Falling onto the front foot

[The Duece]

My 10 year old son is a good little power hitter, but he struggles to be consistent. JBOOTH, after watching a video of him some time back, made an interesting observation. He suggested that my son was falling onto his front foot during his stride and bending his torso toward the pitcher, causing disconnection and other issues such as getting his hands way too far out front. Does anyone have any drills that might help me to correct this. Telling the youngster--who is very coachable for his age--to stop leaning toward the pitcher hasn't worked. I experimented with having him swing with a smaller stride and no stride (front foot up and then back down), but it just merely mucked up his timing, robbed him of his power, and smacked down his confidence. I can see that JBOOTH is right in his assessment, but I can't seem to find the drill to help fix it. I'm sure its the cause of his strikeoutitis. Anyone have any thoughts or wisdom? Anyone been through this? I would especially like to hear from a guy that I really respect: JBOOTH. Thank you in advance, guys.

[LAball]

Throw a ball to him and have him lean forward as he catches it. Have him notice how the ball comes to him faster. Now throw the ball and have him lean back as he catches it. have him notice how the ball seems to be slower. When he bats see if notice the difference if he leans forward or back ( or at least stay still ). Not sure if thats what your looking for, or if it works, but at least this just messes with his perception of the ball and not directly with the swing.

[Coach C]

D, is he on his front foot while hitting off a tee and soft toss?

[Chris O'Leary]

My 10 year old son is a good little power hitter, but he struggles to be consistent. JBOOTH, after watching a video of him some time back, made an interesting observation. He suggested that my son was falling onto his front foot during his stride and bending his torso toward the pitcher, causing disconnection and other issues such as getting his hands way too far out front. Does anyone have any drills that might help me to correct this. Telling the youngster--who is very coachable for his age--to stop leaning toward the pitcher hasn't worked. I experimented with having him swing with a smaller stride and no stride (front foot up and then back down), but it just merely mucked up his timing, robbed him of his power, and smacked down his confidence. I can see that JBOOTH is right in his assessment, but I can't seem to find the drill to help fix it. I'm sure its the cause of his strikeoutitis. Anyone have any thoughts or wisdom? Anyone been through this? I would especially like to hear from a guy that I really respect: JBOOTH. Thank you in advance, guys.

This is generally known as lunging.

One thing that may work is to tell him to wait for the ball to come to him and to not go get it.

"Stay back" can also work.

[wogdoggy]

This is generally known as lunging.

One thing that may work is to tell him to wait for the ball to come to him and to not go get it.

"Stay back" can also work.

louisville slugger makes a GREAT book with many good cures for lunging..its a great value ..

[rkbenn]

My 10 year old son is a good little power hitter, but he struggles to be consistent. JBOOTH, after watching a video of him some time back, made an interesting observation. He suggested that my son was falling onto his front foot during his stride and bending his torso toward the pitcher, causing disconnection and other issues such as getting his hands way too far out front. Does anyone have any drills that might help me to correct this. Telling the youngster--who is very coachable for his age--to stop leaning toward the pitcher hasn't worked. I experimented with having him swing with a smaller stride and no stride (front foot up and then back down), but it just merely mucked up his timing, robbed him of his power, and smacked down his confidence. I can see that JBOOTH is right in his assessment, but I can't seem to find the drill to help fix it. I'm sure its the cause of his strikeoutitis. Anyone have any thoughts or wisdom? Anyone been through this? I would especially like to hear from a guy that I really respect: JBOOTH. Thank you in advance, guys.

IMO>Video tape him and show him. I worked with my son on the very same thing. Once that front foot plants that head does not move forward. Even in the stride the head moves very little forward. He may also be loosing power as a result of not getting proper weight shift as a result of trying to stay back.

Timing will be effected and will take some cuts before he can adjust.