You mentioned pointing the bat at the catchers feet. I tell my team to pretend the knob of the bat is a flashlight and to point the flashlight at the catcher. Really helps them get their upper body coiled
Just made this adjustment with my 8 year old son. Widened the stance, quicker to the ready position, and let the bat rip! Looking forward to his game this weekend. Thanks for the video. Lots of different info on TH-cam, but this instruction is spot on.
Love this! I took my son to a hitting coach this morning and this is exactly what he focused on!! Good athletic batting stance and an early load! I’m not sure it was quite clicking for my son, so I’m going to show him this video and hope it helps 🤞🏼 Thanks for sharing this!
So cute. Matt is full of great information and that little guy just wants to hit and throw. I can see he listens to Dad/coach. The hardest thing to do with kids it explaining things simply with an easy to remember phrase. Someone below talked about pointing the bat knob like a "flashlight"...awesome one. Keeping chin tucked and touching front and rear shoulders during the swing..."Mike and Ike". Fun stuff...what a nice kid. Great job Matt!
Good stuff Matt. This is super common and I’ve seen my 7 year old have a few games where he struggled with getting loaded too late. I love how you are keeping it fun for him, that’s what it’s all about. Even though I’ve said this a million times to my son, it really sinks in more for him when he can watch your videos with me. Thank you so much.
Love the videos, I'm trying to coach 10 to 12, and some haven't played before, so I appreciate the ideas that work for the new kids, and that they translate to the advancest kids. I hit .600 as a kid at 13, but it's hard to remember how I learned that then, so I love these videos
I agree with you that timing the pitch is highly necessary for any age hitter. I also agree it is necessary for any age hitter to preload or pre coil the body to get ready to swing the bat. However, for kids ages 5 to 10 it is just important for kids to swing the bat on the plane of the pitched ball. Coaches tend to think of the way they swing and try to impart this same concept to kids. Unfortunately, young kids don't have the muscle strength to be able to swing like an adult. I believe it is imperative to teach young kids to start with the lead elbow up and the back elbow down. The bat should be touching just below the top of the shoulder. This places the lead elbow, the heal of the lead hand and the head of the bat on the same plane. By pre-coiling and keeping the hands back through the beginning of rotation, the bat can be locked in the correct position and will help young player with the weight of the bat. As far as telling the kids to keep the hands back, with proper rotation, the centrifugal force of the swing will bring the bat head out on the proper plane on its own.
Hi Matt, thanks for sharing! I know you are working on getting your son set up early but I noticed he is collapsing his back foot a lot during this video. As a former professional baseball player, I know you realize the importance of pivoting the back foot to allow his hips to open. I appreciate you and your son taking the time to make these baseball instructional videos.
Love these youth training drills. I have a 6 year old who's been watching for the last several months. His improvement is crazy. Curious why y'all use the wooden bat? Is that just preference? Or is there an advantage to having them train with one vs. aluminum?
I feel using strictly wood in practice helps them find the barrel more frequently. Wood gives instant feedback to the hands as todays composite and alloy bats have some sort of dampening system to reduced vibration.
Thank you! I love the videos. Do you have camps inside your indoor facility? I would love to take my son if there was a week long camp or something. I live in west coast.
Yea I like the adjustments that he made but I noticed also that he wasn't getting his front foot down on time and like you mentioned that hitters have to be on time which is so true. But I noticed as well that the bat was dragging through the zone and so I would just work on those things with him. My coach in highschool used this method it's like facing a boxer. Are you going to allow the boxer to get to you first or are you going to get to the boxer first? So if your bat is dragging through the zone then most of the time he's either going to be late or make weak contact. See I liked his stance that you worked on with him and I liked that he was balanced and his weight was on his back leg but I would just work on his swing a little more and getting that front foot down a little quicker
Matt - love this and all your youth hitting videos. So helpful for teaching. Do you have views on bat selection for young kids? Struggling with the "right" sizes for 5-8 year old kids (the span of the two age groups of my kids / the kids I'm coaching).
