How often should your DD take hitting lessons?

[amanda_cake]

Using you post Amanda.

I think when you are young 8-12 YO, if you don't have a parent to teach you a HC may be a good option. What you need is the foundation, good mechanical skills. After that most of whatever they have taught you can be simulated at home. It shouldn't take 100 visits or 4 years of lessons to learn to hit a ball.

There is nothing different hitting at 12 than you will learn at 18. It's repetition, it's skills. All you do is to keep them sharp. Again, proper equipment at home, the time to use them, live batting practice, and real games should be it's own teacher.

Ehhhh... the science has changed a bit since I was 12. No longer are they (most people) teaching "hands up by your ear like a telephone" or "elbow up" My swing at 12... vastly different from my swing at 19. It's a progressive thing, with various tweaks. I used to step, then I didn't take a step, now I'm stepping.

The problem with kids is that they pick up bad habits from places when not with the HC... and the HC has to undo it. There's also the kids who lack the knowledge of their bodies to be able to detect when they are making mistakes.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Ehhhh... the science has changed a bit since I was 12. No longer are they (most people) teaching "hands up by your ear like a telephone" or "elbow up" My swing at 12... vastly different from my swing at 19. It's a progressive thing, with various tweaks. I used to step, then I didn't take a step, now I'm stepping.

The problem with kids is that they pick up bad habits from places when not with the HC... and the HC has to undo it. There's also the kids who lack the knowledge of their bodies to be able to detect when they are making mistakes.

Amanda, how old are you? just kidding

Because I'm 38, if I remember correctly hit basically the same way ( with proper mechanics ) from 11 until I finished in college. MLB hitter no!! Scholarship to college yes.

But I will agree some need to see a HC when they pick up bad habits. Bad habits usually creep up slowly, and before you know it all your "good" mechanics are taking a nap. But also simple batting "slumps" happen when no bad habits are there. ( it happens to everyone if you play this game long enough )

But I have yet to see a DD hit good enough to warrant lessons 3 days a week for years. Or drive 2-3 hours for a lesson. I'd have to get a contract in writing guaranteeing a .500+ BA..........or my money back.

 

[amanda_cake]

Amanda, how old are you? just kidding

Because I'm 38, if I remember correctly hit basically the same way ( with proper mechanics ) from 11 until I finished in college. MLB hitter no!! Scholarship to college yes.

But I will agree some need to see a HC when they pick up bad habits. Bad habits usually creep up slowly, and before you know it all your "good" mechanics are taking a nap. But also simple batting "slumps" happen when no bad habits are there. ( it happens to everyone if you play this game long enough )

But I have yet to see a DD hit good enough to warrant lessons 3 days a week for years. Or drive 2-3 hours for a lesson. I'd have to get a contract in writing guaranteeing a .500+ BA..........or my money back.

Nowhere near as old as you are.

Softball has seen a shift in hitting and what has been taught. When baseball coaches infiltrated the softball circle, they started teaching baseball swings. I know that there are things that were taught years ago that aren't taught now (just had a conversation with someone about this not too long ago, a HC who has recently changed some of the things that he was teaching like toe touch for instance). There's not but so much that can be different in a swing path.

Maybe you were hitting correctly at 11, but must 11 year olds don't have the proper mechanics. They need the help, the fine tuning, and someone that knows how to teach them.

I think that hitting lessons are also a lot cheaper where I live versus some areas... I can't remember the going rate, but I believe it was around 5 one hour sessions for like $150 or something.

 

[doublesteal]

I would say go to a hitting coach 1-2 times a week, but you have to supplement the days you don't go with hitting yourself. Ivest in a hit net do tee work, soft toss, front toss, etc. (make sure your paying attention at the hitting lessons so you know what to correct your DD on.

As a coach most of my girls have hitting coaches. I also offer 1 night a week at the cages on top of 2-3 weekly practices, you can really see the difference in those girls who not only go to the coach but work on thier own 3-4 times a week.

 

[crankermo]

Once you've learned to hit correctly you should never need a hitting coach, after all MLB'ers don't need one, right GoingDeep,LMAO.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Out of all the coaches in professional sports, the ones for hitters are the most overrated. As a result, they are the ones with the most unrealistic expectations from their bosses and others. In fact, when you think about it, hitting coaches aren't totally necessary. You either have a bunch of folks who can hit on your team or you don't.

