Keeping the head in...

[deaconspoint]

What advice can you give to help me teach my son to keep his head in/still when he swings. His swing is not bad, but he tries to swing so hard at times that his head seems to fire back. Is there a method you use to get on top of this important part of the swing? I thought a lot of it could be coming from the bat weight and his trying to get it moving, but he is also doing it with a swift bat on wiffle balls in practice. I just think he may be trying to hard. What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Tim

[wogdoggy]

ike to mike..name his shoulders.

[deaconspoint]

I guess the key is to keep the chin on the shoulder correct? he tries to go shoulder to shoulder, but ends up with his ear on his shoulder rather than his chin.

[ssp23]

Put a glove on his head to keep it still. If it falls off when he's swinging then he moved it too much.

[deaconspoint]

Thanks, Tim

[chan7718]

I really don't know if this is a help or not, I've seen a lot of FP girls take a bite out of their jersey. They take their jersey and grap on to it with their teeth. The idea I quess is if they try to pull their head on the swing the jersey has to go with it.

[PullFactor]

I really don't know if this is a help or not, I've seen a lot of FP girls take a bite out of their jersey. They take their jersey and grap on to it with their teeth. The idea I quess is if they try to pull their head on the swing the jersey has to go with it.
I can foresee several embarrassing moments with that method.:laugh

[Aussie Al]

Head movement is a sign of an inefficient swing. Fixing the head movement does not necessarily fix the swing. Find the real cause . Without a clip it's hard to reccomend a fix.

Alan

[Ursa Major]

Here's one drill a kid can do indoors. Find a room with a decent sized mirror that's taller than he or she (I'll assume it's a boy for the moment) is and give him an empty paper towel roll/tube. Have him take his normal stance so that his feet are pointing at the mirror. Mark the spot where his feet are with a piece of masking tape. Have him start his swing and stop him at front heel plant. Now, use the masking tape to mark a spot on the mirror just above his head.

You're now set. Have him practice the swing and have him freeze at various points in it. The masking tape should remain in the same spot relative to the head at each point. (This drill is also good for having him develop consistency in his stance - a common difficulty with youngsters.)

Another drill is to take batting practice without swinging the bat. Instead, just have him watch the ball all the way into the catcher's glove. Then, instruct him to take normal BP, but continue to watch the ball into the mitt on any pitch he didn't swing at. This is a variation on a technique that Pete Rose is reputed to have used in games to work on keeping his head in.

By the way, be sure that he really is pulling his head. Mankin feels based on his review of video that the problem is overstated; most kids who seem to pull their heads don't actually do so until after contact. My observations agree with his; it's usually the act of straightening their knees or spine in the middle of their swings that causes missing or topping the ball, but "pulling the head" is blamed. So, videotape him and check it carefully in slo-mo. The risk of focusing on keeping the head is that it may discourage the kid from rotating as much as he should.

I don't understand the point of the "grabbing the jersey with your teeth" drill/cue. As the shoulders rotate, this will cause the head to move, no?

[deaconspoint]

Here is a clip of a recent swing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHL0UCJO864

Thanks,

Tim

[Ursa Major]

Tim, thanks for the clip. I guess we forgot to ask the all-important question: how old is the kid? He's a babe and not expected to have too much discipline.

I know you said he does this with wiffle bats too, but part of the problem seems to be that the bat's a little heavy, so he tries to use his head as a counterweight to get it around.

Otherwise, perhaps you should start from scratch and walk him through every part of the swing step by step very slowly. Right now, he's trying to do everything at once and swing as hard as he can

Also, you might have him hit into something like a boxer's heavy bag or a homemade facsimile thereof (like an old garment bag filled with deflated basketballs, like I use). Make him look at the spot where he contacts the bag. When that slows down the head jerk, move him to a tee, still focusing on watching the spot where the bat contacts the ball.

Otherwise, for his age, his stance, posture and aggressiveness are quite good.

[deaconspoint]

Thanks Ursa,
Yeah, he's very young and I know not to expect too much. There are many times when he keeps the head in and makes great contact. He knows this too. Just a kid trying to knock the tar out of the ball!! Thanks for the look.

Tim

[Whitesoxnut]

I agree with, and its important to remember, that head movement is a symptom and not the problem.

Head movement is a sign of an inefficient swing. Fixing the head movement does not necessarily fix the swing. Find the real cause . Without a clip it's hard to recommend a fix.

Very wise words, last night I was watching a kid pulling his head off the ball and the well meaning coach kept yelling at him, "keep your head in", without realizing the kids "head" isn't the problem. I'd hazard if your kids base, balance, and foot movement is good hes probably moving his hands to much and /or jerking his shoulders and/or dropping his elbows. Last night the kid with the head was doing all of them wrong and it started off with dancing at the plate and not beginning with a proper base. Now the kid cant hit the ball, hes pressing, frustrated, choking the bat to death, way to tense, and without an intervention hes not going to come out of it.

Another thing that drives me nuts is hearing well meaning coaches tell kids, "keep your elbow up" as in rear elbow. Unfortunately a kid who locks his elbow up tenses up to much and from there the only place his arms have to go is down. Now hes not only throwing his swing plane off but hes not generating any power, not using his body, his weight and balance is off, its just a big mess. I was taught to hit that way, it was wrong then and wrong now.

I cant load your video clip but it sounds like your boy is ready for a 1st rate hitting clinic. The hitting pros here will probably be the first to admit they cant correct a swing very well from a keyboard. As fathers we have to admit we have limits too, and not just that, often a kid will respond better to a pro at a clinic where'as they will often tune out a parent.

I spent all summer getting my boy out of his funk, and spent a lot of money. As already mentioned to heavy a bat will cause problems as well. Its "typical" for a kid to want to use to heavy a bat and I always believed they are better off with to little bat then to much.

I like the new batting machine with the pitcher video on the screen, "not the $30 1/2 hour price", but I try to do that once a week with my kid to add to the tee work and the father pitch on the field. But I must be truthful the real ones who got him out of his funk were the pros at the clinic. best of luck with your son.

[deaconspoint]

Thanks for the input Sox. When he gets a little older I do plan to get him some real instruction if that's what he wants. I do see what you ar esaying about the set up, balance and all the things that can lead to what looks like him pulling off the ball. Look for the cause not at the symptom. Thanks again.

Tim