Posted by: daw (daw@bellevue-law.com) on Fri Feb 15 16:14:53 2008

> Jack at what age should we teach young children rotational mechanics. I taught my younger son at age 7 and now he is an advanced 8 year old but my 9 year old is struggling to abandon linear mechanics.
> Gordy Macdonald Pelham Little League. [NY]


Gordy, based on my experience I would say that the longer one waits, the harder it is to "switch" from linear to rotational, and the more your nine-year old is struggling, the more important it is to keep trying.

We began installing these techniques in 2003 when the fastpitch team I coach was 12U, and even then the kids who had been taught linear (standard fare in fastpitch) had trouble, some couldn't make the switch.

The two styles are so dissimilar that rotational will feel very unnatural to a kid who's used to linear. It takes plenty of reps to work through that, more (many more) for some kids than others.

Our team is now 18U and like every team we've had turnover over the years. Our experience has been that kids coming in at 14U and 16U not only have had more trouble adjusting the muscle memory of their swings (especially under the stress of games) but it takes a lot more work to get them to even try, and because it "feels" so different, if it doesn't work for them immediately, they will go back to what's comfortable.

So I'd advise to stick with it. With enough reps (lots and lots) it will begin to feel natural to him.