Posted by: John in FL () on Fri May 9 07:51:02 2008

I am in slight disagreement. If you look at true angles, if a child is fouling off pitches straight back, he is not late in contact. It's physically impossible. If a right handed hitter makes late contact off the top of the bat, the ball with reflect back and to the right side. The opposite is the same from the left side of the plate. The physics Law of Reflection is why. If a hitter is fouling off pitches straight back (whether down or up), he is on speed with the pitcher. The point he is missing is that he is either above or below the ball at the point of contact. If the kid is fouling balls up and straight back, his focus needs to be 'top half'. Contact with the top half of the ball. If he's hitting them all straight back and into the ground, his focus needs to be 'middle of the ball'. This could also be cause by too much of a downward swing. If there is a mix, then there are other issues which could likely be mechanical. Always keep in mind what 'square contact' really is: the Law of Reflection. The ball will reflect at the same angle that it came into contact with the surface that it struck with only minor deviations.