Posted by: Tim () on Tue Mar 31 16:41:28 2009

> > > > > > I have an 11 year old who's taken weekly batting lesson for going on 2 years. I'm trying to reconcile whether this is doing any good. On one hand coaches compliment his mechanics, on the other hand he's not very productive compared to his team mates. His batting coach isn't concerned with strike-outs or his in-game performance really. So what's a good measure? How would I know this batting coach is doing the right thing?
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> > > > > The hitting coach may be doing fine. The problem with hitting in a cage is that most hits look like good hits when this may simply not be true. The hitter feels like they are doing a great job, parents and instructors think the same thing. You really can't tell how hard or well you hit until they get on the field to hit and see how hard and how much the ball carries. At the end of the day, it is about performance on the field and in games. Most of the time players hitting in the cage hit a lot softer than they think. Maybe you can suggest to the hitting instructor that form isn't as important to you and you want him hitting and swinging much harder.
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> > > > does your hitting instructor,do tee work and soft toss while sitting on a bucket or throw while sitting in a chair for so feet away in a cage,if this is the main part of the regimen fire the guy i see it all the time and no one gets better.
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> > > > Majority is tee work. Repetition,repetition... He's done video analysis, balancing on a platform while swinging, pitching occasionally. There is some variety. With no one to compare to I don't know what else is part of a well rounded training regimen at 11 years o
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> > Tim if i have an 11y/o for an hour i expect them to be loose and warmed up before hand,i may spend 5 minutes on a tee loosening up going over contact points and adjustments,if they are hitting it well,then move to straight toss 7 pitches away 7 in then in and out on the fly adjustment,nail that in 10 minutes and back up to 30-35 feet and throw working on mechanics away and in,this is timing and seeing the ball training,we also just look at some curveballs out of the hand while resting a minute,if contact point is off i put a tee inline with contact point but on outside of plate so it doesnt interfere,a visual helps,10minutes,now we break and review what we need to fix,we may go back to 15 foot straight toss for a few minutes to work on rough area,2nd half we work on bunting depends on kids ability of speed if we work drag or just sacrafice,this is at 42 feet,2minutes then we do a situational hitting session,bunt to 1st bunt to 3rd, squeeze,hit and run ,move runner to 3rd drive them in from 3rd with 1 out,depends on infield in or not i give the hitter the situation.this is 8-10 min.also sac fly hitting.,we also discuss quickly what pitch we look for,mental side of game in each situation always address it.we then just hit from 46 feet drive the ball and then have about 6-10 at bats I call balls and strikes gets them in frame of mind to be game like,if time is left I will start them on a swing training routine ,over and under for a 100 swings or so they learn it here but work hard days of swing training on their own if they want me to watch a full routine we cut hitting short.
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> This sounds like you have a good program. Kids really have to work on their own during the week as well with tee, soft toss,over/under bat training, and some bag work or heavy bat swinging for strength. Too many kids are willing to take pride in their swing but not enough in early pitch recognition and location identification.

> All I can say is WOW! I'm going to see about switching lesson times so I can be present at all his lessons. I don't think much of this is happening. Thanks!