Hitting and Hitters Discussion How technical can you get with 10u players ? on O not D

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I know what the boss will say " it's not (GE) rocket science , anyone willing to practice can do it correctly " but there are limitations on what type of language you can use to get a 9-10u kid to understanding a high level swing .

I've had the honor and fun, of working with a young travel team in waverly oh. Been teaching 14,16 first , then going to the babies , they actually have several 8u's on this teem.

So to those of you that have worked with all age groups , can you get kids that young to consistently use the proper grip , proper stance , not over extend , not drop hands , have proper long full extension ?

on a side note I had the thrill of seeing that huge smile on your kids face when she started driving the ball, honestly dont know if she could drive a ball into the OF grass her swing was so bad , but got her to keep elbows flexed and avoiding the wrist roll and BOOM .. line drive line drive line drive . MD

 

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I have been coaching rec and travel ball from 7-12 yr olds for the last few years exclusively. Some advice IMHO is to not "assume" anything and break it all down to the very basics first and probably not all in one practice. Make sure they know why they are doing something.

Have patience and take it one step at a time because their attention span is very short. Once I taught them the basic stance, footwork, covering the bag, etc, then I worked on seeing the ball and so on.

I taught them to bunt almost first thing, this got them to see the ball and not be afraid. Had drills where they got in their stance like they were to bat and coach pitched to them, having them read numbers I put on the balls without swinging. Then had them swing and bunt, etc.

They are young, but not babies and really want to learn, so do not hold back. Push each kid, but watch for frustation as a sign that maybe they need a break before pushing on at their speed. Once they get each piece, you can expand at their pace.

My rec team last year had 14 players, 7 new to kid pitch, 2 completely new to softball and by the end of the year they were all staying in there and swinging at good pitches. I was very impressed with their progress.

Once you have the basics and they know what to do, ton of T work, mix in soft toss, machines, live pitching to keep it different and fun and they'll take to it like a new video game...lol. Keep it fun.