Posted by: mike28nc (mikelamb68@hotmail.com) on Wed May 3 01:09:32 2006

> Hi, i am playing in Babe Ruth Baseball this year and i am batting just a little above .100 because i have been dropping my hands as the pitch is coming in ( so my father tells me ) and i was wondering if anyone has any tips that will help me keep my hands up. In batting practice i will kill the ball because my coach throws pitches with very short time intervals between each pitch, so there isn't time to drop my hands. i have tried to just think about keeping my hands up, but that hasn't worked.
> I would be very grateful for any tips
> Will
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Will,

That is something you will need to work on at practice at the pitching distance. The only thing I can think of is keep the hands at the back shoulder and the bat handle touching the top of the shoulder. Then lift only when the pitcher is about to release the pitch. But this can get you in trouble with timming.
I would almost bet that during practice the coach takes some off of the pitch. He is not throwing game speed. I would also try to get some real pitching to help. Most kids that hit well in practice and not in games is because they are not relaxed at the plate and timming is off on the pitch. I dont know what age you are but I would say get all the BP you can with game pitching speed. NOT PITCHING MACHINE. You need to pick the ball up at the hand not a release and work on your form.

Mike