Not Swinging at the plate period!

Question
QUESTION: Hello: I have coached my son in our city's junior league for 2 yrs. The age is 9-10 and he is now 10. My son is not a fiery competitor but in my opinion he has the proper skills to play competitive baseball. He actually made the new 10U Travel Team now offered by our league. In the last several weeks in our weekend tournaments he has struck out 8 of 10 plate appearances. 5 of the 8 have been looking. He also plays on a house team and in our 1st Tournament game he walked twice and scored but both at bats he had 2 strikes in each and he didn't even swing at those. I have asked if there is anything wrong and he said "NO". His Travel coach has also spoken with me to see if his "heart" is really into playing with the team? When I pitch to him either in the yard or at practice he consistently hits the ball. This lack of swinging during games has only occurred within the last month. I don't know what to say to him or his travel coach to try and help him start swinging at good pitches. I have asked him if he does want to play on the travel team because of it's competitive nature and he said "yes" he does not want to quit!

Thank You!

ANSWER: Joe:  Thank you for your question.

It would be hard to say what makes a player stop swinging or what causes them to suddenly go on streaks where they will swing at anything.

I would suggest talking with him about a definite approach to each at bat; that is, going to the plate with a plan on what he is looking for and why.

I have become a true believer in count hitting.  Having kids go to the plate, looking to hit the first fastball strike they see.

When you look at MLB hitting splits, the batting average numbers show just how hard it is to hit with two strikes.  If it is that hard for the best of the best, then surely it is even more so for youth league players.

In 2009 MLB spent 49% of their total at bats in two strike counts.  Their cumulative average was .187.

On my site at www.theoleballgame.com, I have a number of pages dealing with this philosophy.  I will list the links at the bottom of this page, if you would like to take a look at them.

While using this system, what I noticed was that it helps take some of the indecision out of players at bats, they know what they are looking for, and the plan is to go and get it.

I first heard about this approach from a man named Ralph Dickenson, who at the time was a minor league hitting coordinator for the Dodgers.  He had started using it with the Brewers a few years before and was starting to use it with the Dodgers.

What we found with our high school kids is it simplified the hitting process for them.  Yogi Berra said, "You can't think and hit at the same time!"  He was right.  We had players hit well above what their ability level should have let them, simply because they went to the plate looking for a fastball strike and swinging the bat.

Pitchers at all levels are taught to get ahead.  Few are hard to hit on first pitch pitches.  They become hard to hit once they get ahead.

If hitters are looking for fastball strikes, it helps cut down on those at bats which start out with swinging at a curveball in the dirt, quite often followed by watching a fastball for strike two, then with their head spinning swinging at strike three on a pitch which isn't a hittable strike.

The focus becomes fastball, then strike zone, then swing.

Showing your son the hitting splits may help him realize how it is greatly to his advantage to stay out of two strike counts.  He will also notice a decrease in the amount of stress and pressure he feels at the plate.   That awful stigma that goes with striking out can become a mind boggler for hitters at all levels.

The links are:

Batting Average Analysis

Batting Splits By Counts

Hitting Team Approach

There are additional pages on the various aspects of hitting there also.

Good luck as you both work through this.  These things come and go, it is one of the intriguing parts of the game.  Learning to be patient and work through it is a good process for him to learn.  It will all come around.

Please let me know how things are going for you both.  You can contact me here at all experts, or through the Questions Page on my website.

Yours in baseball,

Rick

  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Rick: We had our 2nd tournament game last night vs. the #1 seed. We play 6 innings and held our own through the first 3. Then we sort of fell apart defensively after that. I wanted to let you know I spoke with my son before the game. I told him just to relax and remember what you said and have a plan. I told him to see the first good pitch and put a good swing on it. He got up twice with a single to left and a strike out. He was very upset with his strike out because he swung at ball 4 and then took the 3rd strike looking. I told him to have a "short memory" and that we would get them next time. I think your advise with the count hitting is very helpful. On a side note, one of my parents from our house team sent me some action shots of my son playing. One of the photos is of him getting the game winning hit about 5 games ago. His swing looks good to me if I can just keep his confidence up.

Thank You,
Joe

Answer
Joe:  Thank you for the update.  

It sounds like he is starting to turn things around.  It is a process, one that in actuality is never complete.  As you watch MLB games, you can see players every night who go to the plate without a plan for a particular at bat.  

Even with a plan, you don't always execute on the good strike you get.  That's just baseball.

Your son's second at bat is a great learning opportunity.  Swinging at ball 4 had his mind spinning, and put the pitcher in the driver's seat.

Ultimately, as kids get older, they need to become their own best hitting coach.  When they do, there are many less lost at bats, as they can correct on the spot.  At that point it is seldom mechanics that are the problem, most always the approach.

I am working on a page currently, about Derek Jeter's tremendous ability to focus at all times.  Part of that page looks at his splits last season.  He had 212 hits for the year, 47% ( 87 hits) came on first pitches.  That is truly taking advantage of pitchers trying to get ahead.

Robinson Cano also had over 200 hits, at 204.  He had 118 (57%) first pitch hits.  They were both in the top 10 hitters in the American League, and both in the top 20 hitters in MLB.

Productive middle infield combination for sure.  I am not a Yankee fan; but I truly am a fan of players who play the game the right way.

"Short memory" is a good term.  There is always another opportunity.  Hard for kids to master sometimes.  Once they do, the game is a lot more fun.  

Thanks again for the update.

Yours in baseball,

Rick