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Are there any standard rules of thumb to help a kid hit/recognize a curve ball. My 13yo has been taught to sit on the fastball with great success so far this year. However as a result he rarely sees one now. Opposing pitchers pretty much exclusively throw him curveballs now. He is struggling hitting the curveballs and recognizing them for a strike. I can see the frustration building in him and I don't want him loose confidence and turn into a head case at the plate. Any advise will help. Thank you.
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Agree with BigHit. Also tell him to watch the seams closely. The seams on a fastball spin backwards and on a curveball it rolls forward (12/6).
As far as teaching him to recognize when it's a strike, I have a drill I used when we first started seeing curves. I have the batter stand in the box with his glove instead of his bat. I used the curveball machine to get precise curves and made them catch the ball and hold it to see where it crossed the plate. It seemed to help them visualize the path the ball would take. I also made them stand up in the box for a while, while they were getting used to the curve. This allowed them to reduce the amount of break on the pitch. It made them vulnerable to the fastball though. I instructed them to look fastball and adjust to the curve.
My son is 14U. Teaching him to hit the curveball has been a very simple process over the last three years. I just kept telling him that he could hit them.

Every once in a while, even though he thought that it was beneath him, I convinced him to go hit in the little kids speed cage so he wouldn't just 'groove' his swing in the faster cages.

Other than that, I didn't do much. For him its been a matter of believing that hitting curves is no problem. Last year, wo to the pitcher who threw 2 strike curves on the outside corner. The hits were either grass burners up the first base line unless the pitch hung, then a double in the gap. I can't think of but only a very few weak bouncers to the SS. He now thinks that he is a good two strike hitter as well.

He just does it. He 'thinks' it easy.
Last edited by Wheelhouse

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