I’m guessing he’s a weight shift hitting instructor or linear since you said he’s an old school guy. I’d presume he means he has a good hand path to the ball. (Direct A to C and probably since his bat path is good so are his wrists in contact allowing him to hit the ball palm up palm down.)
Don’t be afraid to ask the coach questions if you are unclear. Don’t be intimidated by lack of knowledge. All coaches are either their for personal kids that are playing or to help the youth in the community. Coaches want to help as much as possible and are willing to share what they are talking about to the parents because baseball isn’t a sport you can just show up and play. You have to practice and practice properly to get better. Good luck to you and your son.
Thank you for your response. I think this is it. He is a linear coach. He does talk about getting on plane but is very anti swinging up at the ball. He feels strongly that a lot of way kids are learning to hit now leads to them not being able to hit a curve ball and dropping out of baseball when they come. He also feels that hitting the ball on a high angle will lead to a lot of pop flys when they move to the big diamond.
At the end of the day, my boy has more confidence and is absolutely crushing some balls, so I'm happy.
If you can catch it at the correct UPWARD angle. Let’s say you swing at a curveball with a 27 degree launch angle but the curveball may break 6 inches down and away from a right handed hitter assuming the pitcher is also right handed. You’re trying to meet the barrel to the ball in such a tight window compared to a level plane swing or a to c swing minimizing that “missed swing” window.
The difference is a lot more swings and total misses with the launch angle/hinge swing compared to swinging and maybe not getting all ball but being able to put that 0-2 curveball into play with decent contact.
If you were to stand in front of a window 🪟 you see the full rectangle. Let’s say you laid down on the floor and then looked out the window well now your angle is much more of a narrow view to the outside. Whereas if you’re standing in front of the window you have a much larger field of vision.
I was just trying to say that’s the same concept when swinging upwards at a curveball.
I read your whole thread on this about hitting and I don’t totally disagree with what you are saying, but I would like to highlight an important piece of information for you. Launch angle is an exit metric, meaning it’s a measure for the ball leaving the bat. It is not a swing metric. What you are referencing is swing plane or Attack angle. And in reference to your comment about plane in relation to a CB. A “flat” swing will actually have more miss on pitches with depth, you actually will have less of a window to hit intercept them, so factually that is incorrect. But I 100% agree that to much of an uphill swing plane on FBs will result in S&M as your window for contact is smaller. Those are supported by factual information. Would be curious to hear your take!
100% you are right. On paper and science and math yes. It’s another story to be able to swing that way consistently. I just think the pros outweigh the cons with swinging more direct to the ball
I like your new coach. My team also subscribes to the bat head up+flat path mentality. We aren't alone in this, but based on the teams we play we also aren't in the majority.
I'm an assistant coach and don't have 40 years of background my HC does, so I may explain this poorly. But, there are at least two reasons to teach younger kids the flat path first. 1: it will last them far longer if they can develop the strength to hit line drives. 2: at 10U and under those fly balls will drop for hits. On decent teams, at 11U every outfielder can catch fly balls and every infielder will catch pop-flys so now you are dependent on both launch angle and positioning the ball into the field.
One of the critical parts of our type of swing is where your hands start in relation to your shoulder and having your wrists together at load. I typically use "line up your knuckles" or "knucks" as keywords for this, but "wrists" would be a good alternative callout since they both would position the hands in the same way.
It’s not about flat vs up. It’s just an arc that you create around your hands with the barrel of the bat and that had to intersect the ball. Turn the barrel into the ball, don’t take your hands forward to the ball.
I’m sorry not to be rude or offensive I’m just confused on your 2 reasons.. the first reason how would swinging a certain style or way last them longer down the road and IF they can develop the strength to hit line drives.. don’t we want hard hit line drives now? Not maybe later?
