9 Year Old Swing Evaluation

[TG Coach]

I know this much, the 4th/5th grade field they practice on are 180 on the LF/RF lines and 200 straight Center.

When a ball is hit twenty feet over the fence it's way over the fence. Many times I've been told balls were hit 250 that I saw go 220. Then there's all the pitchers I've been told about throwing 90. They threw 90 until I saw them pitch. Regardless, your son has a nice swing for his age.

[Jesse]

I think what he is more accurately trying to describe is that a hitter's weight (body) is not over his front foot - his weight (body) is centered between the feet.
Now, obviously, the majority of your weight must be on the front leg, otherwise your body would just keeping right on moving [forward], as there would be nothing pushing back against it to stop it (as well as there would be no way a hitter could "lift his back foot" and remain "standing").

If that's what he's trying to describe, then he needs to change his wording. What he's describing is something completely different from your (correct) interpretation. It sounds to me like he's talking about keeping the weight on the back foot during the swing (aka squish the bug, "plant that back foot and spin on it", etc.), which is a very common teach. I hear it every day in rec ball. It constantly amazes me, because if you study the best hitters on every team (even at the 7-8 yo level), almost all of them have good weight shift with nary a bug squisher to be found.

[StraightGrain11]

Nate, I checked out your article - what do you mean by the following?

All the MLB swing clips I've seen clearly show the weight on the front foot on contact. Are you advocating against this?

I think what he is more accurately trying to describe is that a hitter's weight (body) is not over his front foot - his weight (body) is centered between the feet.
Now, obviously, the majority of your weight must be on the front leg, otherwise your body would just keeping right on moving [forward], as there would be nothing pushing back against it to stop it (as well as there would be no way a hitter could "lift his back foot" and remain "standing").

[Jesse]

Here are a few more:

[Jesse]

Here are a few examples:

[callyjr]

Nate, I checked out your article - what do you mean by the following?

All the MLB swing clips I've seen clearly show the weight on the front foot on contact. Are you advocating against this?

Not sure who your watching but the weight is not on the front at contact.

[Jesse]

Nate, I checked out your article - what do you mean by the following?

This alignment shows that balance is retained and no weight has shifted forward onto the front foot (more of a linear style).

All the MLB swing clips I've seen clearly show the weight on the front foot on contact. Are you advocating against this?

[Nater44]

This kid is not hitting 200 let alone 250. sorry. I don't care how thin the air is. Not even with a perfect swing is this kid gonna hit 250 right now. He is not big enough or strong enough. I have a 9yr old right now on our team that is the strongest 9yr old I have ever seen, he still has yet to reach 200 and his swing is pretty good. He hit close to 200, about 195 but still tey to get 200.

Maybe dad could walk it off for us.

I think maybe the topic of conversation has since moved away from the original question. Or, should I say, from evidence we can SEE and evaluate (the video) to information we cannot see and have a hard time evaluating (the 250ft hr).

You asked for some thoughts on your son's mechanics. There was an early comment about getting proper preparation, or load. It was a great comment and will help your son with his timing and how rushed he seems as he swings. Not only with this load process help with time and relaxation, it will help his power and consistency, especially as he begins to see more offspeed type pitches.

Here is some more information you may find helpful in understanding the early part of the baseball swing:

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Baseball-Swing----Rotational-Hitting-Explained&id=1192524

[fredbio]

If that 9 year old is hitting the ball 250 feet in the air they better give that kid a blood test.Of course there is one way to prove it.All you have to do is video tape his practice and show us one of the 10 balls that are going over the 200 foot fence.

[Baseball gLove]

Wow. 250 feet. How big is your son? My son swings roughly the same size bat.

[Sooner Rob]

I have never seen a nine or ten year old hit a ball 250 feet in the air. I have caught a five foot bass though. Your son has a nice swing for his age.

Ha! Well I guess it is a fish story until proven otherwise. I know this much, the 4th/5th grade field they practice on are 180 on the LF/RF lines and 200 straight Center. These were the game field until this year when we got brand new fields that were build to USSSA spec for tournaments. The (now) practice fields are marked and I even crudely measured them once by counting up the lengths between the side fence posts that are spaced exactly 8' apart. That was my only reference point relating to the other field. He has hit it over the CF and LF fence in practice 8 - 10 times. In the game he hit it further than that, so it was definitely more than 200 (seemed like a lot more) and less than 300 because that was the mark on the bigger field. I'll work with him on the suggestions tomorrow night and post some more video up as follow up. Thanks to all.

[TG Coach]

I have never seen a nine or ten year old hit a ball 250 feet in the air. I have caught a five foot bass though. Your son has a nice swing for his age.

[randy]

Looks like a good swing-very quick hands. Tell him to trust his quickness-try to let the ball get so deep that he will be late. My 12 yo has the same problem occasionally, and he has yet to find someone who can throw it by him, even a couple of big early-puberty kids hitting 72-73. When he trusts his quickness, he times everybody pretty well-when he starts to doubt, he winds up firing too early.

[callyjr]

I have seen two 9 year olds hit the ball over our LL fence that is 200 ft. They probably went 210 - 220 feet in the air. By the looks of that swing 250 ft. seems to be unrealistic..............but you never know.

This kid is not hitting 200 let alone 250. sorry. I don't care how thin the air is. Not even with a perfect swing is this kid gonna hit 250 right now. He is not big enough or strong enough. I have a 9yr old right now on our team that is the strongest 9yr old I have ever seen, he still has yet to reach 200 and his swing is pretty good. He hit close to 200, about 195 but still tey to get 200.

Maybe dad could walk it off for us.

[Stealth]

I have seen two 9 year olds hit the ball over our LL fence that is 200 ft. They probably went 210 - 220 feet in the air. By the looks of that swing 250 ft. seems to be unrealistic..............but you never know.