Drills to help shorten swing

[Richh]

My son 12, has had a continuous problem with a swing path that seems to long. Contact is not a problem but he hits almost everything to the opposite field and only makes good contact on pitches away from his body. In one game last season he hit fouled 3 pitches in a row off of his hands. I threw to him yesterday and anything on the inside half of the plate he hit off the handle of the bat.

I was told to use the fence drill and also soft toss with his hands 6 inches apart.

Any advice on drills will be appreciated.

Rich

[The Uncoach]

Fence Drill is a good starting point. Also, rest bat on outside portion of deltoid with hands right at/underneath armpit. The hands/bat should remain in same location until hips turn. Hands can now "go to work" out front. This can be done in slow mo without the need for a baseball, too.

[Richh]

Thanks, the "out front" seems to make sense. The coaches are always telling him to start earlier with his swing - the ball gets to deep over the plate.

[songtitle]

The coaches are always telling him to start earlier with his swing - the ball gets to deep over the plate.

This usually means he begins his stride too late. Is he striding on every pitch? Not just strikes?

[Richh]

This usually means he begins his stride too late. Is he striding on every pitch? Not just strikes?

He strides on every pitch, it's a very short step. He's a big kid (5'8" 170lbs turned 12 last week).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN0qq...tsdeRzIR2KIq4=

Lousy youtube video from last fall.

[songtitle]

One pitch, he never moved. On another, he moved, but he didn't coil or anything. He didn't seem ready to swing.

Look at the advice I gave redsfan re coil/stride.

[Richh]

Thanks, I'll try to get a better video one night this week.

[StanTheMan]

I use the "belly button" as a visual cue for my young players... But it works for everybody. Where is the old BB pointing at contact? Probably rotating too late and it's off in right field somewhere or even pointing foul? Get that BB moving!!

(Is it snack time yet?)

[songtitle]

(Is it snack time yet?)

Hey, that works for old guys too. I'm hungry.

[Dirtberry]

Richh

“My son 12, has had a continuous problem with a swing path that seems to long.”

Tell him to keep his arm posture together before he starts turning the corner and after he loads.

“Contact is not a problem but he hits almost everything to the opposite field and only makes good contact on pitches away from his body. “

Always diagnose the pitch before you diagnose the swing?

“In one game last season he hit fouled 3 pitches in a row off of his hands. I threw to him yesterday and anything on the inside half of the plate he hit off the handle of the bat.”

Sit right in front of him (pitchers vector) and perform soft toss to him inside with the net turned to the pull side. This seems dangerous but it is not unless he steps open. This is how I get youth batters and up to feel pull technique and it works well.

”I was told to use the fence drill and also soft toss with his hands 6 inches apart.”

Do not do the traditional fence drill with the fence sitting across at the opposite side batters box. Perform the fence drill with the fence at the back and close. Tell him to not hit the fence or net. This will allow him to feel compact at the beginning of his acceleration and corner turn.

Hands 6 inches apart is a great one that is seldom used, I use it all the time to get kids to feel top hand force coupling against the lead hand with the wrists.

Look up “the batters press” here at BF, this drill is sheer magic.
http://www.baseball-fever.com/showth...+indoor+drills

[JF/NEOH]

Good posts by ST & Dirt. Stride b4 you decide. Make sure he strides on eery pitch & on time.

The fence drill as prescribed by Dirt is perfect for helping a player ingrain a shorter swing. I have had good success by using a pvc pipe about 6 feet long set into a batting tee that makes it into a 6' high post. I place the tee on the inside half of the plate an inch or so rearward of the back foot. Promotes inside track of the inital swing path, forces swing path forward "sooner" when it stops the player from dumping the barrel. Placement of the "post" is the key & is soemthing you'll need to work with to figure out......it will come very quickly.

But given ST's post, I am not sure if he is long to the ball or just late.

[Baseball Brains]

All the swing advice here is great, I would start out with the stride part of it though. In particular, make sure he's getting his front heel down before his weight starts coming forward for his swing. So many players stride and swing all at the same time. If that front heal is firmly planted, the swing can be much quicker and stronger because the base is solid. Just hit off a tee for awhile, working on planting that front foot and then swinging. Plant front heal, pause, quick swing. Feel that thing planting solidly. I've seen this be a cure for many long swings.

[Richh]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I'll try to get a better video tonight. It may just be from me doing one handed soft toss and videoing with the other.

[High Cheez]

RichhLook up “the batters press” here at BF, this drill is sheer magic.
http://www.baseball-fever.com/showth...+indoor+drills

Do you have a video or diagram demonstrating the batters press drill? Thanks.