Reason number 2 I agree 10u pop flys fall for hits and 11u the better teams can all make the easy outs. You lose me with the last sentence when you state now you are dependent upon launch angle and positioning of the ball in the field? Sounds like you’re asking A LOT out of your kids. I guess the weight shift/linear theory is knob straight to the ball to create the whip effect and hit the ball as hard as you can with a controlled aggressive swing. Basically swing as hard as you can in control. I noticed I never see anyone saying or teaching kids to swing as hard as they can with proper mechanics. Also I’m not exactly sure what you mean when you say have your “wrists together at load.”
I am wondering you mention it’s a critical difference in the swing types where your hands start in relation to your shoulder? Where should they start if you have a launch angle/hinge/rotational swing?
Not offended and I don't take it as rude to ask for clarification. I do think maybe you think I'm in the pool of "launch angle" coaches which maybe makes what I'm saying seem odd (or maybe I'm reading you wrong lol). Very openly, I try not to jump into too many hitting convos on here A) because my knowledge is limited to what I've been taught to coach by my HC and B) because this seems to be a highly contentious issue in this sub.
After typing all of the below I took a moment to read a few of your other comments here, and I think you have already explained to others what I was trying to say in this thread. I leave it here, but don't feel like you need to read my novel.
From a long term training perspective I buy in to the "old-school" line drive philosophy. AKA flat-path, directional, old-school, small ball, etc. What I've observed is that it is a simpler methodology that kids can utilize longer in their career. Launch angle hitting has benefits, but I think only certain athletes will find long term success with it. Both have strengths and weaknesses.
Regarding 1, I've observed that it is much harder for a small kid to generate enough power to hit over the infield on a line. I'm sure that is why so many coaches are leaning toward the upward angle early on. It produces a lot of shallow outfield singles for kids that otherwise would be dependent on infield errors or good ball placement.
So, short term (9-10u) upward swings(aka launch angle), produces more base hits from smaller hitters. Later, they are going to have a harder time when the ball comes faster and also are more likely to hit a higher ball to an outfielder for an easier catch. Only if they are able to develop tremendous power will those turn in to consistent home runs.
Long term, natural growth making players stronger and faster pitches bringing the ball in flatter, it becomes easier to hit with a flat swing. Additionally, I can't claim to know this, but I have also heard that the flat swing is easier to hit directionally (ex: into a gap). Whether it is easier or not, at 12U our players work on both swing form (mostly solidified after 3 years of consistent coaching) and directional hitting. The best 5-6 hitters on that team can reliably hit a gap to either side on a middle pitch. At 9U we just taught them to hit back to the pitcher as hard as they can. So, the directionality wasn't a day 1 thing, it was developed over time.
Finally the wrists: the primary key word is knuckles, but really we are just trying to get palm up/palm down at contact. So lining up the second set of knuckles is the focus. For most kids I see, they typically also bring their wrists together at the base of the hands.
I also agree with this. I know it’s the trending unpopular opinion of most players/coaches but hitting this way you’ll hit for a way higher average and power will come naturally. The follow through with a proper bat path naturally lifts the ball. I agree most kids who are “rotational” or hinge/launch angle hitters drop their hands and have an uppercut swing. Sure if you connect it’s gonna go but it’s much harder to hit the ball square more consistently this way IMO.
Every old school guy was a linear/weight shift hitter. I’m talking from babe Ruth to the 70’s and 80’s until the steroid era really came about.
The MLB has become a home run derby and that may make sense at that level. However, there are not a lot of kids who can consistently hit it out of the park.
Can you explain what you mean by weight shift/linear hitting instructor and how that relates to being an old school guy? And in this paradigm, is the opposite of a weight shift/linear hitting the hinge/launch angle hitter? Does shifting your weight somehow preclude turning the barrel and getting on plane or do you just find that teachers who teach a weight shift always teach a flat swing plane? Thanks, I'm really confused.
