Posted by: Dennis W. () on Wed Jun 6 00:01:16 2007

> My 10 yr old son is a power hitter who has had a high batting average this year. He hits with lots of power and has a great swing. He has lots of walks this year and is often criticized for this. He can battle a two strike situation and has only had three strike outs this year. Is this ok or should I be encouraging him to swing at not so great pitches?

Kent-
Encouraging anyone to hit at 'not so great' pitches, only contributes to developing a flawed set of swing mechanics. In 2 strike situations, swinging 'at anything close' should be encouraged. In this situation, advise him to take wider stance (already somewhat 'loaded') and utilize an outside-inside swing. At this age he should watch for an inside ball but expect an outside pitch.

All batters should be eyeing the pitcher from the dugout, getting a sense of his speed and habits. When on deck they should start mocking their swing along with his windup. This brings them a bit more prepared for the mental battle at the plate. It also rids the illusion that a batter should always let the first strike go. I have always hated this advise. Power hitters should look for balls they can hit, and not balls that could be strikes. A strike or ball is determined after the ball crosses the plate. The batter waits the judgement call of the Umpire to make a call against him. LOOK FOR BALLS YOU CAN HIT!
Walks are good, but with runners on the bases in a close game and one strike goes by, what a pity a 'power' hitter couldn't utilize the oppurtunity to bring in those runs!
Aggresive, but it leaves the fate of the batter in his own hands.

I have noticed in BP, most of my batters are swinging at balls that are close enough to be called strikes. We need this type of willingness in games. It seems that they are swinging like it is going out of style, then when they get 2 strikes against them, they let the most prestine ball get by them for a strike without swinging...