My grandson is 5ft 8in.He has long arms.He is 12 yrs old and playing little league.When he steps in the box he leans over and touches the end of the bat on the outside corner of the plate and then takes his stance.Lately he is making contact with the ball but mostly under the sweet spot on the handle..loss of power and dribblers.Should he stand farther back from the plate or what?

That might be a temporary fix but probably isn't the true answer.

It is quite possible that he has a long extended swing and the opponents coaches have figured out how to pitch him.Jam him and he may not be quick enough to get the bathead around to catch it out front.

There is a good chance that if he backs away from the plate,they will start to pitch him outside,this is assuming he is facing pitchers good enough to place their pitches like this.

Of course,this is all assumptions and without seeing him,no way to know for sure.

My bet is he needs a shorter,more compact swing.


BUT,there are way more qualified on this site than me.

I am just familiar with 2 kids in our 9-10 year old league that we pitch inside(or atleast try to) because they have extended arm swings and if they get extended on a ball,they will hit it over,so we jam them.

tfox's recommendation on looking at his swing is certainly a good place to start.

Extending too early can cause such problems.

Fence drill will help determine (and fix) if he is casting out.

Just take care that he doesn't start pulling the front shoulder out in the fence drill.

I would say he is either letting the ball get too far in on him or he is not keeping his hands "inside" the ball. I would say probably the latter. BTW, where at in Indiana are you from?

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