I've seen several posts describing how players do or don't execute the "moving runners over" idea; i.e. hitting a grounder to the second baseman with a runner on second and nobody out.
Personally, I think this is a vastly overrated strategy. One, the goal of each at bat should be to get on base somehow. If you have a situation where you want the runner over and you're not confident in the hitter's ability to get on base, then just bunt him over, don't ask or expect a kid to deliberately hit a grounder to the right side. Two, this strategy is based on the assumption that the kid is capable of directing a ground ball to the right side on purpose. Anyone that has this type of bat control should instead use that bat control to hit a line drive. Deliberately hitting a ground to the right side is harder than most think, and in doing so, the possibilty of driving the ball is diminished. Again, if you want that runner over so much, have the kid bunt.

As for skills I see lacking in players, I would say; the ability of hitters to use their stride to effectively set up their swing, using their warm-up throwing time to prepare for throwing and catching fundamentals to be used during the game, and the ability to "throw" their breaking ball rather than "push" it (slowing the arm and body too much).

I had the opportunity to coach at the community college level last season, and here would be my list of what players lack...

1. Game Experience - most players at the CC level that I worked with came from schools or programs where the most they played was 15-20 games a season for 2-3 years. summer baseball usually was not a part of their playing resume, so it was tough to have the experience they needed when they stepped up to a higher brand of baseball.

2. Game "Smarts" - Again, this comes from being in alot of games, and knowing how to preform with the game on the line. Many of the players I worked with didn't have it, due to not having enough experience.

3. Control - I was a pitching coach, so my biggest problem as a pitching coach, was making players understand how important it was to throw with control, and to not worry about thorwing hard, because it does no good to give out 5-6 free passes a game. My pitchers actually had a lot of control problems in the first part of the season, hitting alot of batters, but then it slowly started to level off by the end of the season.

4. "Players knowing their role" - Alot of players who make the jump to college baseball, even at the JUCO level have trouble knowing their role on the team. Most were "big fish" in high school, playing on teams of 11-12 players. Once they make the step to college baseball, they are on teams with 20+ players, and it becomes difficult for them to realize they have a specific role on the team, and that that is where they ned to focus. Again, from a pitching coach aspect, I had trouble with my pitchers realizing that they needed to go 110% out on the mound, and that once they wore down, we could bring in a new pitcher. Most of them were used to pitcing complete games in high school, so they were used to coasting at times, and getting them used to giving it everything they had, even if it was only for 3-4 innings was tough.

just my 2 cents, at some of the things I ran into.

http://www.HackettBaseball.com

Levelpath:

Good points.

But the right-handed hitter doesn’t try to hit a ground ball to the second baseman. He only settles for it. It is not a sacrifice (though I do score it that way). He looks for a middle to middle-out fastball early in the count, lets it travel a little deeper and smokes it (hopefully for a line drive double) to right center field.

And this is not nearly as hard as one might think to do or teach. And I can’t tell you how impressed your son’s high school (or college) coach will be if your son asks him in practice if he requires it.

Not sure how to say this without sounding condescending but I will in the interest of serving others. In the 800 high school or college games and practices I have watched, I have never seen a high school or college coach ever teach a hitter to use their stride to effectively set up his swing. I have however seen them use warm-up throwing time to prepare for throwing and catching fundamentals to be used during the game.

THop