coach pitch

Question
In the town I live in my 6 year old plays coach pitch baseball. Only the way they do it is use the Louisville Slugger ultimate pitching machine or (perfect pitch) they set it at around 18- 22 mph and throw regulation T-BALLS from it. Now the problem is none of these kids really hit it very far. It seems the more advanced kids hit it very hard but it just dies. My question is we have all bought our children these super light bats when they were hitting on the tee last season could it be that because this is a soft tee ball moving very slow that a heavier bat might help. any suggestions would be app. thanks Robert

Answer
Hi Robert,

Heavier bats do give hitters more power to hit the ball further and, I do think the lighter bats may be playing a factor here.  However, I would not recommend rushing out and buying some heavier bats.  Young baseball players will outgrow equipment fast enough as they all go through growth spurts.  Instead, save your money and if you like feel free to get him a more standard bat in a couple of years.  Remember there will be plenty of time to spend money on more equipment later.  Believe me, when they get in to high school, you will end up spending good money on equipment, lessons, camps, travel teams, and training materials, but you will be better off avoiding doing this in their earlier years.  Although a more standard (heavier) bat would be slightly better for him, I would not make a change here.   

Also, do not be overly concerned about power.  Hitting power is actually the last thing to develop for most hitters.  In fact, many great power hitters did not even have a lot of home runs or home run power in the minors.  This is because it takes additional years for the body to fully develop.  I bring this up only to suggest that your kid and his teammates will be better served for the next 8 years to focus more on conventional advice like developing a faster bat and hitting line drives.  Once they get into high school, they can start weight training programs and other hitting programs to develop more hitting power.  I know of one that is excellent for this, but would of course not recommend it to anyone who is not at least in middle school.    

Hope this answer is helpful to you and wish you and your son all the best in this baseball season.

Best,
Jack Elliott
http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com