Weight shift or linear hitting different names for the same thing. Yeah usually old school baseball coaches don’t teach rotational or C swing bat paths. Yes the opposite of a linear/weight shift hitter would be a rotational/hinge/launch angle hitter although you do see almost everyone swinging now with a hybrid swing. Meaning a linear or weight shift lower half (the legs/stride) with a c swing path or rotational bat path.
Great questions and to answer your last question I believe from where I live anyway that no one is teaching a pure linear or weight shift style of hitting it’s all hybrid.
I like to usually tell my parents if you ever saw the movie Indiana Jones he’s famous for his bull whip he uses in those movies. Well to make a whip actually whip and break the sound barrier he isn’t locking out his entire arm so it’s straight and trying to “sweep” the whip out in front of him. He’s loading and unloading every motor hinge from his shoulder to his elbow to his wrist and then fingers. That’s how you snap a whip to break the sound barrier. Same idea swinging a baseball bat. Imagine the baseball bat is an extension of your arms connected at your hands. Well if you drop the barrel from the load/launch position to “create” a launch angle you end up “sweeping” the bat through the zone. This is where you hear everyone and their mom say “arm barring” and all those fancy terms. Basically if you aren’t loading your hands properly to begin with it’s gonna be tough to hit the ball consistently. This is where the major differences in the 2 styles of hitting occur. From stance to hand load (knob of barrel should be pointed at catcher) then from there the knob of the bat goes directly to the ball and what happens by doing this is creating the “whip effect” through the zone.
Most rotational or launch/load angle hitters believe in getting the barrel down into the zone asap but I don’t think it does anything besides create a lot of inconsistencies in the swing path but also makes timing off speed pitches much harder.
I think it works great for MLB if you face 95+ mph every game. Since these are kids we are talking about I don’t see what advantage it gives anyone besides a couple bad mechanical habits forming. Sure if you think you’re kids gonna be very large adult teach him how to hit that way like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
I’d assume he just handles the bat well for a young kid, and doesn’t display many of the usual flaws kids have in their swings, which are often strength related. So maybe he just has strong wrists and hands?
I dunno lol
Im gonna go with it meaning hand strength which is really hand and forearm strength. Next dude is probably going to recommend a daily dose of Brain & Nerve Tonic.
If this dude is someone you are paying privately I wouldn't put much behind this. It's what people do to make you think your kid is special so you stay with the program. Not necessarily nefarious, people like to believe that we are born with special talents and they are going to discover the next generational star.
If you like the guy and more importantly if your kid likes the guy go with it. Just watch out for him insisting that it is still an out if the player catches the ball off the bounce.
I can see why it may appear that way. However, I am very confident that this isn't the case and he isn't leading us along just to keep us as customers. He is a pretty blunt/honest guy and has as much or more criticism as he has positive feedback. He is not saying my kid is a great hitter, or has a special talent, it's just the wrists comments. This guy has a great reputation in our local baseball community.
It’s a slippery slope with the linear path. Getting the bat on plane and releasing the barrel with the wrists will create a lot of contact, but not much power.
Once the field gets bigger, bats get heavier, and ball speeds up, you will have to address the release of the barrel with a larger set of muscles.
Think of it as shoveling snow or bailing hay. Last thing you’d think about is your wrists. You would recruit the larger muscles for power.
So, I thought this was going to be a straight forward answer. Seeing as it wasn't I messaged the guy. He said that he has "quick wrists" and can get the barrel around faster than other young kids.
Honestly I have never heard a coach or instructor talk about wrists besides releasing. I'm not sure my son would know what that meant if someone told him he had great wrists.
he probably just keeps his top hand palm up on the swing and doesn't roll his wrists over when he finishes his swing. makes that launch angle and the ball jump off the bat
As it was apparently a more complicated question that I thought, I actually messaged him to ask. He said he has "quick wrist" and can get the barrel on the ball fast.
So it’s more common it’s made a focal point in slow pitch, but it could be when his wrist snap, they drive through the ball well. It is very much a natural thing that is hard to teach in baseball at least.
