Posted by: Ryan (rlehrball7@gmail.com) on Tue Feb 16 09:46:56 2010

> My son and I were pondering something we observed while taking some cuts the other day and wondered if anyone else has run into this.
> We noticed that his bat speed and balance were noticeably better when hitting soft toss as opposed to tee swings. He also has commented to me that he does not feel like he is hitting the sweet spot of the bat as well when using the tee, much better when hitting soft toss.
> Can anyone think of a mechanical reason why this might occur?
>
> Ernie

Ernie,

The reason why your son is feeling off balance and has a feeling that he's not hitting the sweet spot off the tee is because he is not hitting the ball at the proper contact point.
One of the most crucial things when hitting is timing as it relates to hitting the ball at the right point in time and space.
You must as a hitting make contact with the ball out in front of the plate! So even if you are working your son to hit the ball the other way, you must still make contact a little out in front.
Your son must also be the proper distance from the plate.. When you work him on the tee make sure there is a home plate. Place his bat on the ground with the end of the bat or the "cap" directly even with the outside corned to where the knob of the bat will be facing him. He should have his toes even with the knob of the bat when he is in his stance. This will allow the proper coverage to hit all pitches.
After he is properly measured from the plate, start him with his front foot even with the front of the plate. (If he's a righty his left foot even right around the front of the plate)
Put the tee about 6 to 8 inches or so in front of the plate directly down the middle and have him hit the ball up the middle.
If you have questions email me..
This is the reason why he has more balance in soft toss! So many coaches hit off the tee with kids and have the kids hitting the ball way too far back in the contact zone which causes bat habits to form..

Good luck!
Ryan