*Vidor 6 Lumberton 3 Final/Wednesday*

[kkinetic]

643-  I agree with you about Bragg.  He was a great coach and an even better man.  I have never seen anyone as passionate about baseball than he was.  It was absolutely amazing how much he knew about the game.  His tapes are easy to watch and take to the field and put in practice.  I hope you get to come out from under the rock soon.  Everybody makes a mistake every now and then.

[Guest mrhitter]

Monty,

Kids have so many influences. Every dad and coach has a different hitting approach. I have been involved with many kids and the only ones I could really influence were mine. If this is not your son, then you need to include the dad in on the lessons. The day-to-day direction needs to be consistent, if not the kid tries to please all, gets confused and gets nowhere. So in a sense you need to coach the dad so that he will reinforce what you are doing and let the other dads know that someone is working with their kid and to not confuse him. A couple thoughts on your hitter's problems striding too much and rolling on his back foot:

To all, these are just my opinions, they are free and worth what you pay for them.

Striding too much causes so many problems, not to mention his head dropping, weight shifts to the front leg, screws up your timing on off speed, etc. Better to not stride or just lift the foot up and down on the ball of the foot. I have never heard any coach tell a hitter that he was not striding enough. But the opposite, thousands.

Show him some baseball cards of what a good hitter looks like before, during, and after their swing. Where are their feet, where's the bat, etc. Pick a player that you would want your kid to emulate.  See how their feet end up aiming at the pitcher, that their head is still down, that their back shoe is bent in half, that their weight is 60% on the back foot, etc.

To get there, best tool in my opinion has been soft toss wiffle balls hit into a fence, and or a batting tee. Before they touch a bat, I work on their feet. I like a wide as your shoulders stance. Toes toward the plate, front heel off the ground. Slight bend in the knees, slight bend at the waist toward the plate ( I say bend as if you were going to get a spanking). Weight shifts 60% to the back foot and stays there. Show them several times how the feet, at a snap, turn from being aimed at the plate to being aimed at the pitcher. Hitting is a "TURN".  As the feet turn, the front foot naturally ends up flat, and the back shoe should end up where it started only now aimed at the pitcher and bent in half. It is critical in terms of power that as the hitter turns, his weight is pushing back and down on his back foot. This is the test after the swing: is his back foot basically where it started only now turned to the pitcher and is the shoe bent in half. No ballet stances, no flopping over on to its side, no dragging the foot forward. They need to do this every practice. Good hitting technique happens when the coach is 2 feet from the hitter at a tee or soft toss from a bucket. Coach before the swing and then after. Have them look at their feet after the swing, and in between each soft toss, until they can coach themself. 

A drill is to cover a 2 x 6 or 2 x 8 board with light carpet nailed to it. Set it on safe ground. Have the hitter balance themselves on the board. Without a bat,  practice their foot work, shift back, stride (foot up and then down in same place), weight shift to back leg, turn, then check feet. They need to push their weight down on the back foot, squash the bug as our dads used to say. Is their shoe bent in half?  No falling off the board. Then practice swinging a bat. Check their stride, check their feet.

Without a board, I would place a scrap of paper under their back foot. Practice their swing, make sure the paper stayed under their shoe. If they use their weight to push back and also push down enough to bend their shoe, they shouldn't be flopping over. If a hitter is stepping out, widen his stance to where he would normally stride to and then don't let him stride. My son starts with his heel off the ground and just turns it. But an up and down stride is okay. To me, many hitters over stride, their head drops, and then they struggle to hit. Less head movement equals better look at the ball equals better consistency.

I also stress that the bat start at 45 degees, half the bat in front of the batter -half in back of him, front arm kinda laying on the top of the strike zone, elbow pointing at the pitcher, deliver the bat level as if you are throwing a frizbee. The aim is for the hands and bat to stay in the strike zone as long as possible. The elbow stays bent as long as you can hold it. Swing finishes back up to the front ear.

At practice, put the technique hitting coach on the wiffle ball drill. Work on feet, stride, hands and bat through the bat zone, finish with weight back, head where it started out. After awhile a hitter should be able to coach themself. Hitting is a fast turn of the feet and hips, the hands will follow. Next coach throws in the cage and reinforces what is being emphasized. Last station is hitting on the field. Make it competitive, count the hits, extra base hits, etc. Take some digital shots and show him what he is doing. 

A good hitter looks like a hitter before they ever swing a bat! Good luck....

[643]

You have a done well in your condensed version. Sounds like you have done your part in learning and teaching Braggs method. He used to put on camps @ Twin Counties Youth BB with the last kids in atendance now in their last yrs of HS ball and if you have watched them play you will see the short sweet stroke you refer to here. His pitching tapes are also some of the best you can get as he breaks down the mechanics making pitching easy to learn. It's a God given ability to thro 90+ but his teaching will help any kid get all he can get. Brag was the kind of man that could look at a 13 y/o pitcher and know if he would play at the next level after HS. BTW Jim Gilligan can has done the same thing looking at a young pitcher.

[Monty Miller]

  Thanks for the info !! You sure jogged alot of memories. The Dad is a non-factor for this one.. I am trying too teach the young man to become his own coach, I do appreciate all of the info this is great ;D.. I will let you know of his progress..

[643]

I'm out from under the rock but probally will be told to return. Another tool he can use alone is a mirrow in his bedroom or wherever to watch his swing.