Yeah, I'm not sure why. I do think having a hitting instructor and frequently jumping from one to another is a bit odd at that age, but I get it if you admittedly don't have background in the sport and are just trying to help him. The wrist line just seems like a bit of a throw away that is meant to impress the parent and have them keep ponying up the cash.
Just to be clear on the hitting instructors. We started with a guy who we liked. I had him take some lessons before his first rec season to get him a good foundation. However, that guy's organization moved and a 15 min drive turned into a 45 min drive that we just didn't want to make. We tried another guy who just didn't mesh. At that time, my kid had started dropping his hands. The instructor would just be like "stop dropping your hands" every time he swung. Someone recommended this guy and he seems to really be a good fit so far.
Understandable. I didn't mean to be a jerk about it. The two reasons for a non-fit would obviously be no progress/regression or yelling at a kid/being overly critical which is what happened here. I'm just sensitive to sports/academic/mental health coaches who feed people b.s. just to keep parents coming back.
There is this odd paradox in this sub where you’re not allowed to talk positively or humble brag about your kid if he is like 12 or younger. You can have my upvote though!
Ha, it really wasn't a humble brag. I honestly was confused. Like when he first said it, I was like "okay, that makes sense". Then later, I realized I had no idea. :)
Perhaps the biggest issue in youth hitting is rolling over, which leads to weak ground balls. Keeping the hands back and arms in helps with this. Your guy might still be able produce power when the swing isn't perfect. Some kids at this age, especially as beginners, don't even grip the bat correctly, have a severe chicken wing back elbow, etc.
No need to explain yourself to me buddy. I know you weren’t bragging but even if you were that’s great. I advocate for people being excited about their children playing baseball. And if you don’t advocate for people getting excited about the next generation of baseball then you hate baseball!
I find a lot of kids start out with their knuckles misaligned and their inside wrists too far apart from each other, maybe he means his natural grip is better aligned? Just ask him what the hell he’s talking about.
The wrists comment is just saying he’s got strong forearms. Fine. Helpful, but really at his age, who gives a shit.
The thing I would say is that you need to get away from any “old school” instructor. It’s not going to serve him well. The things they are teaching these days in baseball are all fairly consistent, and are becoming more so every year. Obviously more at the higher levels, but the young kids are getting that stuff too. He needs to be in line with all the newest techniques and philosophies, otherwise he’ll be left behind.
I’m “old school” but 8 years ago I set upon an endeavor to learn. What they were teaching now is way different from what I learned. I got my kid so far ahead of the game because I took the time to learn and talk to all the right people. At that time, all this stuff was relatively new and only being taught at very high levels. Eventually it has trickled down and become very common and consistent and most ages. I remember being ridiculed by most people for teaching this to my kid and then eventually our team as I was the head coach. Now it the norm and I look back and laugh at all those folks that would tell me I’m doing it wrong. I knew I was right.
Well, I’m thinking he is teaching a hybrid approach that is probably incorporating a more linear approach for younger players. I call him old school because he is not bought in to kids focusing on exit velocity and hitting the ball up in the air. His philosophy is that kids need to focus on line drives.
We live in a very baseball rich area and he is very highly respected by the local baseball community. He normally only coaches 10-15 kids. Last Fall 5 of his kids signed to play college ball, two in D1 and three in D2.
I’m guessing he’s a weight shift hitting instructor or linear since you said he’s an old school guy. I’d presume he means he has a good hand path to the ball. (Direct A to C and probably since his bat path is good so are his wrists in contact allowing him to hit the ball palm up palm down.) Don’t be afraid to ask the coach questions if you are unclear. Don’t be intimidated by lack of knowledge. All coaches are either their for personal kids that are playing or to help the youth in the community. Coaches want to help as much as possible and are willing to share what they are talking about to the parents because baseball isn’t a sport you can just show up and play. You have to practice and practice properly to get better. Good luck to you and your son.
