Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Torque (roscoethewestie@comcast.net) on Tue Mar 24 20:02:39 2009

> My son has problems with balance. He seems like he likes to get on his toes more than the balls of his feet when the pitch is thrown and on pitches where he takes he is not balanced but normally is lunging foward or over the plate. Are there any drills to work on balance at the plate or keep from staying back/ staying centered to not want to fall foward or over the plate during the pitch.

One of the drills in the video sold on this site is hitting a punching bag with the bat. This is by far the best way to get a hitter to stay back. Incorporate the rotational hitting on DVD with a punching bag. You can also use one of those football blocking dummies that are shaped like a punching bag. These are much lighter and can be moved much easier.

Second, you can try to get the hitters hands higher (ear level).

Third, set the hitting tee deep in the stance and make sure your son is getting L shape in the rear elbow described on this site. You really can't lunge with a deep tee and rear elbow slotted into the L.

Fourth, I always believe young hitters should learn to hit the inside pitch repeatedly and constantly. I mean put the pitch really close to them. You don't have to put them at risk of getting hit but you can get close with even a tennis ball. Make sure they but the bat head/sweet spot on the ball. Can't lunge on an inside pitch or you may just walk right into the pitch. They usually figure out fast they will get hit by the ball if they lunge. Rotational mechanics seem to be easier to burn into muscle memory on the inside pitch. After working and emphasing inside pitches then work slowly to the outside pitch.

Fifth, just do some ball tracking as part of each hitting practice. Just have him watch the all the way past him. Make sure he doesn't swing and make sure he tracks the ball with just his eyes and head. A lot of kids think they track the ball with their entire body so they need to be trained to track just with their eyes and chin/head.

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> > My son has problems with balance. He seems like he likes to get on his toes more than the balls of his feet when the pitch is thrown and on pitches where he takes he is not balanced but normally is lunging foward or over the plate. Are there any drills to work on balance at the plate or keep from staying back/ staying centered  to not want to fall foward or over the plate during the pitch.
> 
> One of the drills in the video sold on this site is hitting a punching bag with the bat.  This is by far the best way to get a hitter to stay back.  Incorporate the rotational hitting on DVD with a punching bag.  You can also use one of those football blocking dummies that are shaped like a punching bag.  These are much lighter and can be moved much easier.
> 
> Second, you can try to get the hitters hands higher (ear level).
> 
> Third, set the hitting tee deep in the stance and make sure your son is getting L shape in the rear elbow described on this site.  You really can't lunge with a deep tee and rear elbow slotted into the L.
> 
> Fourth, I always believe young hitters should learn to hit the inside pitch repeatedly and constantly.  I mean put the pitch really close to them.  You don't have to put them at risk of getting hit but you can get close with even a tennis ball.  Make sure they but the bat head/sweet spot on the ball.  Can't lunge on an inside pitch or you may just walk right into the pitch.  They usually figure out fast they will get hit by the ball if they lunge.  Rotational mechanics seem to be easier to burn into muscle memory on the inside pitch.  After working and emphasing inside pitches then work slowly to the outside pitch.
> 
> Fifth, just do some ball tracking as part of each hitting practice.  Just have him watch the all the way past him.  Make sure he doesn't swing and make sure he tracks the ball with just his eyes and head.  A lot of kids think they track the ball with their entire body so they need to be trained to track just with their eyes and chin/head.

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