9yo son's swing

[Volfanatic74]

Well, it's been a while since I posted one of my son's swings. I coached last year, his last year of coach-pitch, so I wasn't able to get much video. My wife did get some video, but there just wasn't anything I could use. Bless her heart. Anyway, here is some info: He is 9yo. the bat he is using in this clip is a 30/18. This is his 5th game of the season. This is his first year in Little League's Major League Division, 9yo-12yo. He was given the choice and opted to skip minor league.

Thoughts on his swing? Ideas/drills to correct anything you see him doing wrong for his age?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VggaJZoTa0&feature=channel&list=UL

Thanks for watching!!

[pthawaii]

I'm no expert, but at the very least you'll get a bump and hopefully some of the more expert coaches will chime in.

I like how he attacks the ball. Rotates his hips and gets onto that front leg. Does a nice job keeping his head straight to contact.

Probably the thing that jumps out the most is the bat drag and keeping the back elbow at the back hip. I've heard you can get away with it in youth league but as you get older, it will catch up with you. Not sure how much to worry about it at age 9. The other thing is his contact down through the ball and low finish. Maybe that was just the ball deflecting the bat, I dunno.

I'd work on him hitting the ball deeper in the strike zone, not so much out in front, so that his back elbow is closer to his rear hip at contact.

[tcvander]

I like how he has no weight on his back foot at POC, great job there; not really squishing the bug. One thing I would suggest is to shorten his stride, he's almost lunging at the pitch and looks to be losing some power because of that.

[dominik]

I like how he rotates his hips and spine and also how he gets off the backside but not too early.

his hands probably need a little work. right now he is pulling with his back arm (bat drag) and throwing the hands forward. he should keep his hands back and throw/turn the barrel from there. you want to be more connected and accelerate the barrel deep (at or even behind back shoulder) instead of pushing out front. but the lower body is really a nice start maybe could be even better if he coiled a little more back as he goes forward (not before!).

[Volfanatic74]

What is the best way to go about getting his elbow to stay at/near the rear hip?

PT, I have noticed his barrel path too. I'm not sure if he has the strength to power through the ball, causing the barrel to deflect. Sometimes he will finish in a nice high position,sometimes not??

[CircleChange11]

Keep in mind we're talking about a 9yo kid, and 9yo's won't just swing like mini versions of major league players.

Here's what I would work on improving.

1. His hand action. His hands start above the shoulder, laying the back flat. When he starts his timing mechanism his hands simply raise and lower the bat into position ... but they never go back, nor does he tip the bat.

The easiest thing to do is just stop laying the bat flat in your pre-pitch setup. Batters don;t have to go all Julio Franco and point the bat right at the pitcher, but IMO it's easier to get a good swing path by starting with the hands back around the shoulder and the bat barrel. being just over or beside the helmet (knob pointing at catcher's feet as they say).

2. Swing path - His swing path starts high and his finish is at his waist and/or slightly below. I'm not one that believes everyone has to have true C-path swing, but it does need to have some c-path aspect to it. In other words, the hands should start at the shoulder, the hand should turn the barrel and the swing should finish high at or above shoulder height (IMO).

I assume at this age, you're wanting to help him develop a swing that will consistently produce at the higher levels. So, that is what I would improve. IMO, his current swing will produce a lot of ground balls as he moves through the next ranks. He hits the ball in the air in the video because he hit the underside of a waist high pitch.

You want him to be able to hit various types of pitches on a line and in the air, and that's a result of swing path and quality striking. Distance will be determined by force (strength; power).

Again, we're keeping in mind that he's 9yo. Mine is 10yo, and he's lived and talked baseball his whole life as a coach's kid ... and I even see him get overwhelmed with all that can be thought about. So, I would take it little by little, and not rush to the backyard this afternoon telling him "We have to change your swing immediately). But, IMO, the longer it goes as is, the harder it will be to change and on the bigger fields, he'll want to be hitting the ball over the infield consistently.

If you do work on the swing, once the game starts, tell him that you've worked on all you can. In the game is not the time to be thinking of mechanics and tweaks. It's time to see the ball, and hit the ball.

[Volfanatic74]

Thanks for the input guys. I have shown him the video so he understands what we can work on. When I pitch to him, he seems to have a higher finish. Could this be a timing issue? Or maybe the comfort of knowing I probably won't hit him? We are also working on his bat position when he gets in the box. Anything else? Anybody?

[songtitle]

At toe touch his shoulders are upside down.