time to step  bring your hands slightly back, but do not wrap them back, or twist your upper body with your hands. 

3. Make sure at this moment you are recognizing the pitch, if your going to swing or not, and where you want to hit the ball this might take time to get used to. Once you have identified the pitch, await as long as possible to hit the ball. The longer you wait the more bat speed you will have towards it and the more time you will have to see the ball. This also might take a while to learn. Now when the time has come to swing start by firing the back HIP not your foot. Rip that hip, while still keeping hands back and let the tork of your hips going compel the bat forward to the ball. Obviously make sure you have a straight path to the ball, and your not looping your bat or extending your hands. Your hands should be tight when hitting the ball, and not extended like so many people tell you to do. After contact just follow through.

Tips:

**Make sure you fire your hips and not just twist, get as much power as possible through this without over doing it and losing focus of the ball.

**You should let your lower body do the work, the arms and wrists are just there to move the bat and hit the ball to where you want. Your lower body is your power, your upper body is your control.

**Have a low stance, not too low, but low. Make sure your knees have some bend to them and have a wide stance. Have a small about 2 inch step straight step. Not towards the ball.

**Make sure your back is straight majority of your swing, don't bend it around. You will lose power and stability doing this. On a low pitch even though you are already low, it is ok to bend your knees a little bit to get to the ball, not saying too much but a little bit. Don't go from down to up, in other words don't start low and go high. If you feel like you have to go up for a ball, it's a ball. Don't swing at it and stay low.

**Remember hitting takes time, don't fall back into what is familiar just because your not used to it. It takes repetition. Dry swings and BP are the best tee work isn't so great. Watch yourself in a  mirror, and practice the steps, but not to literally, just really make sure your firing those hips, keeping those hands back, and let the hands go to the ball, keep hands not to tight, but even with your body and not out front.

Hope this helps a lot. I know it has helped me a ton over this last year. Remember perfect practice makes perfect.

Auz

Just to mention, you should work on this in the off season, not during the season. During the season just get a lot of reps, and don't focus on mechanics too much, take them loosely. Obviously bad mechanics contributes to bad hitting, but most of the time its mental. If you or your son has had the same swing all his life and has found success at a pretty high level, than you probably don't want to change much. Again off season is the time for that. During the season focus on your mental approach at the plate. Know what your going to swing at 0-1, 0-2, 1-0, 2-0, 3-1, 3-2. Know that on a 2-0, 1-0, your strike zone should be small. You want to hit till your not like cabbagedad said. Look to hit the next pitch, be agressive at the plate, but if the pitch is not in the spot that your looking for on that count, don't swing. That's the approach at the plate, as the count worsens for you the larger your strike zone becomes. Your goal is to get hits, or get on base. The chances of you walking at a high level is pretty low, so you should aim to get on base with hits. Singles, doubles, doesn't have to be the long ball. If you hit the ball hard, your going to get on base. It will find its way through the infield, or into the gaps in the outfield. The mentality has to be get a hit. A hit is a hit, that's all you need. If you don't get a hit, or don't make good contact, or if your unhappy in any way with how you performed on an at bat, take note of what happened and why it happened. Were you out front? Did you swing at bad pitches? Don't get down on yourself, but use your failure to build you up and prepare you for your next at bat. Your aim should be to hit the ball hard if you do and you get out there is nothing to be mad about. 

Hope this helps too, sorry I am overflowing this forum but just want to share my ideas on hitting and how it has worked for me.