Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Wed Sep 11 07:47:58 2002

Too All,
> >
> > I have noticed that many posts to this site have an opinion about the smallest body movement in the swing. Most of this is not relevant and they are poor coaching especially for kids 10 to 15.
> > Here are my reasons.
> >
> > 1. Most of this stuff is not relevant. Some of these points such as what part of the field the toe of the front foot points, position of the knee, how far from the back shoulder the hands should be, where the bat is in the stance prior to the pitcher going into the windup and all the other attention to the finest details only serve to make coaching more complicated. Most of these "fine points" have very little to do with good hitting.
> >
> > 2. Young people do not have the control of the body that allows them to even think about where their knee is or where their toe is pointing. Even if these points are relevant, which I don't think they are, they should be added after the kids learns the major elements of the swing. Further, many of these little "quirks" of the swing are picked up from watching tape of the "pros." Many of them are created for some special need that the pro has because of some quirk in his swing. In some cases, it has nothing to do with anything and they pro doesn't even know he does it.
> >
> > 3. Guess what, THE KIDS ARE NOT LISTENING. By loading up coaching with many minor movements of the body many of which kids do not understand, undermines the credibility of the coach. This also distracts the batter from the major elements of the swing. These minor elements tend to take on the same importance as the really important ones when they are talked about and taught. They confuse the kid and soon he shuts the coach down. Most kids don't openly rebel. They just don't listen any more.
> >
> > F. J.
>
> It is true, the kids are not listening. What do you do when one coach says do A,B,C and D, the next coach says do A,C but instead of B and D, do E and F, and the next coach says.....and so on.
>
> But quite frankly, I think many at this site already know this. I think many parents and hitters are probably on the look out for their own personal missing piece of the puzzle, and if and when they find it, it can make things click for them. I would hope there is no coach who would put together a Master Coaching Plan & demand that there hitters follow it, down to every minute detail.

Frank-
If someone where to take every detail talked about here (and elsewhere) and specifically taught each thing to a hitter, you're right, the hitter would be overwhelmed with detail.
And Bart makes a good point about all the conflicting advice leading to tuning out.

Keep in mind that just because the instructor knows something does not mean that he has to tell each student everything he knows.
A good instructor knows a lot, has a basic teaching progression to introduce ideas to hitters, a good analytical mind that allows him to determine the priorities of what to fix AND the ability to cut to the chase and simplify all that into a clear specific instruction to the hitter.
That instruction should be specific, should be aimed at the source of the problem - not the symptoms, and has to be understood by the hitter - both what to do and why it will help/what it will effect.

A good coach has to know a lot of background. Thats what these discussions are for.
The direction a foot lands, the angle of a knee could be the most important thing a hitter needs to fix. Maybe for the next hitter it is irrelevant to his problem. The coach has to make these decisions.
But you can't make them if you don't know and understand both the big picture AND the details.

Old Buddist proverb:
a child looks at a mountain and sees a mountain
an adult looks at a mountain and sees many things
a wise man looks at a mountain and sees a mountain