Drill Advice for making contact in games

[Elvis65]

Hello all,

Here is the situation: my 10 year old son has really had a hard time at the plate this spring. He plays for two teams and has had plenty of practice...In previous years he has had no problem hitting, in fact he made contact very easily while hitting the ball hard. It didn't matter the pitch, he would make contact and hit for power and average..

This year has been a different story...During practice he hits everything off of the tee along with regular batting practice. In the coach pitch batting cages, he crushes the ball. But when it comes to the game, he has not been making contact. He has gone from rarely striking out to striking out 1-2 times per game. In speaking with other coaches, his swing is one of the best they have seen. He is very quick with his swing and at times is ahead of the ball. We have worked on having him "wait" on the pitch but he is still having trouble making contact with the ball. Yet in the cages he hits every pitch you throw him, fastball/changeup...

It has become very frustrating for him since he has been successful in the past. Just looking for some advice/drills that can be done to assist here.

Thank you for your time

[johnlanza]

I certainly don't want to over-simplify, but maybe get his eyes checked.

[bbrages]

I don't have any experience at this age, but maybe what he doesn't need is another drill. Maybe the problem is mental, not mechanical. Maybe he needs to relax and not try to do too much at the plate.

Did he recently get acquired by the LA Angels on a ten-year-contract? :clown:

This sounds like a typical slump; battling through this will probably be a good experience in the long term...

[songtitle]

Have him try to do a 1 count, or 2 count after the pitcher releases the ball, before he begins his stride.

BTW, the few kids that I know that did this in youth ball turned out to be really good HS hitters. So, be patient.

[milesnoland]

Sounds like he will do better as he gets older and faces faster pitchers. Since is probably early on everything in the game I would tell him to look for a changeup. Since his bat is so quick looking for a changeup will allow him to relax and he will probably be right on time with a fastball.

In the cage you could have him practice on hitting the ball in the first base dugout (if he hits right handed), just for him to get the feeling of letting the ball get very deep.
Miles
www.iybca.org

[tradosaurus]

+1 for getting eyes checked. That way you can rule it out if it's not the problem.

[Standballdad]

I would tell him to hit the ball up the middle or to the opposite field by letting the ball get a little deeper into the strike zone.

[forensicsguy]

If he uses one, take away his batting doughnut.
Drills:
1) Bounce drill to make him wait
2) Head down for count of 2 after contact in the cages

It's likely nervous energy getting him to fire to quickly, or lifting his head to see where the ball goes.

[dominik]

have him really watch the ball. many kids just "kinda watch the ball". but this is not enough. just seeing a white blurr somewhere in the vision field is not enough. you need to really focus on the ball and only on the ball.

Ideally you want to see the seams of the ball.

A lot of pro hitters use eye drills every day.

[CoolHandLuke]

If his mechanics are sounds, it's obviously a timing issue. Make sure the person throwing live BP matches the speed that he will likely be facing in games. It sounds so basic but you'll be surprised how often this is not done correctly at lower age groups. And make sure to take into consideration the shorter distance that most BP is thrown from, ie. have to throw slower to match the "perceived" velocity of the average velocity of this opponents. Of course you can always throw from regulation distance and match game pitch velocity. Got a feeling this may fix your son's timing issue.

[JJA]

It's pretty common for a player to hit well in practice and not in the games. For whatever reason, whether it be perceived pressure, the fans in the stands, mom watching the player, etc., sometimes they simply don't do well even if they are doing well in practice.

Some of the previous suggestions are excellent. Here's another suggestion. Have a kid pitch to him in practice and see how he does. Sometimes a kid pitching versus an adult pitching makes a difference. I've definitely seen that in the past.

Most important thing is to not worry about it. Stuff like this usually passes.

-JJA

[CoolHandLuke]

Have him try to do a 1 count, or 2 count after the pitcher releases the ball, before he begins his stride.

Drills:
1) Bounce drill to make him wait
2) Head down for count of 2 after contact in the cages

If he currently has good swing mechanics, I'd avoid adding any additional ques or drills that deviate from the normal trajectory of a pitched ball. I've seen the bounce drill do some funky things to swings. The purpose of that drill to help batters adjust from fastball to offspeed. That's not the problem with your son, he has a general timing issue. Just slow down his BP pitch speed and let him self-adjust to the speed without any changes to his swing mechanics.

[Coach C]

A possible....I've had a few players that could not mentally handle batting in the top 4 spots.
I've been successful in starting them lower in the order and moving them up a spot every few games.

[Elvis65]

To all,

I appreciate all of the responses. He had tee drills tonight. We used wiffle balls with numbers on them for soft toss, he had to call out the numbers while hitting...Then we did some change up drills which required him to step and "wait for the ball"...He did real well with both drills...We did notice a slight drop of the hands on some swings and a slight turn of the head when swinging. The consensus was that he needs to focus more on the ball coming in, not look away at the last second... But as always, he hit the ball hard....

On Saturday we will do some coach/player pitch and go from there while still doing drills. We are also working with him to try and hit to right/center while maintaining his swing and balance also..
I will try to videotape his swing this weekend..Once again, thank you for all of your replies/tips. Any additional advice is appreciated...

[johnlanza]

have him really watch the ball. many kids just "kinda watch the ball". but this is not enough. just seeing a white blurr somewhere in the vision field is not enough. you need to really focus on the ball and only on the ball.

Ideally you want to see the seams of the ball.

We've done exactly what you mentioned as far as watching the seams of the ball. Throw two seamers and four seamers just while playing catch. Let them see the difference between the two. Next, throw them the ball and have them call out which type was thrown. Then they can work on calling out the type of pitch when they're in the batter's box.
I think it really just gives them something to think about, maybe helps them concentrate a little more. Kind of like using numbers or colored dots on wiffle balls.