I used to talk to my son about facing a junk ball or slower pitcher about looking to go the opposite way. So many times as hitters we want to pull off the ball swinging at it so hard, especially younger hitters. If you work with them to take the ball the other way it forces them to keep the front side in and stay on the ball longer.

That is another thing, staying closed. I am finding that if you can keep the hands fused to a spot about two fists from the rear shoulder, for as long as you can, you will have great, great leverage and swing whipping velocity, but it is hard to do, as those hands just keep trying to cast.

I don't trust that gizmo the SwingRail, though, as I have demo'd it and it seemed like junk.

Never used any gizmo other than a hitting tee, there are all kinds of drills that you don't need any of that stuff.

Throw us out a drill then!

:lol: Putting a patch over one of his eyes will take away his depth perception.

Great idea, Panther.

I used to talk to my son about facing a junk ball or slower pitcher about looking to go the opposite way. So many times as hitters we want to pull off the ball swinging at it so hard, especially younger hitters. If you work with them to take the ball the other way it forces them to keep the front side in and stay on the ball longer.

Aren't there youth baseball-centric boards that cover best practices and such? Drums and golf are my interests and message boards specific to those activities are great to ask questions to help kids along.

Shows you how exasperated I am and how I will try just about anything to fix this problem!

Yes, but I'm already here, so why wander?

I would never move a kid up in the box. They need to stay consistent in where they stand in the box and learn to adjust to the pitch speed. Eventually the kids will see pitchers that throw hard with the fastball and slow with a change up. They have to be able to hit slow and fast in the same at bat.

I wasn't trying to get rid of you.

Disagree that it's never a good idea but agree that ideally you are able to hit from the same spot.

This situation sounds like it's at the point where it's worth a try.

There are MLB MVPs that move up in the box when guessing off speed and college coaches that swear by it (not to mention moving laterally in the box based on an umpire giving a few inches off the plate) so it's not nearly as crazy or cut and dry as you make it sound

Also the guy with the most hits in MLB history is a big proponent of moving up/back in the box at times.

So, lets not bury the lede - do you rock an swashbuckling eye patch, or what?

I would never move a kid up in the box. They need to stay consistent in where they stand in the box and learn to adjust to the pitch speed. Eventually the kids will see pitchers that throw hard with the fastball and slow with a change up. They have to be able to hit slow and fast in the same at bat.

plenty of pros move forward and back in the batters box

What is the best pitching strategy for attacking batters at the back of the box? I was thinking to have catcher move up as far as they could without interfering. Otherwise, you are adding 2-3 feet to the distance of the Pitcher's target.

What is the best pitching strategy for attacking batters at the back of the box? I was thinking to have catcher move up as far as they could without interfering. Otherwise, you are adding 2-3 feet to the distance of the Pitcher's target.

aren't you talking about youth baseball

Strategy with pitching? Throw strikes. Almost none of them can spot their pitches, like less than a fraction of a percent.

I coached against some hump coach calling pitches and location. None of those kids were hitting spots and, at best they had 1.5 pitches they could throw. I don't know for sure but I'd bet it was one of those programs that charge $5K so he had to give the parents a show

There are two kids on my team who take lessons and work with their dad a LOT and can hit spots about 40-50% of the time, which basically makes them terminators at this age group. When they pitch, the rest of the team starts making designs in the dirt because unless there is a walk, they have nothing to do. My kid is not one of those, as I am still trying to build his power and mechanics before worrying about honing accuracy.

You guys clearly aren't talking about high level travel baseball. Every really good team I remember had at least 3-4 kids who were polished and could hit their spots.

There's a massive difference between travel and elite travel.

I ran across at least half a dozen elite teams at 12 years old including Wisconsin's top and never saw a kid who, if you called one of nine sectors was hitting it on purpose. Some kids throw very hard. Some consistently are in the strike zone. None were hitting spots.