Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Sat Dec 31 08:54:16 2005

personal unsubstantiated ideas:

stop the side toss.

do self toss,reward for long ball,bonus for long ball to oppo side.

do front toss behind screen if you want them to think they are hitting hard.

reward for hitting hard to oppo side of pitcher.


at this age, I think it is important to have them learn to take an inward turn to get used to/
remember there is a loading phase and a timing that goes with it.

I like turn (back-"excessive" counterrotation is fine at this age), step (I like stride,forcing
no-stride inhibits upper body learning), turn (think of turning hips when front foot
comesdown is one "cue",sometimes you have to "cue" other parts of the body,swing (swing
as more of "pull" - jack's pull back with front shoulder can be good "cue" even at young
age: turn-step-turn-swing.

Also,do not pitch loopy stuff,even at this age. self toss gives enough loopy
experience,pitch with flat trajectory and vary distance pitched.