Here he is from the left side:



Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks Ross.

I'd stay right handed.

Callaway
I am assuming this is the same young man that I have watched your clips of hitting from the right side.
I don't like the bow in his back from the right side, it looks to me like he is giving up quite a bit of power by being over his back foot at impact with his upper body.
Personally, I think the swing from the left side is a much better mechanical swing,balance is good,his head is still,he isn't barring his arm and it looks to me like the result is a linedrive. Good stuff,I say keep hacking.

Lamber

It was your "favorite guru" that told me that Boomer has to learn to hit from the left side because he is a "wrong way" guy.

He'll get better.

R.

Wrong way meaning throws left bats right.

Not a common combination.

However, his lefthand swing is far from his right hand swing.

But......he's young.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mobunts:
Callaway
...he isn't barring his arm ...

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He doesn't bar his arm in either swing.

Ross,

Believe it or not most kids have a better "looking " swing from the opposite side. I have filmed this in my son repeatedly. I have determined that the upper body really doesn't have bad habits from the opposite side and is content to let the hips lead the swing which he clearly does here. You just think his lower half is working from the right side but its not. It is working from the left. I hope people can see that now!
Kids rarely try to "swing with their arms" when switching over( I don't think they know how. His arm action is decidedly better and bat position at launch better also. Guess what...hips are leading and head position is perfect...fix the hips and the head stays still!!

I wish I had stayed with it at an early age but fellow coaches had little patience with the efforts at practice. You will have to put in the time alone to perfect it to be accepted. I highly recommned the effort . Great swing!If he had that arm action from the right side he would be a better hitter. Compare this with:

http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/L._Gonzalez03.mpeg

Swingbuster

Thanks for the confirmation on the kids left hand swing.After the previous post I wasn't sure that I had been paying attention to my sons coaches for the past four or five years.By the way he is a switch hitter.

Lamber,take a calm down pill your going to stroke out with that attitude.

The following is based on one swing. Could be his good swing, could be a bad swing for him.

I have no attitude when it comes to commenting on young kids swings. I do have a little when I read adults who simply speculate and don't know up from down.

This left hand swing demonstrates one of the biggest evils in hitting and it is (or can be) one of the most difficult things to overcome.

Donny says his hips lead his hands in this swing very well. He's absolutely right. Too well. His hands are so inactive that the barrel drags through the zone.

Compare the two swings and look at when and how much blur of the bat there is in each swing. Some is related to strength. But, most is related to technique. If your swing won't blur the bat when it's behind you, you have trouble. And, it's how the hands are used and positioned that creates this. He is unable to create the leverage in the left swing that he automatically can do in the right swing. And this useage and positioning is very difficult to fix.

He's young enough to overcome it if he wants to. But if this kid were 14 years old the odds on fixing is are worse than 1000 to 1.

I agree Lamber on both points. The LH swing is not complete and explosive and also at 14 I would not try either.

However from the left side...the hips are launching the shoulders and the hands are staying back in good position relative to RH. The Rh swing is very much an arm and hands swing disquised as a full heel to toe cut which it is not. There is no summation of forces starting from the hips and progressing to the hand release on his RH swing IMO.

He has this THT thing almost pulled off from the right side but it is not in synch with the lower body and it isn't working.

I don't believe there is any such thing as THT. If you're referring to the very early blur of the bat as evidence of THT, I disagree.

Watch his wrist and their angle to the forearm. I see no significant change.

IMO that blur is coming due to shoulder rotation as the bat and arms are very well connected.

quote:

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...The Rh swing is very much an arm and hands swing disquised as a full heel to toe cut which it is not. There is no summation of forces starting from the hips and progressing to the hand release on his RH swing IMO.

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I just don't see this. In fact I see quite the opposite.

The results, (HR power for a 10 yr old) IMO, support my point of view. But, I know you've done your homework. So, help me understand your viewpoint.

10 year old HR power must be cosidered in terms of weight/ strength more than age maybe.

THT may or may not exist. It is a curious term at best. What I speaking of is the bat tip path...hands cocking in front of a player as he strides and then circling behind the head and making the hands stay behind the hip turn and come inside out. Best example I have found below. It is an advanced move with lots of arm action that works for many sluggers. I have tried it with my son but we lost bat speed as measured by doppler. We did hit more oppo balls but netted a lower average and gave it up. Might work well for others.

As you watch the clip check out his hip action too. It must all work together

http://flippen.videos.home.comcast.net/Piazza1993LAD_DoubleLC01.mp4

I'm more confused now.

Are you saying Boomer should do this or is doing it and shouldn't because it's an advanced technique?

All that I am saying that if you are doing it then it better be right. If not then you are better off launching from a pre-existing cocked , shoulder loaded position. Thats the absolute, not how you get there. Where is the bat at toe touch? Are the shoulders loaded at toe touch? Is the bat 90 % to the forearm at toe touch? Where is your center of gravity at toe touch?....thats what matters. There are different ways to get there. If you cannot get there against good live arm pitching with all that arm action and a big stride then you are in trouble. Mike Piazza can. Front soft toss doesn't convince me because he isn't doing it great now. I would have to see it when the pop corn is cooking and he is facing a "peer" on the mound. The more action ; the more potential timing error. He is creating another independant variable. It is hard enough to get the front foot down at the right time . Now, he has to get his hands to the perfect launch point at the same time he gets his foot down on time. The excess motion affects balance and adds another timing challenge. More college hitters keep the upper body simple these days. Some of the past greats did not
http://www.beabetterhitter.com/text/batspeed/coiling/coiling.htm



Aaron did it well to..

Swingbuster

Actually, since the angle of descent is so severe in front toss that it provides challenges that are somewhat unique and a bit artificial. I try to limit front toss as much as my arm will allow live BP.

His tournament BA is .500+ and his Dixie BA is .850+. He is very successful hitting live pitching when the "corn is popping" (I liked that.) and IMO live pitching is somewhat easier to time then front toss at close range with a sadistic dad changing speeds from 12 feet away! (at least for now).

I agree that "peer" pitching is best and he gets lots of it playing both Dixie and travel ball. Also, his travel coaches really stress "seeing" many different arm angles and mechanics during BP so all of the hitters get to see all of the pitchers every couple of practices. I think that has helped all of our batters become more comfortable at the plate. I wish that he could hit that kind of BP every day. IMO nothing better!

Do you guys have any drills to teach him to hit the ball further back in his stance? ...closer to the plate? ...to wait? I think that he loses some power by hitting the ball too far forward, after the bat has reached it's peak speed and slightly after his wrists release. Any ideas?

Thanks
R.

quote:

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Originally posted by Callaway:
Do you guys have any drills to teach him to hit the ball further back in his stance? ...closer to the plate? ...to wait? I think that he loses some power by hitting the ball too far forward, after the bat has reached it's peak speed and slightly after his wrists release. Any ideas?

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Ross,

Does Boomer still have his band of merry men shagging fly balls for him? If so, maybe putting only 1 or 2 in RF and the rest in LF will offer him incentive to burn the less-full field? You could even have the RF'ers play in a little closer than the LF, again, more luring to go that way.

Just a thought.

But I know what you mean. We had our opening game yesterday, and I think we saw about 10 dribblers back to the mound (between the 2 teams), likely caused by over-anxious way out front hitters. But then, first day jitters are to be expected.

Was that a nasty curve or was he hitting a slow-pitch softball?

Ross,

You have a PM.

Ross,
How big is that kid? He looks like he's grown a bit since your post back in January. My 12yo has grown about an inch and gained 10 lb since then but yours looks to have grown more than that. He looks taller and thinner.