switch-hitters

at what age do you start to see effective switch hitters? as coaches, do you teach this technique or just leave it up to the player (& maybe his hitting instructor)?

 

I began working with my son on switch hitting at age 4. He's never known anything else.

 

MlbScout....assuming that a kid can hit from both sides of the plate. How much emphasis do you guys(scouts) actually put on it.

 

If he can REALLY do it, it's a great advantage. As he moves to better competition, he should have much more success with breaking balls. Also, if he can run, the ability to hit from the left side is a plus.

 

My son was a very promising switch hitter, but he decided to drop the opposite hand his Junior year of high school. But along the way I noticed that switchhitters face a few obstacles developing their talent...& I'm curious if you folks agree with my assessment:

1--The opposition of coaches who place a higher value on winning than developing a kid's talent. Some coaches at younger ages are hesitant to give a kid the chance to learn under fire...which means the freedom to fail. (This was not true of my son's High School or Legion coach).

2--The lack of batting practice from both sides. Most coaches give each hitter a set number of pitches...& they expect a switchhitter to divide those pitches between right/left instead of doubling his reps.

3--The lack of good coaching. A switch-hitter is 2 different hitters, with slightly different swings. That multiplies the problem of getting good instruction since the coach has to analyze 2 swings/styles.

 

From the Very Beginning

My son is 12. he's always switched. i've told him from the time he was in tball to tell anyone who asked him that he was a switch. if they ask him today which side he is better on he won't commit. "both" he always says. the earlier post is exactly right. you have two swings and double the reps if you want it to work. yes he struggled from the left for awhile but i never let him give in. now he is better left than right but has hit balls over 250ft from either side. now we have to make sure he doesn't cheat the reps from the right side. whichever side is struggling needs more reps than the other. not the other way around. i think you have to start "From the Very Beginning" if you want it to work. age 14 or so won't work. AND you have to be willing to sacrifice results for experience. now we are almost over the hump BUT it's the Right Side that needs the little bit of polish i'm not seeing. the key is good technique and tons of reps. i've given him 200-400 swings 4-5x a week since he was 9. it's baseball training 101 but really it's just dad and son forming that bond that will last a lifetime. it's what my dad did for me. i guess i'm just passing it on.

 

Another Obvious Note

If the boy is a natural left handed hitter don't teach him to hit from the right side. the rewards aren't there. in mlb only about 25% of the ABs are vs lhp's. in hs and in college its even less so there's no point in investing the time.

the other thing that drives me crazy is seeing left handed boys batting right handed!!! what's up with that? they are perfect candidates to switch over to the left side. there's a reason they chose their left hand to throw with in the first place! their brain told them to do it.

if i'm not mistaken there isn't a single mlb player who throws Left and hits Right. and i don't think there's been one in a long time. There's a reason for that.

Also, there are no switch hitters that are left handed. they are all right handed guys that learned to hit from the left side.

 

aguyyouknow...That sounds like our story too through 12. I can't raise my arm over my head because of throwing batting practice.

Through 12 I was always able to either coach my son or have some say-so over him switching. But during middle school & into high school, the pressure mounted for Ty to marry one side or the other due to the above.

It has worked out since Ty is playing college ball & LOVES curve balls. But even though Ty was hitting about the same from both sides of the plate, we were frustrated (during his early Teens) by the lack of enthusiasm some coaches had for the requirements of a switch-hitter.

 

Another reason to encourage a young person who is right handed to swing left handed is the fact they are right eye dominant. Which means they will see the ball better hitting left handed.

Many coaches discourage a pitcher from doing that (throw right, bat left) for obvious reasons, but heck, we are talking about amateur ball, not the pros.

 

ever?

ever concerned about burnout?