Posted by: Mark O'Shea (bc117ftric@aol.com) on Thu Mar 14 10:36:48 2002

I have a problem I am not sure how to correct. My son is a junior in high school and since he was old enough to play has had a good eye for the ball and has always batted well. His freshman year he played varsity ball the entire season and batted .595. after that season his coached was forced out of the school system and we got a new head coach. Since this coaches arrival his batting average has drastically worsened. His new coach changed his batting stance twice last year and has changed it three times this year. It seems all he can hit are weak pop ups or very weak grounders sraight at the short stop. I ask him what he thinks the problem is and he says he is just confused on where his hands and hips need to be at impact.The only batting practice they recieve is underhand from no more than 10 feet. He has no timing and doesnt see anything that relates to a normal pitch until gameday. What can I do after practice that may help him and not confuse him more than he already is? Would someone refer me to a good instructional video that is easy to follow and is proven? I am just at my witts end and want it stopped. He is a good athelete and has a great attitude but just purely confused. Please help, it would be greatly appreciated.
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> The worst thing you can do is practice bad mechanics. Most tossers don't locate well from the side. You end up getting a small number of decent pitches and end up swinging at everything--bad or good.
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> Plus the timing issues are drastically different.
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> We don't use a lot of tee work anymore either--although it's much better than side toss. We do use the heavy bag to train.
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> So hitting is the 20 foot underhand toss for working on finite placement--low balls, opposite field, chest high, and inside. And some just over the plate to work on general mechanics.
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> This is followed up by real pitching at a fast pace from as far back as my arm can handle but generally 45-50 feet. I also try not to encourage my son to swing at everything I throw just because I'm too embarrassed to admit I'm throwing crappy that day. If you are throwing poorly on a given day just move the L-screen in and pitch forward underhand toss instead. Otherwise you can undo the good things and drill bad habits. I'm not a believer in machines but I'd use one if I was throwing poorly and couldn't get in control.
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> I get a kick out of coaches that drill players by pitching neck-high bloopers. This will definitely teach a player to come up out of his legs and lunge rather than staying in his legs. It also drills an uppercut. The batter must learn to stay within himself and hit the ball when it gets to him. It will either drop into the hitting zone or it won't--but if he gets into the habit of raising up for the ball he will be a fool for the curveball. You can get away with the eyes dropping a little as the stride is taken and the legs compress, but you can't get away with coming up routinely. Stay down and wait for it and don't swing at it if it's going to make you come up to get it.
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