Always Late!!!

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Nov 2, 2015
192
16
Help! I've got a girl on my team (8U - Machine pitch) that has a great swing for a 7 year-old. A few things to work on mechanically, but better than 8 of the other 10 girls on the team. Hitting off a tee, she crushes the ball!

If I pitch to her, she'll be super late, and when she hits it, it's down 1st base-line.
Turn the machine on, and she has 0 percent chance of hitting it, she's so late.

I don't think I can say "earlier" any more. We've been working on getting our hands back during the load, and trying to use that as a trigger. When we do tee work or soft-toss, I make sure she's hitting the ball out-front....

I'm at a loss here, and don't know how to get her to swing sooner.

Any ideas from the brain-trust?????
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
It sounds like you are pretty early on this....

I would tell her anything hit to the right of 2nd does not count, foul ball.

You will need to fix it latter but I would start there. Let her figure it out or ask for help.
 
Last edited:
Nov 2, 2015
192
16
Swing early is not a good queue, start your swing early is good, start swing on every pitch is better.

True. I've told her "you have to start your swing earlier," "hit the ball out on in front of you", "don't let the ball get to you", "hit it straight to me (when pitching)". What I'm afraid of is that there's not much I can do, until she makes the realization that she does have to start her swing earlier.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
I am big on leaving the young ones more or less alone and letting them figure it out with reps.

Back to my 1st post, anything right of 2nd is foul.
 
Sep 29, 2008
1,401
63
Northeast Ohio
One of the main things that can cause this is bat drag. If this is the case timing cues will be of no benefit. Here is a link to Chris Oleary's bat drag page. It will help you identify if this is an issue.

Bat Drag 101
 

Tom

Mar 13, 2014
222
0
Texas
I would suggest to her parents that they have her eyes checked before you spend too much time trying to fix timing when it may just be a symptom of the problem. Not just by a pediatrician, but by an optometrist (sports optometrist even better if you are in area that has one). At seven & growing quickly, her monocular and binocular depth perception may not be in sync eye to eye. Especially if she is not turning her head with ball flight. If this is the case her eyes will be telling her ball is farther (or closer) than where it actually is. Is she on plane when she swings late? If so, good indication that her depth perception may still be developing. If not, may be general vision and at 7 she's just not fast enough yet to catch up to pitch that she sees late. A crude test of this is to soft toss her a few balls with one eye closed then the other then both open. If she can time swing with either closed and then not with both open she may also have an eye that is much more dominant. Not sure if this is something that can corrected with glasses or have to wait for normal growth/development to occur, but at least you can help her adjust stance, head and box positioning to get better perception if it is the case, then work on timing from there.

Here is a very elementary online depth perception test
Online Depth Perception Test
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Another possibility is her mental approach. If she's waiting to start her swing process until after she judges the location of the pitch, she might simply not have enough time to get the bat around to contact. A hitter should be expecting to swing the bat on EVERY pitch, and get their swing process started early enough to make a good swing. Once they recognize that it's not a pitch to hit, only then do they stop the process. This approach becomes increasingly important as she faces more and more challenging pitching.

Also...How is her vision? I've seen coaches and parents chase "fixes" with mechanics and different bats only to find that a pair of glasses allowed her to actually see the ball properly. EDIT: (Oops - Tom beat me to it.)
 
Nov 2, 2015
192
16
Tom and Eric, she wears glasses and I actually brought that up with her dad the other day. He said she was tested about a year ago, and has been fine otherwise with them.

Another note, is that she loves playing catcher, and is one of 2-3 girls that can actually catch the ball when it's coming in. That makes me worry a little less about the vision issue, but it still could be the case, as she's squared with the ball while catching.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Tom and Eric, she wears glasses and I actually brought that up with her dad the other day. He said she was tested about a year ago, and has been fine otherwise with them.

Another note, is that she loves playing catcher, and is one of 2-3 girls that can actually catch the ball when it's coming in. That makes me worry a little less about the vision issue, but it still could be the case, as she's squared with the ball while catching.

Good that you looked into the vision issue. It's just one of the possibilities that can seriously affect hitting ability.
 

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