Batting tips for parents and coaches

"Stand so the end of the bat can touch the far edge of the plate."

• Distance from the plate: have the hitter reach the barrel across the plate. If the end of the bat covers the outside edge, they can reach every strike. Closer than that and inside pitches jam them.
• Depth in the box: for most young hitters, front foot roughly even with the middle of the plate is a fine default. Struggling with breaking balls? Move slightly back. Getting beaten by fastballs? Move slightly up.
• Feet a little wider than the shoulders, knees soft, weight on the balls of the feet — not on the heels, not way out on the toes.
• Head level and both eyes turned toward the pitcher. A tilted head makes the ball harder to track than any mechanical flaw.

8U-10U: only check the plate-reach test. Everything else can wait.

"Line up your knocking knuckles and hold it like a bird you don't want to squash."

• Grip the bat in the fingers, not buried in the palms. Line up the middle knuckles — the ones you'd knock on a door with — of both hands. It looks odd at first and it lets the wrists work.
• Hands relaxed. A white-knuckle grip slows the bat down. Tension is the single most common problem in young hitters.
• Hands start near the back shoulder, a few inches off the body. Bat angled back over the shoulder rather than wrapped behind the head.
• Bat size matters more than technique here: if the hitter cannot hold the bat out one-handed for a few seconds, or is late on every pitch, the bat is too heavy.

Coaches: check grip once at the start of the session, then leave it alone.

"One breath, one thought: hit it hard up the middle."

• Build the same short routine every time — step out, breath, step in, set. Routine is what keeps a young hitter calm in a game.
• Keep something moving. A small rhythm move in the hands or back knee stops the body freezing. A statue cannot start on time.
• Eyes to the pitcher's release point, not to the whole pitcher. Pick the spot the ball appears from and wait there.
• One thought only. 'Hit it hard up the middle' works for almost every hitter at almost every age. Five swing thoughts produce no swing at all.

This is where most sessions are won. It costs nothing and no equipment is involved.

"Short stride, let the hips go first, catch it out in front."

• Load: a small gather back as the pitcher comes forward. Gathering is not lunging back — the head should barely move.
• Stride short and quiet. Coaches disagree on stride length and leg kicks, and both can work; what nobody disagrees on is that the head should stay level through it.
• Hips lead, hands follow. The lower half turns first and the barrel comes through behind it. This sequencing, not arm strength, is what produces exit velocity.
• Contact out in front of the plate, with the back foot turning and weight moving into a firm front leg.
• Eyes down through contact. Looking up early to find the ball pulls the whole swing off it.

If the hitter is swinging as hard as they can and missing more, that's over-swinging — ask for 80% effort.

"Ask what it felt like, not what they did wrong."

• A full, balanced finish. If the hitter falls off the plate or stumbles, they were swinging at more than they can control.
• Ask one question: 'what did you feel?' It tells you whether they know what happened, which is the only way a cue sticks.
• Give one cue per session. Not five. Pick the biggest thing and stay on it until the next session.
• Praise the process, not the result. A hard-hit line drive right at someone is a good swing; a lucky bloop is not.

Write the one cue down. Next session starts by checking whether it stuck.