Congratuations to Coach Brian Taler and the 9U White Sox for winning the 9U MBA 2010 Fall Preseason Tournament.

Lots of coaches routinely tell their hitters to "stay on top of the baseball". Lots of hitters think this means keeping the barrel of the bat on top of the ball. This isn't correct. In hitting, staying on top of the baseball means to keep the hands higher than the level of the ball. If the hands drop lower than the ball, hitters will routinely hit pop-ups or miss the ball completely by swinging underneath it. 

Lots of youth coaches make players take a strike before letting them swing the bat and/or always make players take a pitch on 1–0 (1 ball , 0 strikes), 2-0, 3-0 and 3–1 counts. Coaches do this for a few reasons: (1) keep players from swinging at bad pitches early in the count or when they are a head in the count; (2) get poor hitters on base via walks; and (3) reduce strikeouts. Taking pitches has its strategic value. But before giving the take sign consider these things:

*0–0, 1-0, 2-0, 3–0 and 3-1 are great hitting counts. Batters can expect pitchers to throw fastballs for strikes. This gives them best opportunity see it and hit it! Also, hitters are more relaxed when they are ahead in the count which also gives them a better chance to get hits.

*Making players take pitches, teaches players not to swing the bat. Walks are great, but baseball is a hitting game.

*Making players take pitches can get them into bad hitting counts. A 3-0 count becomes, 3-1 and then 3-2. Now the hitter is stressed and is forced to swing at anything close.

*Remember the Yogi Berra quote, “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.” A coach can build confidence in his hitters by letting them swing away.

One of the primary faults with young pitchers is their tempo is too fast and they have a tendency to rush their delivery. This means that they go into and come out of the wind-up position too fast. Pitchers that rush are usually out of balance which negatively affects their pitch speed and control. To improve their tempo I tell pitchers “Slow and Soft Up”, “Slow and Soft Down” and “Out Fast”.

*“Slow and Soft Up” – Lift the glove-side leg up slowly and softly into the wind-up position.

*“Slow and Soft Down” – Simultaneously break the glove-side foot and hands down slowly and softly.

*“Out Fast” – After completing the break accelerate towards home plate and deliver the pitch.  

The other day I asked a 10-year old pitcher how many pitches did he throw and he said “six”. He said he threw a fastball, cutter, curveball, change-up, knuckleball and slider. That’s quite an assortment of pitches for such a young pitcher. The question is how many pitches do youth pitchers (Ages 9 to 14) need to learn?

I teach youth pitchers 3 pitches: A 4-seam fastball, a 2-seam fastball and a change-up.  

The 4-seam fastball grip is the basic grip taught to all pitchers. The 4-seam fastball is generally faster than the 2-seam fastball. Place the index and middle fingers across the horseshoe seams of the baseball and place the thumb on the bottom of the ball. Use a relaxed grip and hold the ball ‘like an egg’. It’s important not to jam the ball into the back or palm of the hand. It’s acceptable for younger players to grip the ball with 3 or 4 fingers with their thumb placed on the bottom of the ball until their hands grow.

The 2-seam fastball grip provides pitchers with an alternative fastball that breaks or cuts. The 2-seam fastball is held generally the same way as the 4-seam fastball, but instead of gripping the ball across the seams the pitcher places the index and middle fingers on the seams of the baseball where the seams are the closest together.

Pitchers that throw a change-up create timing problems for hitters. The most common change-up grips are the Circle Change (pictured) and Palm Ball. But unlike the fastball, the change-up is held deeper in the back of the hand (palm) and gripped slightly tighter (‘choking the ball’). The general rule for a change-up is ‘the more skin touching the ball means more friction and less velocity’. The key to throwing the change-up is using the same arm speed as the fastball so the batter visually thinks the pitcher is throwing a fastball. The change in grip will slow down the pitch.

One last note…arguably New York Yankee pitcher, Mariano Rivera, is the best closer ever. Rivera has appeared in 88 postseason games. He’s pitched a total of 133.1 postseason innings and has an incredible 0.71 earned run average and 107 strikeouts. He’s also only given up 21 walks and 2 homeruns. So how many pitches does he throw? One. That’s right the best closer in baseball throws a 4-seam fastball. So why would a youth pitcher need to throw six different pitches?  

After getting into the wind-up position the pitcher begins the move out of the wind-up by breaking their hands and glove-side foot ‘down’. By breaking ‘down’ the pitcher maintains power by keeping the front shoulder and hip closed and also helps the pitcher hide the ball from the hitter.  Pitchers that break ‘out’ instead of ‘down’ lose power and accuracy because they open their front hip and shoulder too soon and create timing problems because the throwing arm gets into position before the glove-side foot lands.  

The pitcher begins the move out of the wind-up by slowly or softly breaking the glove-side foot (and knee) down and simultaneously breaking the hands down the center of the body. Breaking the hands down helps the pitcher use a circular motion to throw the ball.   As the hands break down the fingers of the throwing hand stay on top of the ball, the thumbs face each other and the wrists stay relaxed. The hand break stops at approximately belt level and the arms stay relaxed and flexed. The ball will slightly separate from the glove and stay hidden behind the pitcher’s body. The pitcher’s front shoulder and hip remain closed.  The pitcher’s weight remains over the post leg, the pitcher’s post leg slightly collapses and the pitcher’s head remains still and focused on the target.

After breaking down the pitcher accelerates to home plate and delivers the pitch.

Running effective practices creates a fun environment in which the kids are motivated to learn things. Successful baseball teams are usually those that consistently plan and execute well thought out practices.

• The kids are having fun
• The kids are moving, busy and constantly involved
• Coaches are enthusiastic and use positive reinforcement
• Every drill is teaching specific fundamentals (practice with a purpose)
• Competition is instilled in drills (as applicable)
• Innovation is used to capture the players’ interest
• Safety awareness

Station Drills

Using station drills is an effective way to work with your team in smaller groups. Station drills keep kids moving, busy and constantly involved. Stations also ensure the kids receive lots of repetitions on specific drills. To run station drills you’ll need lots help from assistant coaches and parents. Split your team into groups. For example, if you have 12 players, split them into 4 groups of 3 players. Each group reports to a station. Station drills can be used to teach multiple fundamentals or work on a specific skill. After 15 or 20 minutes take a break and then rotate the groups.

Believe it or not baseball season is right around the corner. Most Select teams have started practicing and the recreational leagues will hold tryouts and start forming teams in February. This is also the time of year lots of players enroll in baseball lessons.  During the last month I’ve had a number of parents ask me, “Do you think my child is ready for baseball lessons?”

Most parents think the age is the primary requirement for lessons.  The answer is yes and no. I’ve successfully worked with players with ages ranging from 6 to 18. I’ve worked with 7 year-olds that ARE ready for lessons and I’ve worked with 11 year-olds that ARE NOT ready for lessons. So age is not the only requirement.  I usually tell parents to ask these questions before they enroll their child (or children) in baseball lessons:

*Does my child want to take lessons?

*Does my child have the attention span and focus to work with an instructor?

*Will my child practice between lessons?

If the answer is YES to these 3 questions most likely your child is ready to take baseball lessons.

We are definitely in the middle of baseball offseason. It’s colder outside and it gets dark around 5 PM. So there are lots of excuses not to work on baseball skills.

But the offseason is a great time to work on fundamentals to prepare for the next season. Many of the hitting and pitching drills that I teach do not require lots of room. You can set up in a garage, warehouse, basement or gym. You can even rent cage time at My Batters Box (www.mybattersbox.com), the indoor baseball facility that I teach lessons at.

Practicing on fundamentals now will pay off big in the spring season.