The Zone

[Dragoncoach]

Im looking for a basic approach to giving the green light. I dont want them up there second guesing should I swing or not. Instead I want them going up there with the intent to drive the ball. I used to tell them if they can hit it then hit it!They are 8-9 yrs old. Any suggestions as to ques for this age group. and what pitches should they lay off other than obvious bad ones?
Thanks Eric

 

[WinThemAll]

At our hitting sessions, we set up a station that is a ball and strike station. We use a plate, a cone placed at least 5' in front of the plate, the player gets in the box just to watch the pitch and not swing. A coach "pitches". The player then calls out the pitch when it crosses the cone, you could just start out with ball and strike, high, low, in and out, etc.

 

[Hitter]

Im looking for a basic approach to giving the green light. I dont want them up there second guesing should I swing or not. Instead I want them going up there with the intent to drive the ball. I used to tell them if they can hit it then hit it!They are 8-9 yrs old. Any suggestions as to ques for this age group. and what pitches should they lay off other than obvious bad ones?
Thanks Eric

Dragoncoach

There is a picture of a tee I use that has decals on it and lines and a gray area on either side of home plate.

Our approach is to get the kids to understand they can hit a ball out of the official strike zone and that umpires are human and make mistakes.

So we explain there is no strike zone and it becomes OUR hitting zone and WE must determine what we can hit and the only thing we want the umpire to do is call safe or out and it is OUR job to determine what we can hit not the umpires!

I also explain that if they take a called third strike DO NOT TURN AROUND AND LOOK AT THE UMPIRE! EVER!

If it was that close they should have hit it!

I have made and modified tees that can be extended beyond the top of their shoulders and below the knees and even lower so we can show them what should be a strike and then the reality of this gray area could be a strike from pitch to pitch and inning to inning and that we train to hit the ball.

We stress if you can hit a ball below the knees then hit it, as we can not say what you can hit and it is your job to determine what you can hit.

We do a bat angle adjustment drill where we throw the ball below the knee, at the knee, mid thigh, waist, belly button and at the elbows and start up the middle, then away and then inside.

Most if not all kids can hit the inside pitch which is why we work them up the middle first to see how they can learn to control the bat and that starts with measuring off the plate and them selecting a stance and a grip.

We feel very strongly the eye in the socket can be neutral and should not be in a strained position.

We place them in front of a mirror and measure off the plate by using the length of the bat to the outside corner of home plate. The lead foot is placed at the knob of the bat and the stance width is determine by measuring their shoulders width and dividing it by half. For example 16 inches wide and half is 8 inches so add that and it is 24 inches and my factor over the years is then they will be plus or minus 2 inches from 24 or 22 to 26 inches. We measure the bat and use their bat graphics so the know where they are standing.

To prove they usually get wider as they get more comfortable I will draw around their shoes with chalk and then you will see them gradually getting wider as they get more comfortable.

We let them pick the stance that gets them the best two eyed look. I do believe the stance allows for better tracking ability and each hitter ids different. How their eye is set in the socket can be what some say are bug eyed, or the eyes are set together closely, a round eye verses tear drop etc. By looking into the mirror we look to see if we can see the white of the lead eye on both sides of the eye, as evidence their eye is not straining in the socket.

A k the hitter to set up and look into the mirror and if you do not see the white on both sides physically turn their head more towards the pitcher until you can and ask the hitter if they feel some discomfort in the neck and shoulder muscles and they almost always say yes. Look at their feet and see if they are using an open, closed or parallel stance.

Ask them to move their foot towards home plate an inch at a time until the discomfort is gone and they picked their stance not you.

Again we teach how to hit up the middle first and the tee is set 2 to 3 inches forward of home plate and in the middle and we have a target set up or a zone to hit the ball into and the process begins. Once they master that move to the outside corner and teach to rotate as needed off the tee.

Then we start soft toss or timing drop drills from the inside, to the middle and then outside changing and making them adjust on every pitch.

If you are soft tossing make sure you are not throwing the ball inside on their hands or you become part of the problem of forcing them to pull everything!

Thanks Howard