Hitters 8u and 10u taught to swing down on ball?

[Rotation 123]

Opinions on any experience with 8u and 10u hitters being taught to swing down....hit ball into ground......?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I haven't taught that in 5 years. Others changed prior to that.

 

[Ken Krause]

Short-term I'm sure it will work. Put the ball in play on the ground and wait for the other team to make errors. Unfortunately, it's not a good long-term technique. Eventually the infielders will learn how to field and most of those ground balls will turn into outs.

Not saying that hitting the ball into the ground isn't a good thing at times. But you don't want to do it all the time. Line drives in the gap work pretty well too. Can't really hit those by swinging down on the ball.