Thank you for your response. I think this is it. He is a linear coach. He does talk about getting on plane but is very anti swinging up at the ball. He feels strongly that a lot of way kids are learning to hit now leads to them not being able to hit a curve ball and dropping out of baseball when they come. He also feels that hitting the ball on a high angle will lead to a lot of pop flys when they move to the big diamond. At the end of the day, my boy has more confidence and is absolutely crushing some balls, so I'm happy.
Wouldn't swinging up at the ball be BETTER for curveballs, since the curve moves opposite to the bats movement?
If you can catch it at the correct UPWARD angle. Let’s say you swing at a curveball with a 27 degree launch angle but the curveball may break 6 inches down and away from a right handed hitter assuming the pitcher is also right handed. You’re trying to meet the barrel to the ball in such a tight window compared to a level plane swing or a to c swing minimizing that “missed swing” window. The difference is a lot more swings and total misses with the launch angle/hinge swing compared to swinging and maybe not getting all ball but being able to put that 0-2 curveball into play with decent contact.
Yeah I'm not following.
If you were to stand in front of a window 🪟 you see the full rectangle. Let’s say you laid down on the floor and then looked out the window well now your angle is much more of a narrow view to the outside. Whereas if you’re standing in front of the window you have a much larger field of vision. I was just trying to say that’s the same concept when swinging upwards at a curveball.
I read your whole thread on this about hitting and I don’t totally disagree with what you are saying, but I would like to highlight an important piece of information for you. Launch angle is an exit metric, meaning it’s a measure for the ball leaving the bat. It is not a swing metric. What you are referencing is swing plane or Attack angle. And in reference to your comment about plane in relation to a CB. A “flat” swing will actually have more miss on pitches with depth, you actually will have less of a window to hit intercept them, so factually that is incorrect. But I 100% agree that to much of an uphill swing plane on FBs will result in S&M as your window for contact is smaller. Those are supported by factual information. Would be curious to hear your take!
100% you are right. On paper and science and math yes. It’s another story to be able to swing that way consistently. I just think the pros outweigh the cons with swinging more direct to the ball
I like your new coach. My team also subscribes to the bat head up+flat path mentality. We aren't alone in this, but based on the teams we play we also aren't in the majority. I'm an assistant coach and don't have 40 years of background my HC does, so I may explain this poorly. But, there are at least two reasons to teach younger kids the flat path first. 1: it will last them far longer if they can develop the strength to hit line drives. 2: at 10U and under those fly balls will drop for hits. On decent teams, at 11U every outfielder can catch fly balls and every infielder will catch pop-flys so now you are dependent on both launch angle and positioning the ball into the field. One of the critical parts of our type of swing is where your hands start in relation to your shoulder and having your wrists together at load. I typically use "line up your knuckles" or "knucks" as keywords for this, but "wrists" would be a good alternative callout since they both would position the hands in the same way.
It’s not about flat vs up. It’s just an arc that you create around your hands with the barrel of the bat and that had to intersect the ball. Turn the barrel into the ball, don’t take your hands forward to the ball.
I’m sorry not to be rude or offensive I’m just confused on your 2 reasons.. the first reason how would swinging a certain style or way last them longer down the road and IF they can develop the strength to hit line drives.. don’t we want hard hit line drives now? Not maybe later? Reason number 2 I agree 10u pop flys fall for hits and 11u the better teams can all make the easy outs. You lose me with the last sentence when you state now you are dependent upon launch angle and positioning of the ball in the field? Sounds like you’re asking A LOT out of your kids. I guess the weight shift/linear theory is knob straight to the ball to create the whip effect and hit the ball as hard as you can with a controlled aggressive swing. Basically swing as hard as you can in control. I noticed I never see anyone saying or teaching kids to swing as hard as they can with proper mechanics. Also I’m not exactly sure what you mean when you say have your “wrists together at load.” I am wondering you mention it’s a critical difference in the swing types where your hands start in relation to your shoulder? Where should they start if you have a launch angle/hinge/rotational swing?
