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Plate approach
by Nathan
Nathan asked: What is the best way to teach a "middle to opposite" hitting approach? round 1 oppo round 2 middle round 3 pull round 4 oppo The process certainly hinges on getting the kids to buy into letting the ball travel and get deep. Generally hard for younger kids to do. Once they start to let that happen, they begin to start hitting the ball harder the opposite way and feeling more comfortable. If they keep their front shoulder closed, it goes a long way to keep from rolling over those outside pitches into groundball outs. The picture above is one of our former players. He was a freshman at this point, playing on the varsity. This shot captured his first live varsity homerun in real time. The ball went out in right center. While he hit the ball out in front of the plate, he was set up towards the front of the box, so in relation to his body position, he had let it travel. Our players have had success with this. The big step is getting them to see why it is essential to have a plan for each and every at bat, and provide them with the opportunities to work on that plan every day. No easy answers for sure. From Little League to MLB, as you watch games you see numerous at bats that you can tell there was no plan when they stepped in the box. The end result is usually a disaster. The best in the world struggle with this, so it is no wonder that young kids do. We try not to get too mechanical with them, attempt to earn their buy in to the plan and provide them with a ton of opportunities to work on it. Good luck as you go forward. Yours in baseball, Rick |
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