9 Year Old Hitting Help

Amen to the comments made above, and let me add a few: I coach a 9 year old tournament team, and I have a couple of players who get into the "looking for a walk" mode, too. I've made a point of encouraging all of my players to swing at anything they think they can hit. (I don't have many wild swingers on the team, and those that do tend to "fish" usually go after a specific type of pitch - high or low, which I can remind them about individually.) If a kid strikes out swinging at a strike I give him positive feedback - he did the right thing, even if it didn't work out. My pet peeve is coaches who tell young players "Don't swing until you get a called strike." In many leagues wit younger players the pitchers do have trouble throwing strikes, and this may be a sound tactical move to win a game, but at what cost? All coaches of younger players should be encouraged to teach aggressive batting. What I tell my boys is: "Look for a strike and hit it!" Hitting is fun, and players should want to do it. They'll have more fun and be better players in the future, to boot. Coaches and parents can do a lot about helping kids to play with anticipation of success instead of fear of failure.