Posted by: Joe Hernandez (coach2hit@yahoo.com) on Mon Jun 12 21:15:41 2006

> I have a 12 year old with pretty good rotational swing mechanics, but he is currently anxious and consistently starts his swing too early. If he is just slightly early, he swings through the ball and pulls it just foul at 3rd base, with a good rotational swing. If he is way too early and recognizes it, he slows his upper body, but his hips are already spent and his front knee is locked, causing his swing to go linear. On middle/in pitches he'll get jammed, and on low/away pitches all he can do at that point is drop the barrel on the ball and he pops up to the right side. I am looking for suggestions to help him with his timing.

Hi Chuck,

I would make sure to teach your son the "impact line". A pitch on the inside corner is hit quite a distance in front of the plate. This will vary depending on where you stand at the plate. Go to the library and just take out a book on hitting...most will show you this. A ball down the middle is hit further back, and a ball away is hit still further back. If you were to draw a line between the inside pitch and the outside pitch you then have established the "impact line". When hitting the inside pitch you then need to hit the ball sooner, before it reaches the plate. Envision the ball as a clock, you want to hit the inside pitch at 3 o'clock. An outside pitch is hit deeper in the zone and at 9 o'clock. Between these two points of the impact line you can hit the ball in an infinite number of locations.

A tee can be used to show him the importance of the impact line as well as a means for him to begin taking swings in the different locations. The location of the tee relative to the plate will determine where the best point of contact is.

Make sure that he 'follows-through"...in other words he should swing through the baseball. You want to ensure maximum bat speed at the point of contact...a good follow through will contribute to that. A good follow-through is the result of the momentum generated by his bat speed. If he has good mechanics, the follow-through will take care of itself. He need not "think" about this if he is swinging correctly...it will just happen.

By learning the "impact line" he will begin to understand that the most important factor is timing, especially with the inside pitch. His hips and hands must start sooner so the barrel of the bat can contact the ball out in front of home plate.

With the outside pitch he needs to let the ball get back...in short, he needs to let the ball travel a bit deeper into the strike zone. Teach him to hit the ball where is pitched...remember he is 12 years old...don't complicate things too much. This should be a good start. Good luck!

Joe Hernandez