Hey Matt. You mentioned to your son that it is better to be slightly early rather than slightly late. Would you give that same advise for a high school player. I would have thought that it is better to be slightly late. Thanks Mike
Amazing - thanks for posting this - really helpful in working with my little guys! Also, not sure if you have discussed the topic of managing innings for kids at 7-10 y/o. My nephew (10) plays short and pitches - wasnt sure how to manage innings and playing short throughout weekend? I did the same growing up and ended up going to a mid major as a position player but always had arm issues - would love to get your opinion on this!
You could definitely tell he is 7 yrs old. LOL! I also like how you pointed out that you didn’t correct him in the game. I try to do this even in games as a coach. But it’s hard when you see what they are going wrong and know how to correct. But I think this causes more confusion during game then practicing and correcting in a practice. Good stuff Matt!
I have the biggest baseball game of my life today we got a quarterfinals game against a team that has beaten us twice but I know our team can beat team
Can't go wrong with the inches to age ratio. 7U is usually a 27 in long. 8U is 28 in long and so on. Kids with longer/shorter arms may be a little different. And drop is just depending on your child's muscle definition at that time. My son is the smallest kid on the team playing 8U with a 27 in long drop 11 metal bat. But he used a 28in wood bat for a while. But the extra inch of length completely through his mechanics off.
Matt, how will you approach your son’s arm bar/ dragging back elbow? Is the age of 9 a realistic age to fix this problem? I have no doubt he will be an elite hitter soon.
Maddie is an awesome player Because I played it against him well I am this prophiles son so I know Maddie Because I live in Massachusetts and I played him tonight
Hitting with wood is fine and I understand the pros are all about launch angle now, but the bat lags behind quite a bit. Seems like a blooper swing to left field. I’m simple and my dad threw me golf ball sized wiffle balls that had duck tape on some and others had cracks. It was a good way where I didn’t destroy my dads shins and I saw offspeed due to the variation in whiffle ball quality.
He just swings it because he likes how it feels. He isn’t doing it because he thinks it’s good for training or anything. Just having fun. And that’s a interesting idea with the small whiffle balls. Thanks!
Hey Matt, I noticed that your son drops his back elbow pretty far forward, instead of behind the hands as you teach in your other videos. Common swing flaw in younger kids, right? My son is just a bit younger than your boy, and he does the same thing. Hard to correct at this age?
Yes definitely a youth thing, especially with heavy bats. I definitely want to try and correct it at some point. It's probably the next thing we work on.
The kid is hitting with wood at 7 haha, the bat seems huge. Personally I think a smaller barrel and lighter bat would be better to develop better mechanics as well as hand eye coordination. Dominicans hit with broomsticks and bottle caps.
You mentioned pointing the bat at the catchers feet. I tell my team to pretend the knob of the bat is a flashlight and to point the flashlight at the catcher. Really helps them get their upper body coiled
For sure!!!
Just made this adjustment with my 8 year old son. Widened the stance, quicker to the ready position, and let the bat rip! Looking forward to his game this weekend.
Thanks for the video. Lots of different info on TH-cam, but this instruction is spot on.
Love this! I took my son to a hitting coach this morning and this is exactly what he focused on!! Good athletic batting stance and an early load! I’m not sure it was quite clicking for my son, so I’m going to show him this video and hope it helps 🤞🏼 Thanks for sharing this!
So cute. Matt is full of great information and that little guy just wants to hit and throw. I can see he listens to Dad/coach. The hardest thing to do with kids it explaining things simply with an easy to remember phrase. Someone below talked about pointing the bat knob like a "flashlight"...awesome one. Keeping chin tucked and touching front and rear shoulders during the swing..."Mike and Ike". Fun stuff...what a nice kid. Great job Matt!
Can’t express how much I appreciate this video. My 6 year old started being late on loading and this will be great to help him out. Thanks man!
Good stuff Matt. This is super common and I’ve seen my 7 year old have a few games where he struggled with getting loaded too late. I love how you are keeping it fun for him, that’s what it’s all about. Even though I’ve said this a million times to my son, it really sinks in more for him when he can watch your videos with me. Thank you so much.
Your boy is growing. Had the best trainer. Lucky man.
