Question(PLEASE NOTE - You are the second expert I am submitting this same question to just in case one of you folks are too busy to reply now.) We live in Southern California and are playing in an AA Division (7 - 10 year olds) little league. We just completed our 7th game out of 19 and are 4 and 3. This division is when the kids start pitching to each other. So far this spring season, my son has been walked 10 times and is 2 for 8 with a single and a triple. His 6 outs were all caught-looking strike outs. My son is obviously extremely patient at the plate and usually only swings at pretty good pitches. For an 8-year old, he has good size at 84 lbs. and this is his 4th year in little league. His manager picked him for the team because he has hit the ball fairly well in the past when the league used the pitching machines. He does very well at the batting cages with a 40 mph machine and is beginning to almost always make contact while hitting more and more line drives and some home run type hits. The coaches have told me that learning patience at the plate is a very good thing at this age but he must learn to be more aggressive. We are using the book, "Teach Your Kids Bean's About Baseball" by Kenneth Bean to learn the fundamentals of baseball/hitting and my son has adapted to the techniques being taught fairly well so he "looks" like a hitter at the plate. He now seems to be just too tentative when he has 2 strikes on him which I am trying to get advice on how to break this paralysis. I do believe that he has not yet mastered the mental part of being able to see the pitch coming and being able to get his bat on the ball which I believe will eventually come when he finally "gets it," similar to when a child first learns how to balance on a bicycle which seems to be a good analogy. The coaches keep telling him he must protect the plate with 2 strikes but he feels (by his actions or lack of actions) that a close pitch will be called a ball which is obviously not the case especially when they end up being right over the plate. Am I being too impatient in not just letting him take his time to figure it out? I tend to think that if he can begin to master these types of skills when he is still young, it will help him later on in his future baseball playing days for as long as he likes the game and is having fun. Thank you very much in advance for your advice and instruction!
Answerhi steve
when teaching a young player to hit, there are the mechanical issues of the swing and then the mental issues. how many kids never get the mental issues? i believe many don't ever learn what they should be thinking.
your son has a good eye. he understands what he is looking for. but on 2 strikes he needs to have a different mindset.
when i have batting practice for my players we have 2 parts. the first part our hitter looks in or away. he tells his partner what he is looking for. if the pitch comes into that area he swings and if not, he takes. during this part of batting practice we will look in and then we will look away. but we can not ever cover both sides of the plate on the same pitch. (covering both sides on the same pitch is nothing more than 2 strike hitting). after this first round of hitting we will take a second round. this round is all about 2 strike hitting. our approach here is much more protective of the entire plate. we are almost like hockey goalies that will not let the ball over the plate get back to the catcher without a swing.
this approach has really seemed to help our hitters and teach the kids the different thought process that needs to happen when the hitter gets 2 strikes. prior to 2 strikes the hitter is looking for a pitch either in our out. and if he gets it, he is all over it. he has a simple plan. but when 2 strikes come, he changes the mindset.
allowing the player to learn this in batting practice by changing the batting practice is where it starts.
hope this helps. if you have questions, just email or call. by the way, enjoy the time with your son--it goes way too fast!!
steve
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314 531-0330 ext 133
