Additional Thoughts

Coach Sam mentioned a "two-strike approach" at the plate. I am unsure if he means only when a batter has two-strikes or all of the time. I am nit a big fan of making mechanical adjustments on two strikes. For example, when a coach ells a batter to choke up with two strikes. For me it is just a change of philosophy, swinging at anything close, with the goal of fouling it off, to avoid being called out on strikes, and to wait for a mistake pitch. The only major thing I do to help my kids have better contact is through how I run BP. I give them X number of pitches, lets say 20. They get 20 pitches to hit whether they are swung on or not. However, if they foul the ball off they get the pitch over. This encourages making contact and really helps the kids focus on fouling away the close pitches. Some people have tried to say that this teaches the kids to swing at bad pitches, but I disagree. First of all they must be told why they are doing it that way, to increase contact. Furthermore, I do not teach my players to swing at strikes, because what constitutes a strike changes with the umpire, and if that philosophy is used there will be alot of kids going down looking. I teach to swing at what you can hit. BP done this way helps them better understand their bat range and what they can and cannot hit. This has helped my kids make contact tremendously. However, as the kids get better at it, my arm begins to fall off, but its the price you pay as a coach.