Love the videos, I'm trying to coach 10 to 12, and some haven't played before, so I appreciate the ideas that work for the new kids, and that they translate to the advancest kids. I hit .600 as a kid at 13, but it's hard to remember how I learned that then, so I love these videos
I'm gonna be trying out for baseball this spring, wish me luck..
@@sillypaperthing good luck!!
Would also love to see tips on Youth Pitching for younger kids new to kid pitch (around your son’s age) !!
I agree with you that timing the pitch is highly necessary for any age hitter. I also agree it is necessary for any age hitter to preload or pre coil the body to get ready to swing the bat. However, for kids ages 5 to 10 it is just important for kids to swing the bat on the plane of the pitched ball. Coaches tend to think of the way they swing and try to impart this same concept to kids. Unfortunately, young kids don't have the muscle strength to be able to swing like an adult. I believe it is imperative to teach young kids to start with the lead elbow up and the back elbow down. The bat should be touching just below the top of the shoulder. This places the lead elbow, the heal of the lead hand and the head of the bat on the same plane. By pre-coiling and keeping the hands back through the beginning of rotation, the bat can be locked in the correct position and will help young player with the weight of the bat. As far as telling the kids to keep the hands back, with proper rotation, the centrifugal force of the swing will bring the bat head out on the proper plane on its own.
I love all this advice. My son that is 11 struggles with this so In turn he struggles with making hits. We have some hitting lessons coming up.
You're a great teacher, and great with kids
Hi Matt, thanks for sharing! I know you are working on getting your son set up early but I noticed he is collapsing his back foot a lot during this video. As a former professional baseball player, I know you realize the importance of pivoting the back foot to allow his hips to open. I appreciate you and your son taking the time to make these baseball instructional videos.
It's great to see you rockin in the new facility!!!!
Wow! Love it! And the "I GET IT!" smile at 8:10 is absolutely priceless.
Love these videos. I have a 9yo boy so super helpful to get these tips and see your coaching approach for kids at this age.
Perfect Timing! Thanks Matt & Matty!! Great Stuff, God Bless!!!
Love the videos for this age keep them comming!!!
I learned this because of y'all thank you
Thanks Matt, timing is so crucial in hitting
Excellent video, thanks for sharing the knowledge!
Great to see Antonellis kid completely normal, happy to be himself during working with his dad. Learn THAT
Thanks for your videos they are awesome they teach us a lot in what to look for. I use them alot to show my little league team keep posting!!
"everyday of my life" that got me good 😂
Excellent tips!! Thank you
@matt I was trying to find a video for swing fundamentals that a fresh 6 yr old can do to practice the foot work and swing techniques
Great tips ! Noticed Matty is using a wood bat . Do you prefer wood over metal at this age ? My son is 7 y/o in little league
Great stuff. Thank you!
Thank you!
Matty is gonna rake now
Thanks matt is the new facility open now
You are welcome! And not yet, but almost!
@@AntonelliBaseball two good games today the second one was a bummer
Love these youth training drills. I have a 6 year old who's been watching for the last several months. His improvement is crazy.
Curious why y'all use the wooden bat? Is that just preference? Or is there an advantage to having them train with one vs. aluminum?
Thanks!
And he just thinks he’s more like a major leaguer using it lol
I feel using strictly wood in practice helps them find the barrel more frequently. Wood gives instant feedback to the hands as todays composite and alloy bats have some sort of dampening system to reduced vibration.
@@LonghornBaseball13 exactly right. Added bonus is the sound, I love the crack.
Thank you! I love the videos. Do you have camps inside your indoor facility? I would love to take my son if there was a week long camp or something. I live in west coast.
Yea I like the adjustments that he made but I noticed also that he wasn't getting his front foot down on time and like you mentioned that hitters have to be on time which is so true. But I noticed as well that the bat was dragging through the zone and so I would just work on those things with him. My coach in highschool used this method it's like facing a boxer. Are you going to allow the boxer to get to you first or are you going to get to the boxer first? So if your bat is dragging through the zone then most of the time he's either going to be late or make weak contact. See I liked his stance that you worked on with him and I liked that he was balanced and his weight was on his back leg but I would just work on his swing a little more and getting that front foot down a little quicker
Matt - love this and all your youth hitting videos. So helpful for teaching. Do you have views on bat selection for young kids? Struggling with the "right" sizes for 5-8 year old kids (the span of the two age groups of my kids / the kids I'm coaching).
