Expert: John Priest - 5/10/2009

Question
I have a question that probably has no right or wrong answer,just want to know what you would teach.our 7-8 yr. old's coaches don't want the hitters watching their hits or looking at where the ball went.would you teach your students to look or not look? I'm not talking about admiring it all the way running to 1st base,just a quick glance to check.our coaches are very slow telling the kids to go to second too,so what do you suggest? thanks for your time!!

Answer
Jim,
I have never told someone not to look, except like you said, if they admire the ball.  The hitter should track the ball with their head still and only use their eyes.  This will make sure they see the ball out in front of them.  If this is done they will see where their ball goes when hit.  I believe it is a good idea to see where you ball goes so you don't have to rely so heavily on the first base coach's judgement.  Some coaches teach the hitters to hit with their head down, this takes away from the natural eye movement, and the hitter now needs to look up to see where they hit the ball.  this can possibly cause excessive head movement.

Thank You,
John Priest