Hitting and Hitters Discussion Daughter is going to hitting instructor 1st time

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Well we finally made the decision to send my daughter to a hitting instructor, her first lesson is on Friday 10/30. He has a per session fee or a reduced fee for 10 sessions option, I will start with pay as you go, to see how they get along. I had looked into several different people, and this person came highly recommended from two different sources. Question is what should we expect from these sessions, and any hitting instructor? Also if you PM me I will let you know the fees if your interested. Thanks, Patrick Hunter

 

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I would ask what method does he teach? *puts flak jacket and helmet on*

 

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He or she should have her hit off of a tee, then do some soft toss and then do some live pitching. Then they should be able to break down her swing and let you know the areas that need to be changed. Some instructors are different then others but this seems to be the norm.

 

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My daughter's instructor would only let her hit off a tee for the first couple of lessons. She wanted her to learn the proper mechanics of the swing without worrying about trying to hit the ball. I think this worked out really well for her. Now her lessons consist of tee work, soft toss, then live pitching or pitching machine.

 

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I would ask what method does he teach? *puts flak jacket and helmet on*

:lmao::lmao::lmao:

Now that's funny!

Len

 

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Well we finally made the decision to send my daughter to a hitting instructor, her first lesson is on Friday 10/30. He has a per session fee or a reduced fee for 10 sessions option, I will start with pay as you go, to see how they get along. I had looked into several different people, and this person came highly recommended from two different sources. Question is what should we expect from these sessions, and any hitting instructor? Also if you PM me I will let you know the fees if your interested. Thanks, Patrick Hunter

What you should expect from this or any other hitting instructor is that you see results! That being said, working on hitting should not stop with the instructor. The suggestions and changes should be worked on at least a few times a week by your daughter. Think of it as homework. If your daughter only works with the instructor once a week and does not work on her own during the week, she will forget most of what was taught, thus making the sessions worthless.

I have talked with people that worked with batting instructors once a week for months and claimed that their son or daughter did not get much better. Of course they didn't! They did not continue to work at it. You need to practice, practice, PRACTICE!!!!!! I would suggest at least every other day.

Patrick, you need to listen and learn what the instructor has to say so you can reinforce it at home. Here's some things I would enforce if I were the instructor:

1. Stance slightly wider than hips, toes pointed to home plate.
2. Slight bend in knees and waist.
3. Bottom hand slightly above top of strike zone.
4. Bat pointed up and slightly behind helmet.
5. Knock knock knuckles aligned or slightly staggered.
6. Enforces a negative move (load, trigger, etc.). Weight shift back should be slight.
7. Enforces a positive linear move (step forward about 6 inches, toes touch first, heel plants by start of hip rotation)
8. Enforces lead elbow bent and away from rib cage, while rear elbow/triceps slots down close to rib cage.
9. Hands above bat barrel, and barrel travels through hitting zone as long as possible.
10. Enforces hip and core rotation while bat barrel goes through hitting zone.
11. Front leg should be straight and firm but not locked and all forward weight should be supported by front leg in hip and core rotation. Rear femur should be pointing straight down at the ground, knee bent, and rear foot should be up on tippy toe or even slightly off ground at contact. Forward weight should be felt on outer edge (pinkie toe side) of front foot at extension.
12. Swing should finish high, above front shoulder.

There's so much more to hitting but this gives you a good start in what to look for in the first few lessons. If some things are different please post them. They might be good ideas.

Len

 

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As Len pointed out. Practice, Practice, and Practice. A good hitting instructor will tell you to keep your money and not come back , if they see the kid is not going to practice.
Even one of the best in the world CB, hit balls of a T for hours to work on her swing..

 

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As Len pointed out. Practice, Practice, and Practice. A good hitting instructor will tell you to keep your money and not come back , if they see the kid is not going to practice.
Even one of the best in the world CB, hit balls of a T for hours to work on her swing..

Crystl and I did a 4 hour field demo on hitting at the Akaidema Show Case a couple weeks ago...CB asked how many of you practiced off the tee 6 times, 5 times, 4 times, 3 times, 2 times 1 times this week? One girl held her hand up at 2 and she asked if it was practice or on her own and she said one was at a practice. Seven other girls raised their hand at 1 and it was at a team practice also.

CB looked at them and said, "You knew you were going to come to a show case and that 25 college coaches would be here, right?" and then went on to say, "Your parents are paying to stay in a hotel for three days plus gas and food and only one of you practiced on your own for one day?" and then added, "You wonder why the California teams beat you!" and "You parents are wasting your money playing travel ball and spending possibly $4,000 to $6,000 dollars a year playing travel ball in hopes of getting a 60 to 70% scholarship for softball!" and "Put that money in the bank and save it for school and you would be money ahead and then why buy a $300 to $400 bat just to strike out with?" and "Get the cheapest bat you can and play in a rec league around your home and save your money!"

And this was the best one, "If you sleep with your math book under your pillow would you be better at math the next day?" and "So why not sleep with your bat in your bed and that should help you become a better hitter also!"

If you do not practice it shows and you know it and you are giving your money away and why do you do it. Buy anyone's CD and play it and tie them in a chair and you might get an improvement as well! At least you can say you tried to help her and might save some money especially if you get it from the library!

Hitting off the tee the way CB explains it takes about 1.5 hours to do as she explains it at the clinics. Why would you think you could do it in less time or that it is not required to become a better hitter?

 

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Ted used to require DD and DS to give him 100 strokes off the tee every evening or at least close to every evening. (I don't want to make him sound like some crazed sports father; when our son quit after Babe Ruth and our daughter quit after one year of college ball, he was actually far more relaxed about that than I was).

One of our current players has improved TREMENDOUSLY and I asked her dad what was going on. He replied: "truthfully, she's giving us 50 swings a night off the tee" which was what I had asked of the girls. It should be more, but our older 14U players have to take responsibility to figure that out and to own their practice schedule.