14 year old swing evaluation

[ags51256]

My son is playing on his high school freshman team and has been struggling with hitting. Lots of swinging strikes and pop-ups. From reading several posts and some internet reasearch i think it could be bat lag.

He is getting so frustrated he wants to convert to hitting left handed.

Here are his swing both RH and LH. He is a natural RH hitter and has just started to swing LH.

I could not figure out how to do a frame by frame. I could repost them if I get that information.

Any help/comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgSahj8TV14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT1PpByuxek

[Mark H]

He needs to get into a good athletic posture (think dead lift), learn to rotate keeping that tilt depending on pitch location and he needs to learn to connect that effectively to the bat. Now I figure that all means greek to you and we could talk a long time and post some MLB clips synced to contact with your son but you would save a lot of talking and learning time if you spend 30 bucks for Englishbey's basic dvd so we don't have to try to bring you up to speed on some concepts and terminology on here. I don't want to ask a dad asking for help to spend money before discussing things but 30 is less than after church lunch with the family and I truly do believe it would save weeks or months "getting" this stuff. And I don't care which side swing he applies this stuff to. What general location of the country are you in?

[MSandman]

This is an all-too-familiar launch position for youth hitters:

(Thanks to BM for grabbing the other frame. I thought it might be nice to have them both together. )

I've been trying to help my 13yo son overcome this too. And w/ dry swings, he can do it. But when there's a ball to hit, he says "I just don't trust that I'll have enough power from doing so little". So instead, he stands up too straight, high leg kicks his stride, flips open his front foot and knee, and drops his rear elbow during his stride (which he has to do because of the upright posture). He lands very similarly to this at launch.

What we've been working on is:
1. Starting w/ better posture in the stance (sticking out butt, get belly button pointing more towards ground, etc.).
2. Making absolutely sure that his stride foot and knee land closed.
3. Loading the upper body as the stride foot comes forward (which he's quite comfortable doing).

And I'd add that much of the above is probably enforced greatly over at Englishbey's site. Mark's suggestion to get involved over there is wise advice.

I'll try to film this later this week and post. I personally think he really "gets it" and knows what/why we're trying to do this and he can perform these movements w/ a dry swing. But the big challenge is still trusting to do that when there's a ball to hit. Maybe this is just a matter of reps?

I suspect your son - and mine and thousands of others - might benefit from some of the same changes.

Good luck,
Sandman

[BoardMember]

He needs to get into a good athletic posture (think dead lift), learn to rotate keeping that tilt depending on pitch location and he needs to learn to connect that effectively to the bat. Now I figure that all means greek to you and we could talk a long time and post some MLB clips synced to contact with your son but you would save a lot of talking and learning time if you spend 30 bucks for Englishbey's basic dvd so we don't have to try to bring you up to speed on some concepts and terminology on here. I don't want to ask a dad asking for help to spend money before discussing things but 30 is less than after church lunch with the family and I truly do believe it would save weeks or months "getting" this stuff. And I don't care which side swing he applies this stuff to. What general location of the country are you in?

I would agree with Mark. Get an instructional DVD watch it with him.....

[TG Coach]

Why do you have the ball positioned at a level that appears to be out (high) of the strike zone?

[Chris O'Leary]

From reading several posts and some internet reasearch i think it could be bat lag.

Again, the problem is likely bat DRAG not bat lag.

[jbooth]

My son is playing on his high school freshman team and has been struggling with hitting. Lots of swinging strikes and pop-ups. From reading several posts and some internet reasearch i think it could be bat lag.

He is getting so frustrated he wants to convert to hitting left handed.

Here are his swing both RH and LH. He is a natural RH hitter and has just started to swing LH.

I could not figure out how to do a frame by frame. I could repost them if I get that information.

Any help/comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgSahj8TV14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT1PpByuxek

Why is he practicing swinging at a pitch almost out of the strike zone high?

Tee practice should be with the ball between the crotch and the belt buckle.

He's swinging and missing and popping up because he is dropping the bathead down and trying to come up at the ball. Arc the bathead down, around and up. Don't drop it and send it up at the ball. Part of the reason that it drops is due to his back elbow coming forward (bat drag.) The elbow should drop into the side from behind, and not get in front of the hip.

Watch the path of the hands and bathead in Manny's swing and note the huge difference from the young man's swing. Also, note the movement of Manny's back elbow compared to the young man's.

He's also setting up too much over his back foot like the 16-year-old in the other thread. Get the head more centered.

[Chris O'Leary]

Why is he practicing swinging at a pitch almost out of the strike zone high?

I agree.

This swing is perfectly logical for slow-pitch softball, but really not for baseball (except for maybe hitting hanging curve balls).

[LAball]

I think his wrist unhinges too soon. The wrist is already unhinged by the time the bat gets parallel to the ball vector. Also he stays upright through the swing swing and has no upper body tilt. But that may be because the ball is high.

[Mark H]

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[ags51256]

He needs to get into a good athletic posture (think dead lift), learn to rotate keeping that tilt depending on pitch location and he needs to learn to connect that effectively to the bat. Now I figure that all means greek to you and we could talk a long time and post some MLB clips synced to contact with your son but you would save a lot of talking and learning time if you spend 30 bucks for Englishbey's basic dvd so we don't have to try to bring you up to speed on some concepts and terminology on here. I don't want to ask a dad asking for help to spend money before discussing things but 30 is less than after church lunch with the family and I truly do believe it would save weeks or months "getting" this stuff. And I don't care which side swing he applies this stuff to. What general location of the country are you in?

Thanks...I'll check out the Englishbey's web site. I agree $30 is well worth it. We live in Northeastern Penna.

[ags51256]

Thanks to all

Gentleman....Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate the time it takes to read the post and to review the video.

First we are going to take the advice we receive and get back to practice both with the Solohitter (sfter lowering the ball) and live pitching.

Then I will msot likely get the Englishbey basic DVD unless someone has a better recommendation.

Lastly when ready we may re-post his swing to see if we made any headway.

By then I hope to be able to post a frame by frame video

Again...many thanks.

Ags51256

[DukeK]

Just taking a quick glance he appears to have somewhat of the same problem as the player in this thread, weight too far back over the back leg?

http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=75855

Or it may just look that way since the ball is high, like the others have said.

[Mark H]

Lastly when ready we may re-post his swing to see if we made any headway.


Ags51256

Often! And you can post it on Englishbey's site too.

[ags51256]

Again, the problem is likely bat DRAG not bat lag.

Yes...I meant bat DRAG... I read your Bat Drag 101 article and you stated that making sure the hands turn with the back shoulder is a method to solve this.

So once the circular hand path starts do you just follow with the swing? From the picture of Rose it looks like contact is made by just rotating the shoulders, I'm confused about when the hands follow through unless it is at contact with the ball.

Thanks again... Your site is very informative.