Posted by: Sandman () on Wed Oct 22 09:11:17 2003

What makes you think I haven't purchased Jack's DVD (and Mike Epstein's) and numerous others? (Gee, WHO'S the newbie around here?) :)

All I'm saying is that I believe it's easier to understand the principles than to actually implement (or help someone implement) them - especially at such young ages. Even Mike Epstein suggests caution when teaching his principles to such youngsters, and he usually waits until ~11 years old (if I recall correctly from his book and website forum?).

Personally, I have interest in seeing how other 9-yr olds have done trying this, as I have been helping MY 9-yr old along this path. I consider him pretty athletic, and very coachable, yet there are still some habits that are hard to break (i.e. stride to balance).

If you've got a kid that age truly swinging w/ perfect rotational mechanics - and not just some improved contact, loosely based upon rotational concepts - then, great! But, and I mean no offense by this, just because you claim that his new success is due to having so quickly learned rotational hitting mechanics doesn't necessarily make it so (regardless of you "being in the best position to judge").

As someone else alluded to, perhaps his new success is mental? Or maybe he's even managed to quickly catch on to a small piece of rotational hitting. I'm just not convinced that RESULTS (i.e. more game hits) necessarily offer valid proof of the use of rotational hitting. Hence my suggestion for a video clip. I'd be less concerned w/ successful hits (which could be due to a number of reasons besides rotational) than I would of seeing a player simply hitting in a cage or in a backyard w/ a wiffle ball even.

FWIW, I'm not particularly concerned w/ posting video clips of my son. Does this somehow cross some privacy line? I mean, we're not talking porn here, nor do I post our home address (which obviously could be obtained), or the hours that he's at home playing in the yard (so that someone could kidnap him), etc. To each his own on that, but I know I've received lots of valuable advice over the last year and half that I would not have if I didn't post video clips. Perhaps you could put a ski mask on your kid while filming? <8-O

My 2 cents.

Regards,
Sandman