Expert: Brian Flaspohler - 5/26/2011

Question
My soon to be 9 year old son has developed a horrible hitting problem. He used to hit hard and often, now when I watch him hit in the cage and during games his eyes aren't following the ball. When he swings and misses I see his eyes are looking behind him. When he does make contact because he's a lefty his eyes are looking towards 3rd base. How can I fix this????

Answer
Roger,

I'm not a coach so I'm speaking a little out of turn here, but this is something your son has to correct on his own.

One way you might be able to work with him on this is to have him stand in the batter's box, but he can't swing at the ball - he must watch it with his eyes all the way into the catcher's mitt.  This exercise might help him follow the ball better.  This way he won't be worried about swinging - just about watching the ball.

Hope this helps!

Brian