Expert: Willie Ansley Jr. - 4/3/2010

Question
We live in Southern California and are playing in an AA Division (7 - 10 year olds) little league.  We just completed our 7th game out of 19 and are 4 and 3.  This division is when the kids start pitching to each other.  So far this spring season, my son has been walked 10 times and is 2 for 8 with a single and a triple. His 6 outs were all caught-looking strike outs!  My son is obviously extremely patient at the plate and usually only swings at pretty good pitches. For an 8-year old, he has good size at 84 lbs. and this is his 4th year in little league.  His manager picked him for the team because he has hit the ball fairly well in the past when the league used the pitching machines.  He does very well at the batting cages with a 40 mph machine and is beginning to almost always make contact while hitting more and more line drives and some home run type hits.  The coaches have told me that learning patience at the plate is a very good thing at this age but he must learn to be more aggressive.  We are using the book, "Teach Your Kids Bean's About Baseball" by Kenneth Bean to learn the fundamentals of baseball/hitting and my son has adapted to the techniques being taught fairly well so he "looks" like a hitter at the plate.  He now seems to be just too tentative when he has 2 strikes on him which I am trying to get advice on how to break this paralysis.  I do believe that he has not yet mastered the mental part of being able to see the pitch coming and being able to get his bat on the ball which I believe will eventually come when he finally "gets it," similar to when a child first learns how to balance on a bicycle which seems to be a good analogy. The coaches keep telling him he must protect the plate with 2 strikes but he feels (by his actions or lack of actions) that a close pitch will be called a ball which is obviously not the case especially when they end up being right over the plate.  Am I being too impatient in not just letting him take his time to figure it out?  I tend to think that if he can begin to master these types of skills when he is still young, it will help him later on in his future baseball playing days for as long as he likes the game and is having fun. Thank you very much in advance for your advice and instruction!

Answer
I have to give you the advice from personal experience with dealing with my son.When he was six he was playing with 9 year olds.I told him he was not going to get a hit all year but I didnt want him to swing at bad pitches.He didnt get a hit and didnt swing at many bad pitches.What he learned was the strike zone.It sounds like your son is learning the strike zone.He is 8 years old and 8 year olds strike out.Deal with him on where he is at not where you think he should be.He has a long time to play the game.Be careful that you dont put to much pressure on him and he goes in a different direction.You dont want the best 9 year old in the country and then have the worst 16 year old at the school.I allowed my son to grow at his own rate.Give him what he needs to work on his game.Reward him for not striking out looking and dont complain when he strikes out from swinging at a bad pitch.If he were 16 you may have a problem but at 8 you have time.