Teach my boy to switch hit

[bcoop]

The game is hard enough as it is...why make it harder? Let him play what is natural for him.

We did this with Kenny and a few other kids on one of his teams. Kids tend to get lazy and just go through the motions. When they go up to the plate on the other side, and it's not a natural feeling, they are forced to pay attention. Usually resulting in making more contact. I will say though, these kids were 7-8 at the time. I would think it would be harder to do with older kids.

[Josh.0]

its muscle memory just have him practice swinging left handed

[juiceweezl]

My son is a lefty, haven't started the right handed swings yet. He's 5 (6 in Aug), so I have some time. The kid is money though, the only time he didn't hit was when the coach beaned him (coach pitch/advanced t-ball). He hasn't used a tee in 2 seasons and was just selected as the first alternate to the all-star team - yeah, I know, it's fucking coach pitch tee-ball, but still a pretty proud moment for me, since he's on the younger end (2 youngest out of 11 kids).

One of the Cardinal rules of baseball -- don't turn a lefty into a righty! My 10u son is pure lefty. He throws low 60's consistently from the mound and has hit 65 several times. He swings from the left and one hopped it over a 300' fence a few weeks ago. He routinely hits the ball 240' plus, and is an incredibly tough out at the plate. This is playing 10u majors level ball and often up to 11u. Hitting is hard enough, and people won't lefty hitters. Do not take away any practice time that can be spent getting better at something that is natural -- hitting left handed.

We did this with Kenny and a few other kids on one of his teams. Kids tend to get lazy and just go through the motions. When they go up to the plate on the other side, and it's not a natural feeling, they are forced to pay attention. Usually resulting in making more contact. I will say though, these kids were 7-8 at the time. I would think it would be harder to do with older kids.

It's actually easier to teach older kids because they have a better understanding of 'how' or the concept of hitting. That being said, I'd never teach a lefty batter to switch hit. My 6 year old has flirted with it a few times, but other than a few tee sessions and some front toss, I won't let him. He shows the ability to do it, but it's too freaking hard.

OP, if you want to give it a go, this is what you do.

1) Let him take swings from a tee. Use a slightly smaller (shorter and lighter weight) bat. Keep in mind it's like relearning how to hit. The feet have to be in the right spot, the lower half has to load and then rotate, and the arms/hands have to load and drive forward to meet the ball. If that can't be repeated fairly consistently right away, then don't pursue switch hitting any longer.

2) If he can repeat the swing that looks reasonably well from a tee, then push on. I would work on front toss at that point until he gets it down and then move on. The last thing you want to do is go straight to a pitched ball because it won't help learn. Start from the basics just like you would with a 5 year old.

3) If he shows the ability to hit front toss, I'd move on to some slow pitching and then go see an instructor for their assessment. It can be done, but it's not easy or common.

One other thing to note. I remember distinctly a comment that Chipper Jones once made about switch hitting that never occurred to me until he said it. Switch hitters have to work twice as hard to get ready, to maintain swings, etc. In a standard week, my son will hit twice at practice, once at the cage with me, often once at the cage another time, and then play games on Saturday and Sunday. Let's say he spends a total of 4+ hours of actual hitting time during the week with 3.5 of that as non-game warmup time. If he started switch hitting, he'd have to either double that number or reduce the number of swings from his natural side which would lead to decrease in performance. It's a time investment, and one most athletes/families can't commit to be successful at.

[BERT]

I started switch hitting when I was 13-14. I was a throw right, bat left player. My reason for switch hitting? I didn't like the way the ball looked coming at me when I faced left handed pitchers. And the older I got the more of them there were. It took some time and don't try and make his right handed swing look the same as his left cause it won't look anything like his natural side lol

Strangely enough, my right handed swing was quicker and I had more power from the right side. I had one of those big looping Palmero swings

Anyway, if your son is serious about trying it, just remember it takes time and practice