Need Advice from any Baseball Coaches

[ScubaTexan]

It sounds like your kids are already beyond this point, but with the earliest exercises, I have found that bunting helps. THen you have them bring the bat back just a few inches and bring it forward to meet the ball. Have them add a few inches to their swing with every couple of pitches until they are taking full swings and still making good contact.

When I was a sportswriter, I covered a high school game once where the first six batters from the visiting team all bunted. It's the only game at any level (and I've covered everything from Little League to the Major Leagues) where I've seen that happen. LOL

 

[drobdiver]

for hitting make sure you have them drive towards the pitcher, not the reverse c you see a lot of the time, an image I like to use is by asking them if they were going to hit something hard would they step towards it and puch or fall back and punch, for more power they need to be moving forward. Also work on them stepping their front foot and as it hits the ground the bat begins to move, this helps shift the weight and it allows you to swing or hold up. I was taught at that age to start with the heel of my front foot off the ground, that way it puts your weight back and helps with starting your motion. Too many kids want to stand there and go from a dead stop to a swing instantly- doesn't happen, there has to be some sort of motion. A great book to read if you get a chance is the Art of Hitting .300 , by Charlie Lau, great book on the elements of being a good hitter. As far as the pitchers keep them away from throwing junk to many young kids try and don't have the right fundamentals or arm strength and do more damage than good. a simple tip for them to think about is just play catch with catcher, don't try to throw to a spot, necessarily, hope this helps
D-Rob

 

[got4boyz]

Too many kids want to stand there and go from a dead stop to a swing instantly- doesn't happen, there has to be some sort of motion.

Well it does happen, meaning they can hit the ball, it just doesn't go very far! LOL

The kids are hitting much better now, so I will start working on them with these ideas. Thanks!

As far as the pitchers keep them away from throwing junk to many young kids try and don't have the right fundamentals or arm strength and do more damage than good. a simple tip for them to think about is just play catch with catcher, don't try to throw to a spot, necessarily, hope this helpsD-Rob

I'm always telling the pitchers to quit thinking about it so hard. I think they concentrate so hard on throwing the perfect pitch that they end up throwing junk! Maybe telling them to think about playing catch with the catcher will help this. I'll try it.

Thanks everyone for your comments!