Switch Hitting

[tph]

My 11 year old asked me yesterday if we could work on him becoming a switch-hitter, other than tee and cage work (if that's even a good idea) I really have no idea on how to help him along. He's a good right-handed hitter and I don't want to end up messing that up. Does anyone have any tips or advice that they're willing to share?

Thanks!!!!

[USA101]

Tee Work for awhile. also tell him to do everything but write, with his left hand. Eat cereal, cut food, change the channel ect. And take a 5-10 lbs. dumbell and just have him roll his wrist down and up with both hands. Alot of power comes from when you roll your top hand over so build up that muscle.

[Kaizen]

Teach him the same method as right-handed. Start with tee work, then add soft toss, then regular BP, then game at-bats. You just have to put the time in, there's no shortcuts. And I would NOT roll the top hand over during the swing.

[Switch Pitcher Coach]

My son in also 11 years old and is a switch hitter. He hits 120 km. pitches in a batting cage and makes contact with 80-85% of the machine's throws. The main purpose to start switch hitting (and switch pitching for that mater) is to properly develop the body. The historic level of injuries in baseball must have solutions. Baseball over develops certain muscle, not always on one side of the body ( but usually). The other side of the upper body gets neglected. So think of it as helping avoid injuries even with his right bat, not only making him more appealing to his future prospects. I used "Zit-N-hit." First no movement on the ball, then some movement and then started sending lots of movement. When a boy switch hits he can work longer and hard as he simply switches sides when he starts to feel tired on the one side. My boy's right side got better when he started to switch hit, because he had full back and arm development. Do you know of the Zip-N-Hit?