Little League Hitting and Fielding questions

Question
Both my boys, ages 8 and 6 are playing in their first non tee ball league this year and with most kids, there are some issues with their basic mechanics.  First the 8 year old.  He is pretty solid in the field.  Good glove, good arm and seems to have naturally good throwing mechanics.  The problem is the hitting.  When the ball is coming at him, he has already developed the bad habit of rotating the hips and bat away from the ball while it is travelling towards the plate thus causing him to be late almost every swing, being very off balance and when he does make contact a vast majority of the balls that he hits go straight in the air.  I had the same problem and it went unnoticed until I tried out for my high school team at which point after 2 swings, the coach sent me on the fence drill and started hitting off a tee.  That worked for me at age 14 and I went on to be a 4 year varsity starter and a 2 time NCAA Academic All American out fielder. I have tried the fence drill and hitting off a tee and he gets that yet when a ball is pitched to him, he goes right back to old habits.  Any suggestions?  It is frustrating for him which makes me frustrated and I know once he shortens up his swing and stops trying to generate the excess bat speed, baseball life will be so much easier.  Just as an FYI, he is 4'7" and weighs 94 pounds if that makes a difference.
My other son, who is 6 and significantly smaller than his older brother, is a naturally good hitter (when he pays attention to the game as opposed to the crowds) but in the field has the following bad habits: 1) He closes his eyes when the ball is coming to him in the air 2) He backs up from every ball that hit to him or thrown at him that is not on the ground 3) Always tries to field a ball thrown at him with the basket catch method no matter where it is in relationship to his body and 4) Has overall poor throwing mechanics.  I can't even describe the way he throws.  If there is some way I can send a short video of him throwing that would be the only way it would be accurate.  Any ideas on how to coach him out of those bad habits?  Thank you so much in advance.  It means a lot to them and me.

Answer
Chris:  Let's start with your 8 yr. old.

It sounds like he may be striding to hit, rather than stride, then hit.

See if you can get him to focus on picking the ball up at the pitchers release point, and striding on line, early and slow.  His front foot should be down, his hands loaded back before the ball gets halfway to the plate.  When he does swing, see if you can get him to take the knob of the bat to the ball, top hand to the pitcher.  That will get him to flatten out some, keeping the bat in the hitting zone longer.  The big thing is striding on line, right back at the pitcher, which keeps his front side closed.

Best way is to start throwing to him yourself.  It takes a lot of positive reps to change a habit, so hang in there.

While he is working on making this change, in live at bats in games he will undoubtedly revert back to his old way.  When he steps away it causes his hands to drop, which drops his bat head, causing him to hit the bottom half of the ball and pop it up.

On my website, www.theoleballgame.com, I have pages on advanced hitting and hitting for rookies, as well as additional hitting information you may find useful.

We find in the Diamondbacks camps that 6 year olds do have trouble focusing any length of time.  It comes with the package.

It sounds like your 6 year old is possibly afraid of getting hit with the ball in the field, which is very common.  If you look on my website, there is a section on rookie throwing, advanced throwing, and a section unto itself on ways to work through the fear of getting hit.

Most all 6 year olds we have in our camps want to catch as you have described, which then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.  If he tries to catch that ball coming at him above his waist, with his pinkies together, when it hits his glove, the glove becomes a ramp directing the ball right at his face.

There are rules of thumb for receiving on my site; but essentially they are:

1.  Ball below the waist, pinkies together

2.  Ball above the waist, thumbs together

Once they are able to get that to happen, their confidence begins to grow and their concerns diminish.

There is also a rhyme on the site to get their arm on the right path so that they are throwing over the top, accurately with some velocity.

Thumb to thigh
Knuckles to the sky
Point your glove
Let it fly.

It works great for getting them to remember the steps.  They can stop at each step and check themselves and make corrections as needed.

This also takes a great deal of time, but is well worth the effort.  Not only will it get them throwing better; but it is easier on their arm.  Their throwing right now is minimal; but increases with each year and level.  The right approach can help keep their arm healthy.

My guess is with your 6 yr. old that he currently does the following:

1.  Steps off line with his front foot ~ This works with throwing the same as it does with hitting, causing his elbow to drop and the ball to come out the side of his hand.  They will even step on line, then rotate the ball to the front, which also drops their elbow with the same result.

When they are throwing that way, often times they complain that their elbow hurts.

If you try throwing that way, you can feel the strain in the elbow.

I have also had many kids who will wrap the ball back behind their head, in an attempt to generate power.  The ball comes out the side and if they step off line also, it can be quite a sight to behold.  Fortunately, all very correctable and a rewarding process to watch happen.

Good luck as you move forward.  I hope you can locate some ideas to make the changes for them.  Enjoy the trip.  It is a great time in their life and yours.

Yours in baseball,

Rick