Hitting Advice - 7 y/o

[heretolearn]

Here are a few clips of my 7 y/0 hitting in yesterdays games. Please share your thoughts and constructive criticism. Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9c6a...1&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuZto...2&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1idZ...lcp&playnext=1

[Baseball gLove]

Kind of hard to see but it looks like the kid has a nice short swing. Looks like he has no fear of the ball. Would like to see more legs and a load, but that will come. The older guy sucks... The younger lefty in the same series has a damn good swing.

[heretolearn]

Kind of hard to see but it looks like the kid has a nice short swing. Looks like he has no fear of the ball. Would like to see more legs and a load, but that will come. The older guy sucks... The younger lefty in the same series has a damn good swing.

Thank you for the feedback. We have been working on getting his hips more involved so I agree that more work is still to come. I tried working on the load but thought I would leave that alone until he gets more comfortable with the hip rotation that I'm looking for.

Yeah, their old man ain't worth much.

By "young lefty" are you referring to Daniel's videos? It looks to me like he is casting and I'm trying to work on him keeping his back elbow connected to his hips when the rotation starts as he has a tendency to swing with his arms. I do really like the agression he plays with though and how he reallys want to kill the ball.

[Baseball gLove]

Thank you for the feedback. We have been working on getting his hips more involved so I agree that more work is still to come. I tried working on the load but thought I would leave that alone until he gets more comfortable with the hip rotation that I'm looking for.

Yeah, their old man ain't worth much.

By "young lefty" are you referring to Daniel's videos? It looks to me like he is casting and I'm trying to work on him keeping his back elbow connected to his hips when the rotation starts as he has a tendency to swing with his arms. I do really like the agression he plays with though and how he reallys want to kill the ball.

Here is my Daniel as an 8U. He was swinging a 29-19.5 Omaha. He is now 12U. He hit a HR over 240 ft in the fall and hit a couple off the fence at the same spot in the past 2 games. I joke that he needs to do more push ups.

[azmatsfan]

Thank you for the feedback. We have been working on getting his hips more involved so I agree that more work is still to come. I tried working on the load but thought I would leave that alone until he gets more comfortable with the hip rotation that I'm looking for.

His swing looks really good for his age. I think you just gave yourself the best advise. If he's still learning to use his hips to power the swing and he's having success (which it appears he is based on the video), I'd leave him alone and just remind him to keep rotating those hips. One thing I've learned from working with my three boys is that it's a marathon, not a sprint. You don't need to work on every aspect of the swing at once, or expect them to have a perfect swing at age 7 (or 10, or 12). Keep up the good work and good luck.

[tradosaurus]

Here are a few clips of my 7 y/0 hitting in yesterdays games. Please share your thoughts and constructive criticism. Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9c6a...1&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuZto...2&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1idZ...lcp&playnext=1

He looks really good for a 7 yo. Very calm before the pitch and then explodes his hips into the pitch. He seems to look for his pitch to hit.
My advice would be not to mess with his swing at this age and keep the positive reinforcement going.

[heretolearn]

His swing looks really good for his age. I think you just gave yourself the best advise. If he's still learning to use his hips to power the swing and he's having success (which it appears he is based on the video), I'd leave him alone and just remind him to keep rotating those hips. One thing I've learned from working with my three boys is that it's a marathon, not a sprint. You don't need to work on every aspect of the swing at once, or expect them to have a perfect swing at age 7 (or 10, or 12). Keep up the good work and good luck.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree in regard to it being a marathon. I have to keep reminding myself he has many years of practice ahead of him before he even gets to HS so calm down.

He looks really good for a 7 yo. Very calm before the pitch and then explodes his hips into the pitch. He seems to look for his pitch to hit.
My advice would be not to mess with his swing at this age and keep the positive reinforcement going.

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. When you say he "explodes his hips into the pitch", what are you seeing? I think he uses his hips fairly well and in slow motion I can see the weight come off his back foot, but I also don't think he is fully rotating the hips either. Perhaps i'm being too technical for a 7 y/o and he has made some improvements so I'm pleased with that.

[heretolearn]

Here is my Daniel as an 8U. He was swinging a 29-19.5 Omaha. He is now 12U. He hit a HR over 240 ft in the fall and hit a couple off the fence at the same spot in the past 2 games. I joke that he needs to do more push ups.

Good looking swing!

[tradosaurus]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree in regard to it being a marathon. I have to keep reminding myself he has many years of practice ahead of him before he even gets to HS so calm down.



Thank you, I appreciate the feedback. When you say he "explodes his hips into the pitch", what are you seeing? I think he uses his hips fairly well and in slow motion I can see the weight come off his back foot, but I also don't think he is fully rotating the hips either. Perhaps i'm being too technical for a 7 y/o and he has made some improvements so I'm pleased with that.

I know its hard but please be patient. Your son has such a solid foundation for a 7 y/o. He has many more years of development physically that it will only get better. I think right now at his age it is important to keep the positive mental aspect of hitting reinforced.

[heretolearn]

I know its hard but please be patient. Your son has such a solid foundation for a 7 y/o. He has many more years of development physically that it will only get better. I think right now at his age it is important to keep the positive mental aspect of hitting reinforced.

Thank you. I need a different perspective to keep me sensible.

[Baseball gLove]

The truth is your swing looked pretty good too....

[heretolearn]

The truth is your swing looked pretty good too....

Thanks. I have wasted a lot of time trying to perfect a swing for slow pitch softball... I have learned a lot about how to use my legs better which I think will make me more able to teach that to my kids. We shall see.

[utseay]

At 7, I'd say it's a great swing.

Some things to work on if you guys get bored is 1) Hands up a little higher, maybe closer to shoulders or slightly above and 2) Looks like more weight is shifting to front leg than back.

[heretolearn]

2) Looks like more weight is shifting to front leg than back.

Can you explain this in more detail? I thought his weight was supposed to shift to the front leg/foot?

[Baseball gLove]

At 7, I'd say it's a great swing.

Some things to work on if you guys get bored is 1) Hands up a little higher, maybe closer to shoulders or slightly above and 2) Looks like more weight is shifting to front leg than back.

I see nothing wrong with his hands. You want to shift the weight to the front foot. When he gets older he will be driving off his back side just fine. Looks to me that he is in good hands right now.