would you take the bat off his shoulder

Kid's got a great swing. He's got great, natural lower-body movement.

I think the "on the shoulder" drills are great. helps my son stay inside the ball, and does in fact lessen hand movement. He doesn't use "on the shoulder" in games though.

With your son, with the bat off his shoulder, he actually puts his hands to a position very close to where his hands are at when the bat is on his shoulder in his load... So those drills are really working. He does in fact stay a bit more "quieter" with the bat on his shoulder as well.

Whichever way works better is the way I would go.

-Good luck!

He really struggles with a changeup,he is a hyper kid to the point that many parents would have him on medication but my approach is keep him busy and involved instead of meds.His grades don't suffer with this approach so I will keep the course,however,he has to learn patience.

I am starting to think the way he loads,with the bat on his shoulder would be beneficial to him in a game situation.We will be finding out next game for sure.

You can see him hit a changeup in the on the shoulder with aluminum clip where he starts talking trash with me.He says now what boy or something to that effect.(just having a little fun with dad )The previous swing you can see him keep his shoulder closed,head down and let his body float forward on the pitch and drive it.I threw that pitch well off the speed the others were being thrown.


He has hit a homerun on every field from the 5-6 year old field to both 7-8 year old fields and now he has 1 field left in the 9-10 year old age group.He has homeruns on 5 of the 6 fields he has played on from 5 years old but has just a couple games to get 1 on the hardest field yet(has done it in practice but not a game).He has maintained a great average the whole time but this patience thing has really got me scratching my head.

I am really hoping for some helpfull advice and I have another live game video from his first 5 AB's I think from last year playing up as a 10 year old when he was 9.

He really gets punished with a changeup at the end of the clip.

This is getting a bit heavy for a kid this young

So,in your opinion,forget about it.Let him continue to struggle with a certain pitch instead of figuring out what to WE can do to help him.

Fox - Are there any quality hitting guys in your area? It's been my experience that any advice or opinions offered on the internet will pale in comparison with a quality hitting coach you and Dylan both are comfortable with.

I can critic his swing, but you don't know me or my credentials... find someone local who can go "hands on".

Good luck to you both.
GED10DaD

Most of the instructors in our area are swing down guys.


He has been to a hitting instructor and has learned quite a bit from him.That was where the Epstein teachings were taught.We have been searching and experimenting with different things to try and find his most comfortable swing.


He has even been coached by a former pro player that never made any adjustment to his swing the whole season and when I asked him to get him ready for the upcoming season,he told me that it probably wasn't necessary and when we started hitting at home,he was right.Came out crushing the ball.


I started this thread for opinions on keeping the bat on the shoulder for honest feedback.There are thousands of ways to hit and was interested in hearing opinions.I added his trouble with the changeup and his past succeses for background,That's it.

Maybe it is too young for some to worry about but this kid was calling me at work Friday telling me to make sure I got home early so he could take some practice swings in the cage before his game.

My observations for what they're worth

1. Nice swing for a 10 year old
2. Seems like a good kid
3. He does struggle to stay back
4. I think it's great you don't want to use meds (IMO one of the biggest problems with most kids today)
5. He hits most everything at the end of the barrel due to not staying back
6. I'm with TR on this one - slow down and let him be a kid first

Reason I say this is I have seen many well intentioned dads want to "fix" everything right now that they turn their sons into robots mechanically on hitting, pitching and fielding. They get to the point where if one small thing is not right then the whole thing breaks down and they can't fix it.

Nobody is ever going to do anything right 100% mechanically everytime up. You have to strive for doing most of the things right most of the time. If you try to teach / force things to him at 10 years old then he hasn't had the chance to figure things out on his own.

Give him a ball and glove and find a wall for him to throw against. Give him a tee, bucket of balls and a pop up net to hit into. Stand back and let him do his thing. He will do things wrong and probably goof off but mixing that with regular instruction and he will figure things out.

Take the time to enjoy the ride and enjoy the moments he learns things on his own.

Tfox,

Yes, I would take the bat off his shoulder now. That style is a good way to learn to use the body and legs to hit the ball, but is not real good for timing issues. He needs to learn to load his hands against his stride. Separation between his back hip and hands will give him a timing window. Add a sit to his pattern and you have the makings of a high level swing.

Thanks power,he has gone back and forth on the sit position and to be honest,his best game performance came when he was copying Pujols,but he just keeps drifting away from it.I don't make him stay there because I am trying to let him develop what works for him.


I make a conscious effort not to try and overdue it with him,I may not succeed all the time with it but I do make the effort.I purposely made him put the bat up all winter untill right before the season started.He really needed a break after last season and I made him step away from it for a while and just concentrate on basketball.