Posted by: Coach C () on Wed Apr 30 10:51:12 2003

Why does my son NOT possess the batspeed that some kids even skinnier and more "lanky" have. He can crush the ball good and is a good "spray" hitter but just simply doesn't have enough to carry the ball over the fence. HELP ! ! ! ! He need to be a home-run hitter to get any serious looks. He is 11 years-old and is 5'0 and 124lbs.
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> > > > Why does he need to be a HR hitter to get any looks? And who is looking at an 11 year old? you would be shocked that skinny lanky people usually have more pop in their bats,its hard to understand but i know huge guys that you would think can crush the ball and they hit it pretty far, but then you get those tall skinny guys who you think is nothing and their the ones who can really crush the ball. its leverage my friends.
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> Why do skinny guys have leverage that huge guys don't?
> Define 'leverage'.

"Body behind the ball at contact" is what leverage feels like to me and in order to have that one needs to stay balanced and in order to do that one needs to be connected to the ground. So........I feel my leverage comes from the ground.

Little people may sometimes do better than big guys in hitting for power because they have better balance through the stroke and have more body behind the ball. I've seen plenty of big guys who can't stay behind the ball, seen plenty of little guys struggle also! Regardless of the size, it's a balance problem.

Coach C