Dwayne Murphy spent a dozen years in the big leagues, for instance, and despite winning six Gold Gloves in center field, he managed only spurts of goodness at the plate around a slew of bad ones. He finished with a career batting average of .246.

So how much did hitting coaches contribute to what Murphy did and didn't do with a bat?

"Very little," Murphy said, straight-faced. "There are things you can tell a guy, but he still has to be able to do it. Me, personally, I don't think [hitting coaches] play that big of a part."

Now get this: Murphy is in his second season as the hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays. Not only that, if you chat with Jose Bautista -- who went from nobody as a hitter to baseball's most complete slugger during his past two seasons in Toronto -- he'll quickly cite Murphy as a primary catalyst for his turnaround.

To which Murphy likes to shrug.

"There are things you see as a hitting coach, but most of the time it becomes a timing issue with the hitter," Murphy said. "I give them their routines, and those routines are just something to help them keep their swing, to keep the path of their bats, to keep their swings in order. We do our little drills and whatever. And we talk to them about their approaches at the plate against different pitchers.

"As for the rest of it, to be honest with you, they have to go out there and just play. It's up to them."

Taken from MLB.com


Pretty much what I said. It's drills ( that you can do at home ), it's batting prac, it's games, and most of all talent.

 

[crankermo]

I agree that's it up to the player to put what they've learned to use. I've never heard of a great hitter that quit working on their swing and for some reason there is always a hitting coach by their side. The problem is finding a good one.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Never said for anyone to quit working on their swing. I was saying if you must go to a HC do it. But after you get the mechanics straight ( which should be young ) the rest can be done on your own without 3 lessons a week for the rest of your life.

You either get it.......have it..........and can use it........or you don't.

A hitting or pitching coach around the ballfield is like a lawyer hanging around the hospital. ( most of them )

 

[Bouldersdad]

There are always things to learn about hitting, I keep my kids for a period of 8 weeks straight on the avg then release them. They will come back every 4 to 6 weeks after that as a general rule. I have some that are back every 2 weeks or so. There are some things I cant show a kid that is just learning the system. Sometimes the dust has to settle , the mechanics have to have a chance to sink in before we can add other things. The ones I have that are dedicated to hitting even at 12 u are some of the better hitters in their age group.

I do go to ball games and check up on my kids, sometimes at their parents request, sometimes because the kids ask me. sometimes its to just show respect to the families I have been blessed to work with over the years And alot of times because parents have a vested interest in their child's swing. I have been called many things n my life, A lawyer is a new one.

You take a look at the best hitters in the game today I can guarantee you that they spent as much or more time with their instructors as the pitchers they are facing did with theirs. Its one of the reason the game has changed. It has now become a game of offense and not a pitchers duel like it was 10 years ago.

Good hitters are born great hitters are made. Its just like pitching, does anyone think Finch happened over night in her garage?. It takes years for Athletes to get to that point, Hitters included.

Bustos tells folks it takes on the average of 10,000 hours of work to achieve the level she is. That in its self seems almost impossible for most to mentally grasp. Maybe thats why their are so few players at her level.

Tim

 

[straightleg]

Joemcq51 ... once/wk is typical. Wouldn't recommend less. Some see me twice/wk on a regular basis, and those have improved nicely IMO. In preparation for an event (e.g., playing in a national tournament, HS tryouts, ASA tryouts) some will spend 5 or more days/wk for 2-weeks with me in private 1hr sessions ... and the better ones chart out a plan months in advance (one kid/dad 6 months in advance) where they'll visited at least 2-3 x/wk.

Once/wk is about ideal. Gives you time to seek fundamental instruction, to work on points-of-emphasis outside of formal instruction, to take your experiences throughout the week and seek improvement during the weekly hitting instruction, and to get other things accomplished in your life.

What parent in their right mind would take their kid to a hitting lesson 10 days or more in a row.
How good of an instructor can you be if you need to spend that much time with a kid
Like the phantom heavy bat drill

Sounds made up



SL