Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: J () on Tue Jun 17 08:25:38 2003

I have a 7 year old that his team is playing in the 8 year old division and winning. We have been taking him to hitting lessons and baseball camps, and he is hitting line drives and doing everything fundamentally correct in the cages, even hitting curve balls. But when he gets into a game, it looks as though he is just trying to make contact with the ball and not swinging threw. His hitting coach told us that he may not be getting anything on the ball in the game because the pitcher is not pitching hard enough (coach pitch) and he could be ahead of it. Is there anything he can do to mentally prepare himself before he goes up to bat? What could help him wait on the ball? The other kids on the team are hitting the ball over the outfielders heads and maybe he is too anxious. What we have tried to explain to him is that as you get older, some of the balls that his teammates are hitting will be pop ups. How could you explain this to a 7 year old?
> >
> > Please help!
> > PJ
> ******************************************************************
> Teach him rotational hitting technique. Stick with it. Buy the batspeed tape. You really need to know what to look for or use a video camera and compare to the MLB stars. Once he has the correct swing and sequence buy the product called the "Hit Away" throw away the video that comes with it and practice. 2-3 weeks of daily use/practice + correct rotaional technique. Let me know how he does.

PJ: If his problem is doing well at cage but not hitting coach pitching, then why not practice "coach pitching" with him? You are his Dad & your "coach pitching" should not be really that different from whoever is doing the coach pitching in the games.

You say he even hits curve balls at the cages? I didn't know commercial cages even had machines that throw curve balls (usually due to liability issues). Nevertheless, at his age, don't worry about curve balls, don't worry about rotational mechanics, just give him quality practice. Don't cloud his mind with rotation, linear and all that...totally unnecessary at his age.

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Re: Re: Re: 7 year old pj [ Wed Jun 18 10:35:39 2003 ]

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> I have a 7 year old that his team is playing in the 8 year old division and winning.  We have been taking him to hitting lessons and baseball camps, and he is hitting line drives and doing everything fundamentally correct in the cages, even hitting curve balls.  But when he gets into a game, it looks as though he is just trying to make contact with the ball and not swinging threw.  His hitting coach told us that he may not be getting anything on the ball in the game because the pitcher is not pitching hard enough (coach pitch) and he could be ahead of it.  Is there anything he can do to mentally prepare himself before he goes up to bat?  What could help him wait on the ball?  The other kids on the team are hitting the ball over the outfielders heads and maybe he is too anxious.  What we have tried to explain to him is that as you get older, some of the balls that his teammates are hitting will be pop ups.  How could you explain this to a 7 year old?
> > > 
> > > Please help!  
> > > PJ
> > ******************************************************************
> > Teach him rotational hitting technique. Stick with it. Buy the batspeed tape. You really need to know what to look for or use a video camera and compare to the MLB stars.  Once he has the correct swing and sequence buy the product called the "Hit Away" throw away the video that comes with it and practice. 2-3 weeks of daily use/practice + correct rotaional technique. Let me know how he does.
> 
> PJ: If his problem is doing well at cage but not hitting coach pitching, then why not practice "coach pitching" with him? You are his Dad & your "coach pitching" should not be really that different from whoever is doing the coach pitching in the games.
> 
> You say he even hits curve balls at the cages? I didn't know  commercial cages even had machines that throw curve balls (usually due to liability issues). Nevertheless, at his age, don't worry about curve balls, don't worry about rotational mechanics, just give him quality practice. Don't cloud his mind with rotation, linear and all that...totally unnecessary at his age.

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