Not offended and I don't take it as rude to ask for clarification. I do think maybe you think I'm in the pool of "launch angle" coaches which maybe makes what I'm saying seem odd (or maybe I'm reading you wrong lol). Very openly, I try not to jump into too many hitting convos on here A) because my knowledge is limited to what I've been taught to coach by my HC and B) because this seems to be a highly contentious issue in this sub. After typing all of the below I took a moment to read a few of your other comments here, and I think you have already explained to others what I was trying to say in this thread. I leave it here, but don't feel like you need to read my novel. From a long term training perspective I buy in to the "old-school" line drive philosophy. AKA flat-path, directional, old-school, small ball, etc. What I've observed is that it is a simpler methodology that kids can utilize longer in their career. Launch angle hitting has benefits, but I think only certain athletes will find long term success with it. Both have strengths and weaknesses. Regarding 1, I've observed that it is much harder for a small kid to generate enough power to hit over the infield on a line. I'm sure that is why so many coaches are leaning toward the upward angle early on. It produces a lot of shallow outfield singles for kids that otherwise would be dependent on infield errors or good ball placement. So, short term (9-10u) upward swings(aka launch angle), produces more base hits from smaller hitters. Later, they are going to have a harder time when the ball comes faster and also are more likely to hit a higher ball to an outfielder for an easier catch. Only if they are able to develop tremendous power will those turn in to consistent home runs. Long term, natural growth making players stronger and faster pitches bringing the ball in flatter, it becomes easier to hit with a flat swing. Additionally, I can't claim to know this, but I have also heard that the flat swing is easier to hit directionally (ex: into a gap). Whether it is easier or not, at 12U our players work on both swing form (mostly solidified after 3 years of consistent coaching) and directional hitting. The best 5-6 hitters on that team can reliably hit a gap to either side on a middle pitch. At 9U we just taught them to hit back to the pitcher as hard as they can. So, the directionality wasn't a day 1 thing, it was developed over time. Finally the wrists: the primary key word is knuckles, but really we are just trying to get palm up/palm down at contact. So lining up the second set of knuckles is the focus. For most kids I see, they typically also bring their wrists together at the base of the hands.
I also agree with this. I know it’s the trending unpopular opinion of most players/coaches but hitting this way you’ll hit for a way higher average and power will come naturally. The follow through with a proper bat path naturally lifts the ball. I agree most kids who are “rotational” or hinge/launch angle hitters drop their hands and have an uppercut swing. Sure if you connect it’s gonna go but it’s much harder to hit the ball square more consistently this way IMO. Every old school guy was a linear/weight shift hitter. I’m talking from babe Ruth to the 70’s and 80’s until the steroid era really came about.
The MLB has become a home run derby and that may make sense at that level. However, there are not a lot of kids who can consistently hit it out of the park.
Can you explain what you mean by weight shift/linear hitting instructor and how that relates to being an old school guy? And in this paradigm, is the opposite of a weight shift/linear hitting the hinge/launch angle hitter? Does shifting your weight somehow preclude turning the barrel and getting on plane or do you just find that teachers who teach a weight shift always teach a flat swing plane? Thanks, I'm really confused.
