Request swing evaluation of this 10 year old.

[baseballdad]

I am relatively new to this site, but I have been impressed with the knowledge base and I think it is really great that many will spend time to help out people with their swing or pitching.

I would appreciate your evaluation of my son's swing and advice on improving it. He hits pretty solid in the cage, but is not making contact very well in game situations. Is there some flaws I can overcome with drills?

hitting off the tee:

http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn259/danersphotos/?action=view&current=MVI_0983.flv

front view in cage:

http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn259/danersphotos/?action=view&current=MVI_0987.flv

side view in cage: http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/n...t=MVI_0986.flv

[callyjr]

I only viewed side view. I would start by getting a couple videos of his favorite pro like Pujols and Manny ect.. Put the videos side by side with your swing and compare them. You will see a lot of differences. Once you see them we can offer a lot of help.


His weight shifts back and up(front foot) when the pitch comes so he loses his balance before he ever starts his swing he also is pulling his shoulder out before he ever moves his body or arms in the swing.. If you want a stride make it come forward not up, practice this for a few days before moving to another part of the swing. thats a start, there is ton of room for improvement. take it one step at a time.

Cally

[LAball]

He has no lower body rotation. I know guys on here dont like squish the bug, but if he did squish the bug, it would be better then what he is doing now..
my 2 cents

I also think the bat is 2 big for him. Work on technique with a small bat. when technique is good, then move up to a big bat and see if the the techinque is still there

[TG Coach]

Successful swings start from the ground up. His stance and stride need a lot of work. I agree with the previous post regarding balance, or lack of. After you've worked on stride check to see if he's still dragging the bat through the swing zone. When the back elbow gets ahead of the bat, that's bat drag.

[Jake Patterson]

I would offer the same advice as before to other dads. I would start with PCR. Posture - Connection - Rotation.
Many will argue and discuss the finer points of the swing, but most would agree this is a great place to start.
There's a bunch of information available on PCR.

[Chris O'Leary]

hitting off the tee:

http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn259/danersphotos/?action=view&current=MVI_0983.flv

front view in cage:

http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn259/danersphotos/?action=view&current=MVI_0987.flv

side view in cage: http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/n...t=MVI_0986.flv

Can you post these to YouTube so that I can go through them frame by frame?

[baseballdad]

Thanks guys. I think I am too close to the forest to see the trees on this one.

Can you give me a verbal command I can give him tonight before he plays to try and get better posture or avoid that preswing weight shift?

Can you point me to a good place to look at PCR?

I will try and post it to youtube tonight when I get home. It's not perfect, but I was going through it frame by frame by rapid hitting the pause/play button.

I found this video to compare. I see differences but where do I start to get there?? Fore example. What should I tell him about stance, and stride to get him to stop the weight shift? http://photos.imageevent.com/siggy/h...ysis/kings.gif

[TG Coach]

Can you give me a verbal command I can give him tonight before he plays to try and get better posture or avoid that pressing weight shift?

He's not going to change tonight because you learn a new command. It could also fluster him to be coached on hitting while he's trying to hit in a game. He needs reps, reps and more reps on a tee. Then he needs reps on a moving object with soft toss and front toss. Then he needs to replicate his success from a normal pitching distance.

It will take time to learn how to hit properly. Be patient. Don't make success about hits. Make success about conquering the steps in the process. If you emphasize hits and he hits with bad mechanics, he will try to stick with those mechanics. Make sure the praise in the the direction you want the results.

[baseballdad]

I'm really glad this site got me thinking about video taping his swing and aware that I can compare to videos of proper swing. That makes the differences pretty obvious.

Here you go Chris-Thanks much:

batting cage side view:

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

batting on tee:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez4R3BcAT7g

batting cage front

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xpbIGINfFY

[baseballdad]

Now on youtube too.

[baseballdad]

After googleing Posture-Connection-Rotation I came upon a nice treatise "Rotational Hitting 101" by the forum's very on Chris O'Leary. I will wait to see what he recommends but based on his article I would say I could start improving Zach's posture by getting him to move his feet further apart, bending his knees more and having him stick out his butt and bend more over the plate.

It's kinda like asking a Indy car mechanic to look at my ford but I do appreciate it!

[callyjr]

After googleing Posture-Connection-Rotation I came upon a nice treatise "Rotational Hitting 101" by the forum's very on Chris O'Leary. I will wait to see what he recommends but based on his article I would say I could start improving Zach's posture by getting him to move his feet further apart, bending his knees more and having him stick out his butt and bend more over the plate.

It's kinda like asking a Indy car mechanic to look at my ford but I do appreciate it!

thats all fine, but his first movement must be forward with the body not up. His stride should go straight to the ball as the hands and upper body start to load up. Once he can do that 50 times in a row without messing up then he can swing.

[Chris O'Leary]

I also think the bat is 2 big for him. Work on technique with a small bat. when technique is good, then move up to a big bat and see if the the techinque is still there

I agree.

How big is that bat?

I would drop a few inches until he starts hitting well.

[Chris O'Leary]

He has no lower body rotation. I know guys on here dont like squish the bug, but if he did squish the bug, it would be better then what he is doing now..

It's not quite this bad, but it's certainly not what it should be.

He needs to start with his knees bent. That will let him get his lower body in the swing.

Right now he's pretty lock-legged.

[Chris O'Leary]

I'm really glad this site got me thinking about video taping his swing and aware that I can compare to videos of proper swing. That makes the differences pretty obvious.

I think you (or whoever) need to cut back on the cues. You're making things too complicated and he's probably thinking too much.

My main cue is "swing from the hips".