I have a young man that has shown up at my office the last two morning at 7:30 A.M. asking for help with his swing. He has struggled going 2 for 20 in his last six games. He told me that he has struck out twice with one homer during this time frame. He also mentioned that he has grounded out to the left side 15 times and flied out to right in his other at bat.
I took him out to my field and we did some tee work and soft toss. His balance looked good as well as well as his swing path(arc). My impression is that he is swinging early and has really started to press.
He tells me that one his school coaches thinks that he has developed an upper cut and is trying to get him to overhaul his swing.
I managed to attend part of his game last night and to see two of his at bats before I had to get to my own town for our own practice. His first was a K looking but from my vantage point it was a good 6 inches of the outside corner and the ump proved to be consistent with that location. A previous strike in that at bat resulted in a severely pulled foul ball on the ground to the third base side. His second AB resulted in a fly out to right going with an outside pitch.
What else I noticed was his carrying the baggage from that first at bat into the field. His frustration showed while taking grounders and his trying to launch the ball back to first.
There does not appear to be any backside collapse for this RH hitter and I still conclude that it is more a matter of timing and regaining confidence for him.
We talked about soft centering and fine centering and also about some mental techniques to try and bring his mental side back into allignment.
I do not want to interfere with his coach's suggestions but I also see a young man that has potential to play at a higher level and would like for him to be able to play up to his potential.
Districts are coming up next week and I don't think that this is the time to begin a reconstruction process. Any suggestions out there?
Thanks
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