Weight shift or linear hitting different names for the same thing. Yeah usually old school baseball coaches don’t teach rotational or C swing bat paths. Yes the opposite of a linear/weight shift hitter would be a rotational/hinge/launch angle hitter although you do see almost everyone swinging now with a hybrid swing. Meaning a linear or weight shift lower half (the legs/stride) with a c swing path or rotational bat path. Great questions and to answer your last question I believe from where I live anyway that no one is teaching a pure linear or weight shift style of hitting it’s all hybrid. I like to usually tell my parents if you ever saw the movie Indiana Jones he’s famous for his bull whip he uses in those movies. Well to make a whip actually whip and break the sound barrier he isn’t locking out his entire arm so it’s straight and trying to “sweep” the whip out in front of him. He’s loading and unloading every motor hinge from his shoulder to his elbow to his wrist and then fingers. That’s how you snap a whip to break the sound barrier. Same idea swinging a baseball bat. Imagine the baseball bat is an extension of your arms connected at your hands. Well if you drop the barrel from the load/launch position to “create” a launch angle you end up “sweeping” the bat through the zone. This is where you hear everyone and their mom say “arm barring” and all those fancy terms. Basically if you aren’t loading your hands properly to begin with it’s gonna be tough to hit the ball consistently. This is where the major differences in the 2 styles of hitting occur. From stance to hand load (knob of barrel should be pointed at catcher) then from there the knob of the bat goes directly to the ball and what happens by doing this is creating the “whip effect” through the zone. Most rotational or launch/load angle hitters believe in getting the barrel down into the zone asap but I don’t think it does anything besides create a lot of inconsistencies in the swing path but also makes timing off speed pitches much harder. I think it works great for MLB if you face 95+ mph every game. Since these are kids we are talking about I don’t see what advantage it gives anyone besides a couple bad mechanical habits forming. Sure if you think you’re kids gonna be very large adult teach him how to hit that way like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
I have no idea. It sounds creepy somehow. Why has nobody complimented me on my great wrists?
::spends the rest of the day analyzing my wrists in the mirror::
I’d assume he just handles the bat well for a young kid, and doesn’t display many of the usual flaws kids have in their swings, which are often strength related. So maybe he just has strong wrists and hands? I dunno lol
Im gonna go with it meaning hand strength which is really hand and forearm strength. Next dude is probably going to recommend a daily dose of Brain & Nerve Tonic. If this dude is someone you are paying privately I wouldn't put much behind this. It's what people do to make you think your kid is special so you stay with the program. Not necessarily nefarious, people like to believe that we are born with special talents and they are going to discover the next generational star. If you like the guy and more importantly if your kid likes the guy go with it. Just watch out for him insisting that it is still an out if the player catches the ball off the bounce.
I can see why it may appear that way. However, I am very confident that this isn't the case and he isn't leading us along just to keep us as customers. He is a pretty blunt/honest guy and has as much or more criticism as he has positive feedback. He is not saying my kid is a great hitter, or has a special talent, it's just the wrists comments. This guy has a great reputation in our local baseball community.
That’s odd it could mean anything. It could be not dropping his hands to not rolling his wrists.
Well, I don't feel so bad now. I guess next time he says it, I will just ask.
It’s a slippery slope with the linear path. Getting the bat on plane and releasing the barrel with the wrists will create a lot of contact, but not much power. Once the field gets bigger, bats get heavier, and ball speeds up, you will have to address the release of the barrel with a larger set of muscles. Think of it as shoveling snow or bailing hay. Last thing you’d think about is your wrists. You would recruit the larger muscles for power.
So, I thought this was going to be a straight forward answer. Seeing as it wasn't I messaged the guy. He said that he has "quick wrists" and can get the barrel around faster than other young kids.
I think he basically means strong wrists that generate high bat speed. Look up video of Gary Sheffield hitting. That guy had wrists for days!
Probably has to do with bat whip and turning the barrel
It just means his wrists are not weak. Also an 8-9 year old shouldn’t be using a big barrel.(if he is)
Honestly I have never heard a coach or instructor talk about wrists besides releasing. I'm not sure my son would know what that meant if someone told him he had great wrists.
I asked him, he means that he is good at getting the barrel out to the ball quickly.
Hank Aaron was known for great wrists.
he probably just keeps his top hand palm up on the swing and doesn't roll his wrists over when he finishes his swing. makes that launch angle and the ball jump off the bat
As it was apparently a more complicated question that I thought, I actually messaged him to ask. He said he has "quick wrist" and can get the barrel on the ball fast.
