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Dan

Getting A Hard Swing For T-ball

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I have a son that is 5 years old playing t-ball. I have his swing looking good. His mechanics are good as far as level swing, throwing hands out, turning hips ect. The problem I am having is he does not swing very hard. I know he can because when I use the hitting stick or practice with a tee against a fence he really takes a nice hard swing at it but when he gets on the field he shortens his swing and just taps the ball. I know they all learn differently and it will come I was just wondering if anyone knew some drills to do to strenthen his swing. Someone told me to use a flat basketball off the tee and tell him to hit it as hard as he can and this will make him swing harder. This is the kind of drills I am looking for. I figure I have all winter to work on it and need some advice on what has helped others in this situation.

Thanks in advance for the replys

PS One thing is he is having a blast playing and we all know this is the most important thing but he wants to hit to the outfield and does not mind practice which is kind of nice because his older bother has loads of talent but just likes to play the games.

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What I call the "dead volleyball' approach simply does not work. Hang in there and I will post some suggestions this weekend when I finally get a break from work. The problem is common and is easily corrected.

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Slogar thanks for the reply and whenever you get a chance is great. I have all winter and am wrapping up with my older boys football which takes just about all my time.

Have a good day and thanks again.

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Sorry it took so long for me to reply. First, I should restatte that "I" do not like the dead volleyball or basketball appproach but there are others out there that do so it should not summarily be dismissed. My teams have had great success in the past outhitting other teams and the younger, the better. A two-prong approach is used whereas mechanics must be combined with the right mental approach, which is just as important. But first, you must be sure the the correct bat is being used, one in which the hitter can handle comfortably. This concerns the length and the weight of the bat (balance) and the handle (grip). If possible, borrow some teams' bats and give him a variety of selections, ie. different weights, lengths, handle types then mix and match the qualities of the ones he feels most comfortable with and go with that. This will maximize his mechanics while mentally allowing him to be comfortable.

Now, my favorite drill is to strap a tire (tread out) to a tree or fence. Paint a white dot (size of a basebase or smaller) in the center of the tread and adjust the height to around the batter's waistline. Now, have him bang the dot on the tire, taking his time and doing all the fundamentals correctly. Do not be surprised if he misses the tire altogether and hits the fence/tree; you would be surprised how many kids do to begin with. Now, what does that tell you? If they can't even hit the tire, how are they going to hit the small white dot, let alone a baseball? What does this accomplish? You can now work on his stance, his stride, head position, etc. without having the downtime between swings chasing a volleyball/basketball while forcing him to hit a much smaller target. The most important thing here is not to overstride and keeping the head down, level and still, on the target. It also develops wrist snap and power and the batter subconsciously relaxs his hands at the moment of impact, which allows the the ball jump off the bat as compared to a tight swing that deadens the ball. Of course, turning the hips, etc. should also be taught, but concentration hitting the middle of the dot is the most important thing.

Next, hit off the tee. The most common thing kids do is cut down their swing because they do not want to miss the ball and be embarrassed, so they poke at it. What I do is make a game where they create a different mindset. Instead of them focusing on just making contact, put some type of target out in the outfield, such as a bucket, and challenge the hitter to hit the ball to, or past the bucket. I put buckets in all 3 fields (simulates fielders w/o them knowing it). I would give each player on my team 7-8 chances to hit the ball and award a prize (maybe a sundae vs. an ice cream cone) for the player who hit the ball the fartherest, most balls hit past the target, etc. (This is also a great game to improve bunting accuracy).

There are other techniques, but this has proven most successful for my teams. Others have tried to copy it, but they do not fully understand the proper mechanics or the goal and do not get the most out of it. If you make this fun and exciting, heaped with lots of praise, you will find this is a great drill to start youngsters with. Let me know how it works!

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