One of the most frustrating parts about baseball is how much failure is involved. Baseball is a game where if you succeed only 4 out of 10 times, you are considered a Hall of Famer.
This, however, is a tough lesson to teach children. Kids want to find success on the baseball field.
So one important thing for children is defining what success looks like on the field.
Teaching kids that striking out is part of the game and that it’s OK to strike out is a good first step.
That said, we want to do everything we can to help our kids make contact and not strike out.
This article will give some building blocks to teach your kids how to make better contact with the baseball.
First, we will talk about the mental aspect of batting. Then, we will break down the keys to cut down on strikeouts and give some quick tips on limiting those swinging misses.
Contents
Causes of Strikeouts
Below are the three leading causes of why your kid is striking out:
1. Bad approach
Sometimes kids are so afraid to strike out that they’re not willing to swing the bat aggressively.
On our team I tell kids that our philosophy is ‘if the pitch is over the plate, we absolutely smashed it.
Far too often kids are afraid to strike out which means they’re afraid to swing the bat.
The likelihood of striking out increases if your bat is left on the shoulder. Kids, especially at a younger age should not be looking to walk.
They should have an aggressive approach. Again, this goes to the mental side of the game. If they’re afraid to strike out, they will strike out.
2. Lack of practice
Baseball is a very hard game. If a kid doesn’t practice hitting, how is he gonna expect to hit the ball in a game situation?
There’s only so many reps a kid can get during a team practice.
If your kid is striking out a lot, taking him out into the backyard and getting extra swings is very important. It really is as simple as that.
The more swings a kid can take the more he feels the success the more that translates into a game atmosphere.
3. Low confidence and added pressure
If a kid goes up to the plate with the attitude of not striking out, they’ll most likely strike out.
The last thing you want your kid to do with the plate is he worried about striking out.
If a kid has a bunch of added pressure from his parents or coaches, he will not perform as well as he could.
The only thought you want going through that kid’s head is ‘see the ball smash the ball’. If a kid has too much pressure and no confidence, he will not succeed.
4 Ways to Stop Striking out in baseball
Here are some of the key things I learned from my time as a hitter that helped reduce my strike out rate:
1. Practice, practice, practice!
It really is that simple. Grab a bat and go out and hit. Even if you’re hitting wiffle balls, or hitting the ball off the tee working on your swing, will help you not strikeout.
2. Visualization
If you see yourself succeeding, you will succeed. Imagining yourself getting a base hit really does help you actually get a base hit.
Visualizing yourself before the game, and even in the Ondeck circle will help your chances of getting a
3. Building on success
Hitters can go through slumps. Recognizing you’re in a slump and doing everything you can to get a single can sometimes turn your season around.
Sometimes all it takes is one hit to get rolling.
Having a positive attitude and recognizing the success you’re getting will be key for a future at-bats.
4. Keep it simple, SMALL GOALS
One way to keep yourself from striking out is to simplify the game.
Don’t go up to the plate and try to hit a home run every time.
If you’re struggling at the plate, look to hit a single the other way (opposite field).
Or even try to lay down a bunt. Focusing on a small win can help make the game simpler and add to your success.
3 Drills to cut down on strikeouts
Here are a few great drills to help improve timing at the plate:
1. Front toss
Practicing hitting balls that are coming straight at you is a good way to focus on contact.
For beginners, throwing a wiffle ball or a hard ball from one knee is a good way to focus on contact.
As hitters advance you can also use smaller wiffle balls to help with hand eye coordination.
2. Top or bottom toss
This drill is a little bit more skilled from the coaches standpoint.
The coach essentially tosses two balls at the same time.
After the coach tosses the balls, he tells the hitter to hit the top or bottom ball.
The hitter is forced to focus on one ball as two balls are coming towards them.
Black or red batting practice – mark baseballs with a big red dot or black dot and throw in batting practice.
Throw regular batting practice with these balls and have the hitter identify whether the ball throne has a red or black dot.
This increase his focus and hand eye coordination.
3. Knob of the bat
I’ve had some players with really good swings that just weren’t making contact.
One thing I like to tell them to do that helps them visually know how to swing is to throw the knob of the bat at the baseball.
When the hitter focuses on pointing the knob, the bat toward the baseball automatically gets the barrel of the bat in the hitting zone.
With this visualization trick, I’ve seen some of my younger hitters go from swing and misses to hitting lasers on the very next pitch.
Why is my son striking out so much?
As parents, we want our kids to succeed. There are times when we ask ourselves:
“Why is my son striking out so much?”
Honestly, I think the answer to the question is that we’re adding too much pressure on our kids.
Striking out is part of the game.
We don’t want to celebrate strikeouts, but we need to be OK with them.
Striking out is not the end of the world.
Sometimes, a kid could have a grade at-bat, resulting in a strikeout.
When we can recognize the positive and encourage our kids to go up with the same mentality every single time the strikeouts will go down.
If a kid is worried or afraid of striking out and he has the added pressure of his parents, those strikeouts will continue to tally up.
Summary
Baseball is a hard game. We all want our kids to succeed and have an amazing time learning the game of baseball.
Telling a kid that striking out is a part of that game is very important.
Introducing strikeouts, even at the younger levels, will help kids understand this brutal reality of the sport.
It’s OK to strike out. If you strike out, hustle back to the dugout and get ready to play defense.
The next time it’s your turn to bat go up to the plate with the same approach.
If the ball is over the plate. I’m going to absolutely smash it.
Until next time,
Coach Scott
PLAY BALL!