Monday, February 21, 2011
Getting Ready!
Monday was a holiday for me and the kids. Mama had to work so I stayed home and enjoyed the day playing with the kids and finding things to get done around the house. With baseball season right around the corner, Reid decided to do a little practicing on his own. First he set up his pitch back net and threw himself some grounders. When he got tired of that he picked up his bat and went to the Swing Away machine. I watched him for a while out of the window and then I figured I had better get out there and try and coach him up a little. He has happy feet and will keep creeping around the pole if you don't watch him. This causes him to get to close to the ball swinging back towards him. You can see in the video that on the first couple of swings he has his feet in a good position. The more swings he takes, the wider he lets his feet get and the worse he swings. I'm trying to teach him to attack the ball out front right now and to keep a good solid base under him. We can work on letting the ball "get deep" and taking it to the opposite field when he gets a little more advanced. I'm sure my blog following baseball coach named Steve from California can give me some pointers on his swing and could also give me some pointers on coaching a 7 year old in the fine art of hitting, but for right now I'm just happy that he is making consistent contact and is improving his hand/eye coordination with this practice drill.
I shot this video in an effort to show him how he is letting his feet get too wide and how he is moving around the pole. He wasn't very impressed with my high tech coaching method, but he did want to video his old man showing him how it is done. Not my best swings, but not too bad considering I was swinging a 28 inch bat and had on my slippers. His sister can be heard in the background asking to see the video. What in the world did we do when we were kids and actually had to wait a week or so for pictures and such to be developed? Steve, how was this???
My back will be sore tomorrow and my elbow, which is already screaming at me, will need some ice. I have a bad case of tendinitis that needs to be healed up before golfing season! Overall it was a great day outside with the kids and Reid had a fun time practicing baseball which I enjoyed seeing.
I also did some cooking in the new oil-less fryer. I'll post on that later in the week! Happy Presidents Day!
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5 comments:
Aw! She's so cute! I wanna see I wanna see!!
And Trey can still swing a bat pretty good!
oil-less fryer? cool!!
Glad you are taking the time to be a good coach and Dad. Hopefully he will listen and do as instructed:) Now you need to start teaching Mia so she won't be a repeat of her aunt!
i like your new header!
Trey,
First of all I have to give you a high five for spending the day with your children. As I look back so many days I got to do what you did, but so many more I missed because I was at the field or at the pool helping other parent's children. (I coach water polo also.) My children rose above the slight. One college grad about to be married. One 4.0 in college, then joins the Army and is on his way to Iraq after being in Haiti with the 82nd Airborne. No. 3 is at college in Oregon thinking of architecture. No. 4, the only girl and the only left hander, is a Junior at the school where I teach. Enjoy your children at each stage. There are joys at each age.
I think both of you have a good swing. The best might to combine the two in your son. I have changed over time and like the compact stride you have. I would spread out Reid's stance some so that his stride is small to nothing. Just a little lift of the foot and step a few inches.
Reid does a good job of getting the bat head to the ball. To me that is the most important thing in hitting. Hard to hit the ball if the bat head is dragging behind everything else.
Short stride, hips snap, hands follows, then bat head to the ball. I also like the Swing Away for the movement it gives.
Good job and another day to enjoy your children.
Steve
Thanks Steve! The lesson of the day was footwork. He does better once he is actually in the box and I am pitching to him. He knows that he needs to stride toward the pitcher. Thanks again for the input!
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