Posted by: Tom Mentzer (mentzert@hotmail.com) on Fri Jun 13 10:36:54 2008

Cindy,

I am thoroughly convinced that the typical coaches cue for someone who is struggling and an indication that the coach has no clue what is wrong is to say "your pulling your head". For the most part this in itself is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

First of all the kids head is already pulled (or facing the pitcher when he prepares to bat) so he has to turn his head slightly to follow the pitch into the bat or the glove. There certainly are kids that "pull their head", but their head actually just stays where it was and they don't follow the pitch.

Before I ramble on my point is that usually something else is wrong mechanically. Does your son also appear to step out when he swings, and I mean even in the slightest? From what I've seen the issue is usually that the kid is impatient, starts opening his hips too early and in turn lets his front shoulder open then pull out away from the plate. Take a good look at your son's front shoulder and see if it is flying open and back. My technique is to take a bat and rest it gently against the front shoulder and then tell the kid that I want them to swing a normal swing and allow the bat to rest gently against the shoulder. You should not put pressure against the shoulder and they should not put pressure against the bat. At follow through the shoulder will open properly and your son will be balanced with his body balanced and chest facing the pitcher. This will result in a more mechanically sound swing and allow him to keep his body under control when swinging. Hope this helps!