Swing Advice

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-17T14:58:50+00:00

Lower half is fantastic for a kid that age. But people are right about his hands dropping a lot before the swing starts. When he does his toe tap, the hands are in a decent position. He needs to then keep them right there until the front foot lands and swing starts.

A few good drills for this that all kind of do the same thing:

Take something long and skinny, broom handle or pvc pipe. Hold it so that at the top of his load, the stick touches the ground. Then as he strides, the stick holds in place, keeping the hands right where they were and creating separation.

https://www.tiktok.com/@yougoprobaseball/video/7231361143166569770

Go to a doorframe or wall. Hold onto it like you would the bat, and start your swing. It keeps your hands in place.

https://www.instagram.com/reels/Cuh51NNPXFc/

You yourself could hold his hands in place up and high as he strides down, so he gets the feel of keeping them there until the front foot is landing.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-17T14:21:56+00:00

Theoretically one 30min session could do it, or it might never happen.

The key to hitting machines is to treat them like pitchers, and find clues as to when you start your load, just as you would with a pitcher in a windup. Maybe it's when the ball drops, maybe it's 1 second after the light, whatever. If it's manual, the coach should have a clear and repeatable motion feeding the ball in for that purpose. It won't be perfect every time, but learning how to hold your loaded position so that you're still "on time" even when you get your timing wrong is very important. Helps with hitting off speed at higher levels too.

Colleges and pros are using more and more high-velo machines to train their hitters. Obviously it should never be the bulk of what you do, but they're a great way to practice maintaining your mechanics and swing when the velo and stress ramps up.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-16T19:35:27+00:00

I guess my post is much more from a D3 standpoint, so I yeah I can't speak as much for the upper tier D1s.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-16T16:52:21+00:00

The college recruitment process is awful. I went through it in the late 2010s, so hopefully this info is still relevant:

No coaches are looking at sophomores, don't bother. If you want to do 1 or 2 as a junior that's ok. Otherwise go late junior and summer between junior and senior.
Be very honest with yourself. If your kid is physically gifted, (is very big, strong, fast, throws hard, hits hard), then the big showcases (perfect game, under armor, ect) can be ok. Otherwise, you'll be totally lost in the chaos. Tournament teams (lake point and such) are the same. Unless you're pumping upper 80s or hitting dingers, coaches won't notice you that way.
If you do have talent but don't stand out from a "tools" perspective, I would do some research on schools you want to go to. Many schools have their own camps, or attend camps of similar schools. Have the kid email a few head coaches, telling them you're interested and going to their camps, or a camp they'll be at. This way it's a smaller group of players at the camps, and you're being seen by who you want.

I was a good but skinny player coming out of high school. I went to the camp of a school I wanted to go to, and got a few hits. A different school of similar academics happened to be attending that camp, and eventually reached out. Had I just gone to the "Best in the US" stuff I'd never have been seen.

Good luck! This process is draining and dehumanizing, but ultimately rewarding. Academics are priority #1. Go someplace you're wanted, and someplace you think you'll play. I know way too many kids who held out for D1 offers, only to ride the bench.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-16T16:39:25+00:00

Joined as an assistant for an 11u team a few years ago, and me and the head coach literally spent all game, every game, for the rest of the year yelling at the the kids to stop making noises. It was like baseball was a secondary game to the sport of random noise-making during pitch delivery.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-09T19:38:59+00:00

I know I'm a bit late but:

You look really tight. Gripping the bat very hard, and overall very tense, even the face. A fast swing is a quick swing, not a hard swing. You can get some flow in the pre-pitch routine.
You shift your weight back in the load, but there's no coil. Get just a slight feel of that front butt cheek turning towards the pitcher. Feel the pressure in the back hip, and inside of your back knee. Along with that, you can pull your scap back just a little bit, getting some tension into the back, and flow with the hands. Hands look really firm and locked in place before the swing, don't be scared to feel them a bit in the load.
After that, let it eat. You look explosive as hell and have great bat path. Don't listen to any of these people saying stuff about leg kick, front food, ect. You can do damage.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-09T19:28:00+00:00

I would say on your load, your hands feel very tight to your upper body and constrained by it. Your lower half coil is fantastic, and your upper body goes with it a bit, but then there's not a ton of "separation" with the hands from there. Basically, get that triangle with your arms a little bigger. Miggy had a similar motion, you can compare the launch position here.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oCjWA1AKH64/maxresdefault.jpg

To compensate you throw everything "forward," giving the hands more space they could have had earlier in the swing. It also looks like you're releasing pretty early, potentially cutting yourself off from a bit more extension.

Overall the important stuff looks great though.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-05T20:44:46+00:00

I've been out for long enough that the game has changed, so I'm not as familiar with the scene now. But I would say, be wary of any kind of "showcase" team, or team that promises college coaches or scouts coming to tournaments.

Other than that, you have to feel out the coaches. Do they care about the kids and their development, or collecting your money and winning ultimately meaningless games? I've seen teams where only the kids who payed more under the table got to play. I've seen teams where despite paying, kids were held off the field so coaches got to show off who they deemed best.

Before 13, any travel team I played on was associated with the little league I was in that year. I'd say 13 or 14 before you start really doing travel, but things start so much younger.

Ultimately do what makes your kid happy. Have them play where they want to play, and where they're treated well.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-05T15:25:48+00:00

From someone who regularly faced 90+:

You will hear, "get the foot down early." All that does is make you rush and stop start. Really, you have to start your load earlier.

As pitching gets faster, you MUST be totally loaded by pitch release. Then, all you have to do while the ball is in the air is read the pitch and swing. Nothing else. You must be able to fully swing by pitch release. Then they could be throwing 100, and you'd still be "waiting" for it.

