What to learn first: Hit low Pitch or high Pitch?

I think at higher levels it is probably more important to learn to hit the low pitch but for learning I think it might be best to practice hitting a high Pitch with a Level Swing and then later add Tilt to hit lower pitches.

On the others Hand once you have that flat plane it is tough for some kids to unlearn a flatten than Swing pattern. In that regard it might be better to learn the diagonal/down Pointed Barrel and path right away.

What do you think is a better Start?

Getting the popcorn for this one.....

Hell yeah!!!

What to learn first: Hit low Pitch or high Pitch?

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Teach/learn a swing to hit all pitches.
Easier to 'learn' how to 'turn the barrel towards the ball' on a higher tee. Then start to move the tee lower.
Most 'learning'/newer hitters have a tendency to drop and flatting hands on all pitches. So, hitting a pitch lower in the zone seems to be 'easier'.
A lot of hitters have a hard time hitting a rise ball or ball higher in the zone because of the dropping of the hands.
Just a few thoughts.

Not an expert, just an observation, a lot of hitter because of flawed mechanics or improper sequence are committed too early to a position that won't allow them to adjust to the pitch. As an example, using too much shoulder rotation to create power and the pitch is on the outer half of the plate. Kind of another example of dropping the hands , sort of

I tend to start High inside Low inside and drive up middle.

But as rdbass says, all can be worked on, and should be. sequence, and hand/ bat path.

dominik said:

I think at higher levels it is probably more important to learn to hit the low pitch but for learning I think it might be best to practice hitting a high Pitch with a Level Swing and then later add Tilt to hit lower pitches.

On the others Hand once you have that flat plane it is tough for some kids to unlearn a flatten than Swing pattern. In that regard it might be better to learn the diagonal/down Pointed Barrel and path right away.

What do you think is a better Start?

Click to expand...

Dom, for me, generally speaking, the intent of working high in the zone is to make it easier for a kid to master a proper hand path. I make no mystery of it. I'll pitch a kid two buckets of balls high in the zone (and sometimes more), with the pure focus being on hand path. I'll do this in virtually every hitting session. I consider hand path to be the third most important part of the swing, and I hammer away on it starting by throwing pitches high in the zone.

At no time do I want "flatten then swing".

Let's be clear ... ... ... if a hitter is facing a rise ball pitcher, then flatten then swing can help. But what if the pitcher has a different pitch? You are stuck waiting for that riseball.

Let me say it a different way. If you are pitching a kid high in the zone, then it is easy for them to migrate to a flatten then swing approach ... and it is our job as an instructor to correct that. The notion should not be to encourage that, but to keep the kid focused on using a proper hand path.

As for "adding tilt" to hit lower pitches ... the notion shouldn't be to introduce a different swing ... the tilt was always there, just to a different degree. Whether the pitch is 'high' or 'low', the barrel is pretty much an extension of the lead arm going into and through impact. From my way of thinking the notion is to encourage a proper hand path with pitches thrown high in the zone, and to work on maintaining a proper hand path when pitches are thrown low in the zone.

Teach them to hit strikes.

Im seeing fewer umps calling pitches above the waist strikes. DD was playing in Reno and i overheard two umps talking about this in the parking lot. Infield ump was asking the HP blue why his strike zone was low. Plate ump said this is how the association told him to call games.

(Please ignore this post)

DD was short, hitting a high pitch was a priority because they were called strikes.

Taller girl, hitting low pitches was a priority because the were called strikes.