Sideways spin??

[Coletrain]

I have a kid on my 8U team that hits the ball very well, but sometimes he goes thru 3 or 4 at bats where he hits weak pop ups to the right side of the IF. Everytime he does this the ball has sideways spin on it. I'm not sure if he is pulling his head out a little early or not hitting thru the ball. We hit off a machine, so he not getting fooled by the pitch or anything. Any thoughts on this? I hope I explained it the right way!

[Swing2Hit]

I would say there is a good chance that his timing is a little late. He is stiking the ball early in his swing allowing the ball to travel too far. It is an easy fix but don't overdo it by requiring him to pull everything. Just have him start his sequencing sooner and it should take care of itself. Allow him to experiment with when he starts in an effort to demonstrate the difference. He will pick it up quickly.

[songtitle]

His bat head is obviously behind his hands at contact.

This could be timing (stride), throwing his hands too soon, back elbow not sticking to his hip, or ???.

[CircleChange11]

I have a kid on my 8U team that hits the ball very well, but sometimes he goes thru 3 or 4 at bats where he hits weak pop ups to the right side of the IF. Everytime he does this the ball has sideways spin on it. I'm not sure if he is pulling his head out a little early or not hitting thru the ball. We hit off a machine, so he not getting fooled by the pitch or anything. Any thoughts on this? I hope I explained it the right way!

My son gets in spurts where he does this.

It's "spinning" rather than rotating.

At follow through he ends up with both feet pointed toward the pitcher or be off balance toward 3rd. Often times he will also "T-Rex" which is bringing the arms too close to the body and short swinging, often with a short one-handed follow through.

IMHO, this occurs because the batter is misunderstanding exactly what to do when "rotating" or they are trying to take a short cut to having quick batspeed or making good contact on a fast pitcher.

We're to the point now where I can just say "spinning" and he knows that he needs to keep his front side closed.

[Roothog66]

My son gets in spurts where he does this.

It's "spinning" rather than rotating.

At follow through he ends up with both feet pointed toward the pitcher or be off balance toward 3rd. Often times he will also "T-Rex" which is bringing the arms too close to the body and short swinging, often with a short one-handed follow through.

IMHO, this occurs because the batter is misunderstanding exactly what to do when "rotating" or they are trying to take a short cut to having quick batspeed or making good contact on a fast pitcher.

We're to the point now where I can just say "spinning" and he knows that he needs to keep his front side closed.

More than likely, he's late to the ball and making contact while his hands are well in front of the barrel before the wrist whips the barrel forward. I would try to get him to hit the ball out front. Often I'll tell a kid like this to really get around and try to pull it down the line, which results in something harder up the middle.

[CircleChange11]

More than likely, he's late to the ball and making contact while his hands are well in front of the barrel before the wrist whips the barrel forward. I would try to get him to hit the ball out front. Often I'll tell a kid like this to really get around and try to pull it down the line, which results in something harder up the middle.

At this point he's essentially all pull with some center. IMO, he gets so focused on looking for a specific pitch that sometimes he'll get a good pitch that wasn't THE pitch, and think "oh crap, that's worth swinging at" and he "just misses it". Perhaps it is the follow through that gives the appearance of "pulling off".

To be honest, after getting throw out at 1B from CF on a rocket one-hopper, I don't think he'll even consider hitting to the opposite field. *grin*

[dominik]

late, slicing the ball. needs to get the bathead out quicker.

[Roothog66]

At this point he's essentially all pull with some center. IMO, he gets so focused on looking for a specific pitch that sometimes he'll get a good pitch that wasn't THE pitch, and think "oh crap, that's worth swinging at" and he "just misses it". Perhaps it is the follow through that gives the appearance of "pulling off".

To be honest, after getting throw out at 1B from CF on a rocket one-hopper, I don't think he'll even consider hitting to the opposite field. *grin*

I've got the big slow kid. He used to hit rockets to the opposite field. Twice in one year at 8's he was thrown out on line drives that actually hit the right field fence on the fly. He...was...very...slow.