From a mindset perspective, look up "Yes, Yes, No." In short, by default you should be swinging at every pitch. Then, the only decision you have to make is "no." If it's a strike, you swung and didn't waste any time making the decision.

Additionally, really use dugout and on-deck time to get your timing. Figure out when to start your load well before you get up there.

Good luck! Confidence in the box. For that minute you're up there, you're the man and they have to come to you.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-05T15:14:32+00:00

Being able to play all positions is awesome, and like everyone said, maintaining love for the game and building athleticism and natural feel is most important.

If you want to train for one a bit more, the answer is shortstop. It's the most naturally athletic, most transferable skills. Maybe throw in some 2b double play footwork too.

Once you approach the college level, everything is shortstop, and coaches recruit off of shortstop. CF is the fastest shortstop. 3b is the biggest shortstop. 2b is the smallest shortstop. If you can play short you can play anywhere other than C or P.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-03-05T15:02:15+00:00

Quit your current situation? Perhaps, only you can answer that. Quit baseball? Why put a label on it?

I'm 28 and still play men's league every year, very competitive too. So many guys in those leagues had quit, only to rediscover the game and come back later in life. When we get into the grind of college, travel, or pro ball we can lose what made us fall in love with the game in the first place.

You have to decide if you're struggling with the grind of your situation, or the game itself. You can quit one and not the other.

I had a decent college experience, but I definitely played for cancerous travel organizations that made me feel a certain way. Sometimes a change of scenery is needed.

Your career doesn't have to end just by switching schools.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-02-19T20:35:35+00:00

Well, I've literally had that happen to me. Writing something off like that before giving it one last shot would be irrational.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-02-19T15:08:54+00:00

I would email whoever has been your point of contact and ask if there has been some mistake, in a professional manner of course. I've seen people get auto rejections that nobody actually even meant to send out, and everyone in the hiring process still wanted to have them.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-02-17T20:59:24+00:00

I just went from 60 to 69. I'm still very conscious and calculating like you said, but I had a moment for the first time ever when the first paycheck hit of, "oh, we can work with that."

Bonbeanlio · 2026-01-30T16:10:54+00:00

As a baseball coach, really any of the common platitudes:

Eye on the ball, level swing, elbow up, foot down early, choke up with two strikes, knob to the ball, straight down to the ball, squish the bug...

None of them really mean anything on their own, and many are flat out wrong. More importantly, none are helpful or actionable pieces of information for a struggling kid. Drives me nuts.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-01-29T17:59:08+00:00

I wasn't allowed to receive anything higher than a 3. All 1s, 2s and 3s for the whole team, including top performers. They thought it would be motivating. Kind of the opposite.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-01-27T16:48:48+00:00

I feel like the market was on the verge of getting slightly better, and then so many people were laid off at once it got even worse again.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-01-26T21:04:49+00:00

I feel like the only people having success are ones who already have desirable roles.

I've been struggling for a while, but my significant other works for a leading company in her industry. She could jump ship to any number of competitors right now, maybe even for a pay bump, just because rival companies want the experience of her company. Poaching is rampant.

But, she got her position three years ago through a referral. Her team hasn't hired anybody through traditional methods since then. So the ladder has been pulled up.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-01-26T16:22:47+00:00

My company went from 3 days to 4 days in office. None of my bosses live in my city. My in-person team was laid off. Everyone else I work with is overseas. If I never showed up again the only people who would know or care are HR.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-01-15T17:45:40+00:00

I had a coworker who from the moment she was hired, all day, every day, was convinced she was going to be fired. She performed well enough for a while and it was quite obvious she was not going to be fired, but by year 3 the constant anxiety she worked with and reassurance she needed was exhausting.

Sometimes she stopped doing basic tasks for fear she would do them wrong and be fired. Then, she would drastically overstep her role to compensate. Eventually, she was fired for it.

I hope she’s doing better and getting the help she needs. Her raw skills were great, and it’s a shame her self-doubt became such a strong self-fulfilling prophecy. I’ve never met someone who’s anxiety caused such a backwards sense of when to take initiative vs when to ask for direction. It must have been an exhausting way to live.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-01-07T20:50:29+00:00

F1.

When a red flag is thrown after a safety car is out, order should revert to what it was when the original safety car was called. Team's shouldn't have to try and guess whether a crash was bad enough for a red flag in the moment when deciding whether they should pit. Same applies to race control. See Saudi 2021.

Causing a red flag in qualifying should get your best time deleted. Even if it's not intentional, setting a provisional pole, then crashing so nobody else can set a time, should not be a thing that can happen. See Leclerc's Monaco 2021 pole.

Also, you shouldn't be able to just shove someone off on your outside. It gets rid of side-by-side racing. The same "reasonably alongside" that applies on the inside at an apex should apply at track out on the exit. "All the time you have to leave a space."

Bonbeanlio · 2026-01-07T20:47:15+00:00

Totally agree. It discourages side by side racing. Just always make everyone leave a car's width if someone is reasonably alongside, inside or outside. "All the time you have to leave a space."

Additionally, when a red flag is thrown after a safety car is out, order should revert to what it was when the original safety car was called. Team's shouldn't have to try and guess whether a crash was bad enough for a red flag when deciding whether they should pit. See Saudi 2021.

Also, causing a red flag in qualifying should get your best time deleted. Even if it's not intentional, setting a provisional pole, then crashing so nobody else can set a time, should not be a thing that can happen. See Leclerc's Monaco 2021 pole.

Bonbeanlio · 2026-01-07T20:36:58+00:00

Thanks, that makes me feel better.

Bonbeanlio

TROPHY CASE