Posted by: Torque (roscoethewestie@comcast.net) on Mon Jun 29 11:37:25 2009

> > > My 8-year old makes consistent contact (in fact, he hasn't struck out once this season in over 30 ABs) but lately, he's been getting jammed a lot. Aside from perhaps swinging at pitches too close to his hands (tough for me to tell from my vantage point), what other causes could there be? Thanks.
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> > Getting jammed occasionally is evidence of good hitting because he is waiting on the ball; however, it must be happening more than just occasionally. He is probably dragging his bat head too much so explain that he needs to get his bathead around. Easiest thing if he is a right or left hander is to tell him to try to hit the ball hard as close as he can to the second base bag.
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> Thanks, Torque. So, try to have him hit the ball up the middle then. He had a game since I posted that question...had him stand off the plate a bit more and in 3 ABs he hit the ball on the barrel each time. Problem is, only one of those was a good, solid hit. He popped up once. He didn't uppercut it, but the ball went off the top of the bat as opposed to hitting it squarely. Any tips for getting him to hit it in the middle of the barrel more?

Just have him hit it up the middle stressing hard hits.

Predicting hitting flaws with kids this young is hard. Try to get him to understand the basics on this web site as stated by Jack Mankin. Keep it really simple as showing what the hands are doing is better than explaining concepts.

I have seen some young kids hit with end loaded bats and the barrell drops just a hair in the swing. Make sure he is swinging a balanced bat such as the Worth Prodigy or Rawlings green or gold Liquid Metal bats. They are balanced and he will be better able to control his swing and develop muscle memory easier. Combat's bats are also very balanced and easy to swing. Point is the barrell may be dropping a little under the ball if an end weighted bat is used.

You can show him where you want him to try and hit a certain spot on the ball. Teach him to hit the center of the ball. I'm amazed how little is taught on which spot to try and hit the ball.

Hitting is really unpredictable for the first few years because the ball drops so much from the mound to the plate. If you can get him hitting the ball hard somewhere you've made a great first step. Hitting is difficult and slowly incorporating the methods taught on this site will be very helpful. You just want to make sure he swings hard instead of focusing too much on mechanics. You really don't want too much of a thinking hitter but one that is trained properly and slowly. Slow, consistent, patient, methodical progress. You have to swing a good bit (25 to 40 swings) a couple of times a week. Also, it takes at least 10 to 15 hits in BP before a batter is ready to hit. So if you try to pick a pattern from a couple of game hits where he hasn't swung much then you are really judging random hits. You want to see a dozen hits before you draw conclusions because this is a minimal amount of time for any hitter at any age to get ready.

If you can get him trained like on this site he will hit the ball hard provided he makes good contact.