Posted by: Steve (laflammesteve@ymail.com) on Fri Jul 22 11:11:09 2011

For what it's worth, our 10u team, on the days we get to take BP at our indoor facility before the games, our winning percentage is roughly .800 as opposed to .600 when we can't do anything but flips and tee at the field. We throw from 46' at game speed or faster (approx 55 mph) and do short underhand quick toss. It seems most kids that age have the timing and recognition problem where they are late more often than not, so letting them see live pitching speeds up their bats a bit because they just saw the speed an hour earlier. First round is two bunts, ten swings, then eight swings, then we go 1-2 count, 3-1 count, and 3-2 count to completion. I think pros have their timing down at 85-95 due to years of reps, so BP for them is more of them working on their opposite field/ up the middle mechanics, whereas younger players need as much game speed live pitching as possible.