Posted by: Melvin () on Thu Apr 3 08:53:53 2008

There is no time during a Little League season to adequately work on batting mechanics in a team setting. Besides, changing swing mechanics can take a long time and isn't guaranteed to work.

What is guaranteed to work is teaching them the strike zone and to hit a pitch that suits their natural swing. Most every youth leaguer with a flawed swing can successfully hit at least one strike zone location naturally.

How many practice hours do you have? 40, 50, maybe? IN a whole season. Why not work on the things that really win LL games: baserunning, sliding, getting every force-out that comes your way, double steals, basic relay stuff. Forget BP, it is a waste of time. Most of your players will quit baseball forever in less than 3 years. Forget the college curriculum in hitting and teach to compete and have fun by winning, not fiddling with technique.

Teaching advanced hitting mechanics to youth leaguers is crazy in my opinion. While I fully support Jack's mechanics, it is best done one-on-one by a qualified instructor or parent once a youngster has grown up and demonstrated a true desire to pursue the game at a high level. In most cases, it is the parent or coach who wants the player to pursue the game a high level, and that is just wrong.

Respectfully
Melvin