Posted by: Joe A. (Mgtsupport@AOL.com) on Tue Jun 5 05:39:03 2001

I have 2 really big 11 year old kids that get the bat around like there is a 10lb weight attached to it. What can I do to help them get it around quicker. One is swinging a 30/20 bat the other 30/19. Someone told me I may want them at the plate with an open stance. Any other suggestions or am I on target with this.

To whom:

It may not be the bat. There are three common reasonos for this problem

1. The kid is not picking the ball up sooon enough. They should be picking the ball up at the release point and should know if they want to swing before the ball is half way to the plate. Some times the kids don't pick up the ball until its half way there. After that everything is late.

2. Some hitters hitters have a stance in which the bat requires a lot of movement to get into the launch position. For example, holding the bat high with hands near the ear. This slows down the lauch of the bat.

3. The decision the hitter has to make is "don't swing." If the hitter is relaxed waiting to decided if they are going to swing, they have to get their body in motion to start the swing. So, the hitter should be prepared to swing at every pitch then decide not to swing if it's a bad pitch.

You can tell if a kid is preared to swing. First notice the initial movement the hitter makes when they decide to swing. Its usualy some movement of the bat back or something like that. You stand behind the hitter and watch the ball and out of your peripheral vision watch for that first movement. If the first movement comes after the ball is half way to the plate, the kid is not ready to swing and will be late.

Also, I tried this training tool and it worked well. I got one of those traffic cones you see on the highway construction sites. It was bright pink. I put it half way between the pitcher and the hitter. I told the hitter he had to decide to swing as the ball passed the cone. The hitter had to watch the ball but he could see the cone also. Having the hitter pay attention to the cone and the ball is not intened to get them to hit the ball but to give something to help their timing.

Joe A.