Posted by: daw () on Mon Oct 12 14:43:40 2009

> > My son is 16 and plays for his High School. He started the rotational swing when he was 14 years old. From Thanksgiving that year til Christmas, we hit for over an hour in the cages 6 days a week. We also hit everyday on the heavy bag. This was the only way to make the transition to a new swing concept. The last year and a half he hits live (on a field or in a game) a minimum of 3 days a week, tee work, soft toss & front toss 2 days a week and into a heavy bag 5 days a week. It only takes 15 min to hit the heavy bag in the garage every day, if you do it right. He works out on the weights twice a week. Even with all this practice, we are still trying to perfect the rotational swing and to ensure that he puts a good rotational swing when he faces the toughest high school pitchers. The practice has made his swing much better and he is hitting the ball hard. He averages over .333 at the plate in high school and on his travel select team. You can never practice enough. At three college hitting camps, they said that you have to hit everyday except Christmas. Tee work is fantastic. You can hit off a tee into a net in your garage. When my son loses his swing mechanics, we go to the tee three days in a row and hit over 150 balls each day. If his swing is poor in a game, we hit off the tee after the game. We are not talking about getting hits; we are talking about putting a good rotational swing on the ball. If you do that, we consider it a good at bat. The baseball swing has to be automatic when a pitcher is throwing 85 mph or greater. No matter how good you get, you can get better. When you go to a Perfect Game Tournament in Florida or one of the other big baseball states, you can't believe the talent, size, speed and level of play of the kids. At age 16 -- for a kid that wants to play college ball -- there are two priorities (1) grades and (2) baseball. You can rest the arm but the swing is a year round project. Get a schedule and stick to it. It only takes a little over an hour a day to hit on the non-practice days.
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> Thanks for the above post. Congratulations to your son for having such a sound work ethic. That's a very mature attitude for a boy that age. To be honest, I think there are a lot of kids that age who could not commit to something that regimented. To tell a kid to hit every day except Christmas may sound extreme to some. I do think that to handle the workload it takes to make it in college ball above the D-3 level, you need to love the game. If you love it, it's a pleasure to do the work.
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> Ernie


Truer words ne'er were spoke than the last two sentances of your post, Ernie. I haven't swung at a live pitch in 32 years and I STILL swing my bat every day, for the sheer joy of having a bat in my hands.

So many parents don't realize that there is really only one reason to play college baseball or softball: Love of the game.

Talk to college players about their schedule.....it may not be practice or games every day except Christmas, but it's closer than you think. Anyone who doesn't love the game enough to make all that work a pleasure will have trouble getting through and may not value th experience in years to come, even if he/she makes it through.