HOW CAN MY SON LEARN TO HIT SLOW PITCHING?

My 10 year old son plays little league baseball during the week and traveling baseball on the weekends. He can hit the fast pitching during his traveling games, but struggles against the slow pitching during his little league baseball games.

I’ve tried every drill in the book. What would you recommend?

COACH HENZE’S ANSWER

Thanks for this good baseball question!

Believe it or not, this is a pretty common issue with baseball players. Some good hitters can hit a hard-throwing pitcher, but those same hitters really struggle with a slow-throwing pitcher or junk baller (pitcher that throws a lot of off-speed pitches). The good thing is that there are some things you can do to work on this…

  1. Focus on attacking the inside part of the baseball and hitting it to the opposite field. This will have the player concentrating on staying back and keeping his hands inside the ball. Keeping your weight back is a mental aspect of the game, but very important.

    Let the baseball come to you and then use your hands to attack the inside part of the ball. A good hitter will be relaxed in the box and simply let his hands do the work.

    I would recommend focusing on this for a period of time during batting practice daily.

  2. Because the mental aspect of the game is so big, I would recommend purchasing a copy of Steve Springers DVD/CD combo. It walks players through the mental side of hitting, including the focus on attacking the inside part of the baseball. It is a great CD for any age player from youth until the Big Leagues. Many professional players recommend this product.

    You can learn more and purchase this DVD/CD right on my site. Just click on the links!

  3. If you don’t already have one, I would also recommend purchasing the Insider Bat, Hands Inside Trainer, or the
    Power Drive Brace Youth Hitting Trainer
    . All are very good products that help with keeping the hands inside and attacking the inside part of the baseball.

In summary, many baseball players fall into this category (hitters that can hit the hard fastball but cannot hit slow pitching). To be a very good hitter, the player MUST be able to hit all types of pitching. In this case, the player must work on keeping his weight back, attacking the inside part of the baseball and focus on driving the ball to the opposite field.

Thanks again for the great question!

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