Hey Matt. You mentioned to your son that it is better to be slightly early rather than slightly late. Would you give that same advise for a high school player. I would have thought that it is better to be slightly late. Thanks Mike
Amazing - thanks for posting this - really helpful in working with my little guys! Also, not sure if you have discussed the topic of managing innings for kids at 7-10 y/o. My nephew (10) plays short and pitches - wasnt sure how to manage innings and playing short throughout weekend? I did the same growing up and ended up going to a mid major as a position player but always had arm issues - would love to get your opinion on this!
You could definitely tell he is 7 yrs old. LOL!
I also like how you pointed out that you didn’t correct him in the game. I try to do this even in games as a coach. But it’s hard when you see what they are going wrong and know how to correct. But I think this causes more confusion during game then practicing and correcting in a practice. Good stuff Matt!
What is the wooden bat your son is useing?
Do you believe at stride weight going 50/50 or should the majority of the weight be on the back leg?
What’s a fix for my Boys front foot for going out of batters box
I have the biggest baseball game of my life today we got a quarterfinals game against a team that has beaten us twice but I know our team can beat team
what size wood bat, inches and drop do you recommend for 7u?
Can't go wrong with the inches to age ratio. 7U is usually a 27 in long. 8U is 28 in long and so on. Kids with longer/shorter arms may be a little different. And drop is just depending on your child's muscle definition at that time. My son is the smallest kid on the team playing 8U with a 27 in long drop 11 metal bat. But he used a 28in wood bat for a while. But the extra inch of length completely through his mechanics off.
"I didn't say anything till the game was over" .... teach me your patience lol
Haha!
Matt, how will you approach your son’s arm bar/ dragging back elbow? Is the age of 9 a realistic age to fix this problem? I have no doubt he will be an elite hitter soon.
Maddie is an awesome player Because I played it against him well I am this prophiles son so I know Maddie Because I live in Massachusetts and I played him tonight
Hitting with wood is fine and I understand the pros are all about launch angle now, but the bat lags behind quite a bit. Seems like a blooper swing to left field. I’m simple and my dad threw me golf ball sized wiffle balls that had duck tape on some and others had cracks. It was a good way where I didn’t destroy my dads shins and I saw offspeed due to the variation in whiffle ball quality.
He just swings it because he likes how it feels. He isn’t doing it because he thinks it’s good for training or anything. Just having fun. And that’s a interesting idea with the small whiffle balls. Thanks!
Where whus this at
Hey Matt, I noticed that your son drops his back elbow pretty far forward, instead of behind the hands as you teach in your other videos. Common swing flaw in younger kids, right? My son is just a bit younger than your boy, and he does the same thing. Hard to correct at this age?
Yes definitely a youth thing, especially with heavy bats. I definitely want to try and correct it at some point. It's probably the next thing we work on.
The kid is hitting with wood at 7 haha, the bat seems huge. Personally I think a smaller barrel and lighter bat would be better to develop better mechanics as well as hand eye coordination. Dominicans hit with broomsticks and bottle caps.
It is very heavy, but that’s all he wants to swing lol
@@AntonelliBaseball hide it, tell him you can't find it
nice video for kids ... not to technical and something that can be achieved in couple practices...
Video practice
Okay
bro what if the pitch is a ball
Surprised he's playing kid-pitch at 7u. Around here that's coach pitch.
He is supposed to have one more year of coach pitch but they asked if he could move up one age group
The best hitting tip is to copy Ken Griffey Jr and forget everyone else.
I have a funny baseball video
Way too much talking
@@cavefamily2494 it’s tough to give tips without talking
Getting wider with your feet is a bad idea, makes it harder to get the hips moving, TERRIBLE IDEA
Thank you so much for this vid it help a lot🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻THANKS!!!!!!