Aggressiveness

[Jeff Kneiert]

My question has to do with aggressiveness at the plate. I have several good hitters that at times will wait on pitches too long, their weight stays back and they take a gate swing. I have tried hitting basketballs, stepping of a 3-4" platform (to get go positive movement, and telling the girls to chamnge their thought process from "I'll wait then choose to swing if I like the pitch" to " I go after the pitch and stop if I don't like it". I've seen only minimal and fleeting results. Does anyone have a drill to work on this?

 

[SoftSocDad]

What age(s) are you coaching?

 

[Jeff Kneiert]

I coach a 14U team

 

[Tewks]

Avoid the basketballs - way too much force and too risky in terms of injury prevention. The risk/reward is all out of whack.


The "swing until you don't swing" works if their is load until unload.... but not if it is load, stop, choose to swing. Maintaining rhythm is needed. Take normal swings, tee, soft toss, front flips, etc.... and ask them to not let the barrel stop. Be smooth, flowing. Load (the hands and the rear hip) until you unload. Emphasize being explosive with the rear hip.

Something to watch - if the rear hip never gets loaded, it cannot be unloaded. If the negative move is just a sway or lean back, there is no load (and nothing keeping the hitter back). Come up with an analogy for creating tension/resistance in the hip. Some kids respond very well to thinking of a spring/coil being in the rear hip. The further you press in the spring, the greater the tension. Once you achieve a load in the rear hip, USE IT! Un-spring, uncoil, thrust, GO with the rear hip. Combine this with not letting the barrel stop and see what happens!