Posted by: Coach C () on Fri Jan 16 11:39:32 2004

I think many of you here have a great idea on the good swing but the way we talk about it here is of little use when teaching 9-10 year olds[to complicated and need to understand too much]What I would like to hear is some ideas[simple]on how you teach youngsters to get some of the basics across.Some of mine are: back /step/turn.Stay back and step out.Turn your knee in 2 inches as you stride.Turn your belt to the pitcher.I look for the elbow pulling back in the load.
> My son I saw on video was letting his bat drop back toward the catcher long before toe touch[disconnected]I had him rest it on his shoulder and go back step and stop with lead heel in the air,then swing from there.not sure I like it but it has fixed alot of the bat dropping to early.Any ideas and fixes to their problems.


"To engrain the feeling of letting the ball come to us" I consider this skill to be the only thing that truly matters for youngsters, as well as myself. Bonds has addressed it many times, but countless other great hitters speak of not coming to the ball. Over the years other phrases such as, "stay back", "land soft on the front side", "slow feet equal fast hands", "quite the head", "don't go forward, but turn" have all helped one player or another. they even helped me over the years, but these phrases may only bandaid an otherwise faulty swing. I've spent the last several years trying to understand what it all means and by know means do I think I have the all the answers....however let me give you my advice. I think the back hip and the hands moving in tandem are the key to waiting. Whether you agree or not watch your youngsters and when you throw them BP mix in a bad pitch from time to time, I would suggest to you that almost everyone of them will give the appearance that they are coming to the ball, some far worse than others. All of these kids will struggle on the inside pitch, as well as the outside pitch because their bodies will get too far ahead of the hands and ultimately the barrel. You know some may find one from time to time, especially with weaker pitching, but as you already know........many will someday hit the wall in their development as pitching improves. The problem I have with straight turning is that it seals my fate on an outside pitch (No disrespect to Jack, but it makies no sense to me to just turn the whole body...I still remember what it is like to hit 90mph). I haven't even mentioned the distorted view of the zone (the box) they are hitting out of. So for me the key is to start with the weight forward in the stance (70/30, 60/40), then when the ball is thrown stride to 50/50, which implies physically leaning back some. By starting with the weight forward, the stride then becomes a leg plant that my body hits against. My head never goes forward and it engains the feeling that the ball is coming to me. Most youngsters are weak in the legs, so it will tax them at first, because they will likely fall too far back. However, eventually they may start at 50/50 and never get out of 50/50, or they mirror Bond's angle of attack, by finishing about 30/70 (whatever it is).

I spoke with John Elliot about these same ideas, as it relates to weight usage in the swing and we agree on the concept.....how he teaches it, I'm not sure about. For me, there is no pitcher that can throw a ball by me today.......I could be fooled certainly, but I have a definitive box that I see and it's never distorted....I mean never. When I take a pitch that's out of the box, my weight is always 50/50 and if I were to check my swing, my front leg and torso may be angled back around 45 degrees (approximately). I hit inside strikes as well as outside strikes, and rarely ever swing at anything out of the zone.

My existing swing on Nick's site is a push swing and should not be confused with the methods I suggested here, because I am moving to the ball. My Son's swing on the other hand is one where there is no move to the ball....he hit's out of a box, which is why he leads all of his teams in walks, fewest strike outs and on base percentage. He's not a power hitter yet because he is 11 years old, weighs about 90 lbs and plays on fields where the fences are 300 feet, but he drives the ball. We've made a few changes since these clips, but his head position is the same.

Teach the youngsters to not go forward, by starting them forward......see ya!!


Coach C