Posted by: chip () on Thu Feb 28 14:04:48 2002

If your son is hitting .400 in the 7th & 8th grade, I really don't see how he can be kept off the team. If it ever came to it, you could present the case to the administrator or school board, citing the coach's "record" of meager accomplishments, and that he ought be judging results (hits), not means (mechanics). Start a file of research now, if you think you might need to make your case. Now, if your boy pops up 3 times a game, but hits one out each game - that is not going to cut it with any coach, and you don't have a case. If he is making hard contact, the ball will carry out or be good for hard singles. I don't think you should be teaching a 12 year old to swing for the fences.
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> > > > > Pro sports is full of successful athletes with unorthodox styles (see Bode Miller), they just have to prove more to their coaches. They must be better than the rest, not just average, because the coach will always think "if I could just get this kid to swing right, he'd be a star". You need to show that your style needs none of his "improvements".
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> > > > Let's see. Three pop ups and a dinger for every four at bats. Hmmm. I think I would take him in a heartbeat while at the same time trying to work on the pop ups. Still a pretty good slg %. As to dealing with this coach, are there any other school options? I hear the best exposure is in summer ball and showcases anyway.
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> > > > Mark H.
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> > > I have an 8th grader. Our plan is for my son to have such a sweet swing that "after" the coach's eval., he says, "leave the kid alone".
> > > May be wishful thinking, but he needs to be very good for the coach to leave his swing alone. Numbers don't lie. >>>I t doesn't matter to some coaches how sweet your son or daughter's swing is.Because it's not the swing that the coach is teaching,the coach will want to tinker,change or adjust it enough to ruin it.When the time comes for your child to attend highschool,my advice is to talk with the coach and determine his intentions as to whether he will leave your son's mechanics as he found them.Then your decision as to which school you want your son will get easier.

I'm definitely not going to be teaching him to swing for the fences- just to hit hit it hard, with liners as the main goal. He will probably end up in the 5-10 to 6-0 range and weigh in at maybe 160-170, depending on the height. So I'm not expecting Mac or Sammy or Jason. On the other hand Mel Ott weighed 160... Ya never know. But whatever he is, big or small, talented or not, I just want him to have the chance to mazimize his potential -and that's assuming he really wants to be good. (Right now I think he would just like to wake up in the morning and presto, be Roy Hobbs- only not with Redford's swing, of course.)