switch-hitters

I like this thread....it really hits close to home.

My son started at 7. It was and has always been his decision. I supported it because early on he showed an ability to make good contact from both sides. By the time he was 9 he was switching in games.

Been there....done that. For me it lasted thru HS. You're right about the bonding.....we still do it when he's home from school. He still swings a bat so much that he has huge calluses in the palms of both hands.

Although my son never met with a lot of opposition from his coaches, there were some that thought he was a better hitter from one side or the other. By the time he reached HS he was encouraged by both his HS coach and Legion coach. Both made sure that he had ample swings from both sides.

I can understand a set number of pitches. My son's HS coach would have him hit with the first group from one side and then hit with the last group from the other side.

Absolutely........I know my son has strengths and weaknesses from both sides. Having a good hitting coach is assential for helping a hitter figure out his weaknesses so that he can spend time working on them, not just going to the cage and swinging the bat roboticly. I guess mine was lucky to have had several coaches in his past that were able to get thru to him....I know I never could.

One of the things that happen for him is that he became too wrapped up in his LH swing. By the time he was in HS he had become a better hitter from the leftside due to the lopsided ABs. (about 10-15 to 1. LH to RH) As early as last year I reminded him that he needed to spend a little more time in the cage RHed to keep his swing in shape.

Always...........that's why it was always his decision when he wanted to take extra BP at home and how much.

Sorry for the long post....but like I said in the beginning...it hits really close to home.

 

my sons are three and four and have been swinging a bat since they were one. my brother is a right handed power hitter with the initials MB and i,m a left handed hitter with little power but a great eye. together we have been working with my sons hitting from both sides and they are doing quite well. the older one gets a little frustrated at times batting lefthanded but the younger son is a natural from both sides. he could probably throw with either hand also but we stick with what feels more natural to him. i think the younger the better to start getting those reps in from both sides. i'm just thankful they have the desire to learn and have a great teacher in MB.

 

Swith Hitting is not something Im big on, especially if you've got a guy hitting .220 Left handed and .320 right handed theres no point of ever batting left handed. Hitting is already the hardest thing to do in all of sports, its so tough as it is, and takes a ton of work to be a great hitter already, and then having to learn how to be great from both sides of the plate. I think swith hitting is a fading practice in baseball, and unless you've got a son who is a freak, such as a Chipper Jones, I would personally just stress one side.

 

But how do you know if they are a Freak unless you allow your son to give it a long term try? This was one of my earlier points: It takes time to develop switch hitting, & not all of this can be done in practice. Sooner or later he has to take it to the live game & face pitchers instead of Dads in the cage.

When that happens, the moral dilema begins. Who is in charge? Is it the Coach's call or the Kids? Coaches want to win today's game...the Kid wants to develop from both sides, which could cost a few wins early on. So who decides which side? Does the Kid have the permission to fail so he can learn to succeed?

This is one of those 'me vs. the team' issues that doesn't have an easy answer imho. Trust me: we felt this pressure on more than a few occasions. Parents, teammates, & coaches all want to win...and here is this Kid hitting oppo with the game on the line. And if he fails, the blame game begins.

Am I the only one who sees this?

 

Great Posts!

what a great thread. East of Raleigh, i gotta tell you that the 12 year old at home drives me nuts. Every day he waits for me to get home so we can go hit. he's already dressed, cup, baseball pants and all. i'm careful we don't throw too much and sometimes i tell him no but he's driving this bus for sure. at first he was noticably worse from the left side but i was the coach and ignored parents. now he is better from the left side than the right and it looks like he is one of those freaks we're talking about. the main hs coaches around here have all seen him in camps and they just shake their heads at his bat speed from either side. really it's just hard work and determination. yeah, i'm his hitting coach but i played pro ball so for the $$ i'm charging him for lessons i'd say he's getting a good deal. my gas, my bats, my balls, my time............yeah, you guessed it. Priceless! i have to disagree that it is a passing fad. all my scout friends tell me its not. particularly the left side hitting. if we had to give one up it would be the right side some day.

AND this darn desire to win win win is ridiculous. i just got off the phone with a 13 year old teams coach from Miami (we are in NC) who is wanting to contact one of the kids i coached last year to get him to come to a tournament and pitch for them. AT 13!!! unbelievable!

 

agree

yes, I agree and have experienced same. want to "try" things during games, but the win/lose thing sometime got in the way.

 

Interesting thread. We started my son as a 6 year old, hitting live both ways once kid pitch started. Me being his coach solved many of the dilemmas mentioned, but most kids skilled enough to switch at that age are probably better than half the players on a youth team even hitting from their weaker side. The key is as mentioned earlier, it's two swings and takes as many reps from each side to stay consistent and get better. The one time I thought about tossing the idea, Mike Shildt talked me out of it. Mike continued working with my son from both sides through Senior year and the results were very consistent from both sides.
On a side note, great memory was in a showcase tournament the opposing coach pulled his starter to bring in a lefty. Junior promptly turned around and delivered an rbi hit. Almost thought we were coaching in the majors.

As for local high school coaches, Coach Bagwell had two switch hitters at South (Wes Borden & Kyle Shelton) and to my knowledge never interfered with them switching. Coach Greeson at East allowed Matt Hill and my son to switch for him with no major intereference. Most of the good coaches recognize the advantages.

I would encourage anyone with the ability to explore it.

 

Man, what a great topic. I started switch-hitting @ 15 and loved every minute of it. I'm a natural righty, but after a while every time I picked up a bat (in a store or whatever) I'd pick it up left handed.
When I coached I loved working with switch hitters. I had first hand experience with the whole double BP thing, so I'd always give them extra hacks. My advice would be to start them out pretty young, so by the time they get to high school and winning is really important, they have a lot of confidence in their lefty stroke. I really hated to see a kid short change himself by going up there right handed vs. a righty in a critical situation because he was skeptical of his ability left handed.
My college coach made me give up hitting left handed my senior year and I didn't really like it, but I understood why. When you've been around 3 years and you're hovering around the Mendoza line, its time to try something else though. Sad but true.
My son just turned four months and we've already had a heart to heart about how I want him to be able to hit from both sides. Just kidding, he's going to be a 6'4" 230lbs lefty anyway.

 

in softball too

little bit off subject, but I played slow-pitch softball many years ago in a co-ed league where the rules were that the men had to hit opposite their normal side. that was lots of fun; most guys developed into above average hitters as this league went on.

sorry, now back to baseball....................

 

I didn't closely read every post on this thread but it seems to me that we are not talking about the most important component of why a kid switch hits in the first place..... MARKETING.

Every baseball guy I have ever met I have asked: should my son switch hit? and EVERY one of them from major league managers on down to former pro players have said absolutely... I will tell this intersting piece of news as well. If he plays a position like catcher where most of the guys are slow and righty you are really setting yourself out from the crowd.

A former AAA manager and big leaguer once told me... " I can go to Venezuala and sign 100 switch hitting second basemen tomorrow but a switch hitting catcher who can hit and has the tools?... rare find". Of course it goes without saying that the kid can hit from both side and has been previously posted there is a learning curve and its TWICE the work.

Let me also add this about whether to start switching or not. I started not out of a desire to maximize his chances. In fact I was just throwing to him in the back yard with a plastic ball and bat and noticied sometimes he would bat righty and sometimes lefty and sometimes he would pick it up cross handed so in my mind he was showing a natural tendency to hit both ways.

I have also run into some of the same coaching prejudices mentioned in other posts... but have been fortunate most of the time to have him coached by someone who saw his potential from both sides and was willing to indulge it.