Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Wed Apr 4 16:32:08 2001

I'm hoping someone can help me out. I'm trying to help my daughter with her hitting. I understand the need for increasing her batspeed but I'm concerned the lingo involved might be above her ability to grasp. Has anyone else applied these drills to the younger set and had positive results? I want to avoid the paralysis from analysis situation and do right by my kid. Also if anyone has had success with the video with their young children I would love to hear from you. Thanks in advance.
> > Dave Mac Donald
>
> Dave -
> You are asking a really important question. Kids don't care about the stuff here or on the other hitting websites. These sites are incredibly rich places to learn the inner secrets of the swing. It is a technician's dream. It is also very challenging - not everything said is accurate or true, ideas conflict, etc.
> You have two demanding tasks before you.
> The first is to put together YOUR understanding of all this information. It is a long process, probably one that is never complete / ever growing but incredibly rewarding.
> The second is to figure out how to get your daughter and whoever you teach, to use that knowledge. Big clue - don't tell them what you know. Find tricks, examples, visuals, motions, etc. Cues are what you teach with, not physics, hitting theories, etc. Simple things a kid understands, that get the behaviors you are looking for.
> The toughest part is that you can't really do the first part without doing the second at the same time. Cues and reality (a Paul Nyman phrase) go hand in hand. The coach has to know the difference. The player doesn't necessarily. 99.9% of 9 year olds would get worse thinking about any of this.
> IMO, the concepts here and at SetPro are the best. Mike Epstein has some good lower body drills that are very instructionaly specific which is very useful. There are commonalities but not full agreement among the three.
> Many of the beginners and intermediates I work with can't do much of what I am learning here. The advanced kids can.
> I find myself going back closer to the Dusty Baker approach as a way to get kids started in the right direction. Dusty Baker's book is written for parents who want to teach their kids to hit. Purists will barf at his squish the bug stuff, but for kids who stand up with straight knees and swing their arms, modified Baker approach and drills can get you in the ball park. 10 -13 years old is a key formative time - old enough to learn, young enough to ingrain for a lifetime. However, all but the most elite athletes go through transitions as they evolve their swings. It is extremely rare to find a 9 year old who can learn perfect, advanced mechanics right from the get-go.
> So part of your job is to find the core, the essence and teach its simplest form, then build on that. In my experience, getting the legs to work correctly is the foundation. Until that is right, you can't convert body work into bat speed.
> Good luck and keep reading and posting.

Major Dan expressed the approach well.I like to work lots on how to bail out and how to read a pitch.There is a fear factor for all which is best to acknowledge and work on.Bunting is a great way to learn the strike zone and how to handle yourself.Other things you can start are stance and grip.I like to have the feet lined up square and I like them to keep the back elbow up-this gets the hands back and some tightness of connection.You can work on balance, good tempo and smooth acceleration and learning to let the ball come to them,not let them think they have to go frward to the ball.