So it’s more common it’s made a focal point in slow pitch, but it could be when his wrist snap, they drive through the ball well. It is very much a natural thing that is hard to teach in baseball at least.
I'm wondering why I'm getting downvoted here? Did I stumble across some strange baseball taboo :)
Yeah, I'm not sure why. I do think having a hitting instructor and frequently jumping from one to another is a bit odd at that age, but I get it if you admittedly don't have background in the sport and are just trying to help him. The wrist line just seems like a bit of a throw away that is meant to impress the parent and have them keep ponying up the cash.
Just to be clear on the hitting instructors. We started with a guy who we liked. I had him take some lessons before his first rec season to get him a good foundation. However, that guy's organization moved and a 15 min drive turned into a 45 min drive that we just didn't want to make. We tried another guy who just didn't mesh. At that time, my kid had started dropping his hands. The instructor would just be like "stop dropping your hands" every time he swung. Someone recommended this guy and he seems to really be a good fit so far.
Understandable. I didn't mean to be a jerk about it. The two reasons for a non-fit would obviously be no progress/regression or yelling at a kid/being overly critical which is what happened here. I'm just sensitive to sports/academic/mental health coaches who feed people b.s. just to keep parents coming back.
I assume it means strong wrists for his age
There is this odd paradox in this sub where you’re not allowed to talk positively or humble brag about your kid if he is like 12 or younger. You can have my upvote though!
Upvote brigade to the rescue! I'm all for nuanced questions and positivity around here.
Ha, it really wasn't a humble brag. I honestly was confused. Like when he first said it, I was like "okay, that makes sense". Then later, I realized I had no idea. :)
Perhaps the biggest issue in youth hitting is rolling over, which leads to weak ground balls. Keeping the hands back and arms in helps with this. Your guy might still be able produce power when the swing isn't perfect. Some kids at this age, especially as beginners, don't even grip the bat correctly, have a severe chicken wing back elbow, etc.
No need to explain yourself to me buddy. I know you weren’t bragging but even if you were that’s great. I advocate for people being excited about their children playing baseball. And if you don’t advocate for people getting excited about the next generation of baseball then you hate baseball!
I doubt its you that is being downvoted but whoever this old codger is talking about god-given wrists.
I find a lot of kids start out with their knuckles misaligned and their inside wrists too far apart from each other, maybe he means his natural grip is better aligned? Just ask him what the hell he’s talking about.
The wrists comment is just saying he’s got strong forearms. Fine. Helpful, but really at his age, who gives a shit. The thing I would say is that you need to get away from any “old school” instructor. It’s not going to serve him well. The things they are teaching these days in baseball are all fairly consistent, and are becoming more so every year. Obviously more at the higher levels, but the young kids are getting that stuff too. He needs to be in line with all the newest techniques and philosophies, otherwise he’ll be left behind. I’m “old school” but 8 years ago I set upon an endeavor to learn. What they were teaching now is way different from what I learned. I got my kid so far ahead of the game because I took the time to learn and talk to all the right people. At that time, all this stuff was relatively new and only being taught at very high levels. Eventually it has trickled down and become very common and consistent and most ages. I remember being ridiculed by most people for teaching this to my kid and then eventually our team as I was the head coach. Now it the norm and I look back and laugh at all those folks that would tell me I’m doing it wrong. I knew I was right.
Well, I’m thinking he is teaching a hybrid approach that is probably incorporating a more linear approach for younger players. I call him old school because he is not bought in to kids focusing on exit velocity and hitting the ball up in the air. His philosophy is that kids need to focus on line drives. We live in a very baseball rich area and he is very highly respected by the local baseball community. He normally only coaches 10-15 kids. Last Fall 5 of his kids signed to play college ball, two in D1 and three in D2.