Posted by: rql () on Fri Apr 27 17:17:25 2007

> > Everyone
> > I have worked with my 9 yr old on rotational hitting and last year it helped quite a bit. This year he is having major problems making contact, especially on the high pitch. It looks as though he has too much of an upswing. Without seeing his swing, is there anything I can do to help him with the high pitch and the outside pitch.
> > Thanks
>
> he is either dropping his hands or tilting back and then swinging up to the ball,on a low pitch there is a tilt over the plate so that swing plane is 90 degrees to spine but in order to keep swing plane 90 degrees to spine on high pitch they must straighten up some depending on how high it is,a ball that is shoulder high the hitter would be straight up by contact to swing squarely through the ball,this adjustment is the way big leaguers adjust up and down and is seen clearly in slo mo video.
> Mike. As a quick fix I would have your son widen his stance while getting a decent knee bend. This will allow hime flexibility in the stance. In this way it will make the pitcher have to bring the ball down for it to be a called strike. His focus should then be on hitting the ball through the middle. Often hitters who have trouble with the outside pitch tend to be too pull conscious and pull off balls they should be hitting. And if a player has good plate coverage he should be able to reach all pitches with the fat part of the bat.