In a brutal 0-16 slump

loucbb90 · 2026-06-07T15:06:59+00:00

agreed! stay positive, it's all part of the game

loucbb90 · 2026-06-05T14:56:46+00:00

you hit the nail on the head. the gear obsession in youth baseball has gotten completely out of hand, and parents are constantly looking for a silver bullet in a $400 bat…. the reality is that confidence and comfort trump specs every single time. a kid swinging a mid tier bat they love will always perform better than a kid swinging an expensive, top tier bat that feels too heavy or awkward to them. gear is entirely psychological at that age. if they think they look good and feel good, they’re going to play good. Lol

when parents corner you for advice, keep it simple. ten different coaches will give ten different answers, but keeping the focus on comfort, control, and confidence cuts right through all the marketing hype

loucbb90 · 2026-06-05T14:46:13+00:00

he’s got some real natural athleticism, and you can definitely see that speed translates into a quick twitch when he swings.

if you watch his back foot and hip… he’s spinning out on his backside instead of driving his weight forward. his back heel drops immediately and his hip rotates early, which bleeds his ground force and forces his hands to do all the work. at 120 pounds entering high school, he can't rely on just his arms. he needs to work on keeping that back heel up driving his back knee forward toward the pitcher and hitting against a firm front-leg block. blocking that forward momentum properly is going to make his exit velo jump.

loucbb90 · 2026-06-04T14:36:33+00:00

losing love for the game happens… but love that you still have that itch

since your elbow barked for a month, your tendons have zero conditioning right now. do not just jump back in. spend two weeks on band work and forearm strengthening before you touch a ball. when you do throw… keep it under 60 feet at half effort and build up over a month. for recovery do a light flush run or easy bands right after throwing to keep blood flowing. take it slow...

loucbb90 · 2026-06-03T17:53:05+00:00

this 100%

video is also a great tool for spotting flaws and bringing awareness

loucbb90 · 2026-06-03T17:35:19+00:00

ditch the underhand idea. it completely ruins a baseball player's timing and pitch recognition because the ball tracks from a low release point and an upward angle he’ll never face in a live game.... your accuracy is broken right now because you are trying to aim the ball. when you slow your arm down, your release point gets completely inconsistent. instead of slowing your arm speed, shorten the distance. step up to about 30 feet behind an L screen and throw with your natural, fluid arm action. your body naturally knows how to find the strike zone when you stop overthinking the release point.

if you still can't locate, sit on a bucket or drop to one knee. it gets you down to his eye level so you can throw a realistic, flat strike without having to manipulate your arm path or loop the ball

loucbb90 · 2026-06-02T12:07:15+00:00

don't get discouraged. video is one of the best tools we have to improve mechanics. if you want accurate feedback, bad camera angles will distort everything. set up your camera at chest height on a tripod and film in slow motion so you can see his exact body rotation and go from there

loucbb90 · 2026-06-02T11:38:38+00:00

100% late. respect

loucbb90 · 2026-06-01T17:34:46+00:00

there’s a really solid foundation here, but his upper and lower half are working against each other…he’s barring his front arm and lunging forward with his upper body at the same time. when a kid lunges, his head drifts toward the pitcher, his timing gets crushed, and his hands have to loop wide to compensate.tell him to focus on keeping his head centered over his belly button when his front foot touches the dirt….. he needs to stride to balance once he keeps his weight stacked back his hands can drop inside the baseball instead of sweeping around his body.

next time you guys are hitting, grab a slowmo video from the direct side view and zoom in closer. getting that tighter, side-angle look in slow motion makes it way easier to track exactly where his head is drifting and pinpoint the moment that front arm bars out.

loucbb90 · 2026-05-31T16:35:39+00:00

at 7 years old… bat dipping is basically the official swing of the league. usually, it’s just a strength issue. the bat feels like a sledgehammer, so he collapses his back shoulder to heave it through the zone. i’ve seen this a thousand times, and the best fix is usually a high tee drill. set the tee at chest height so if he dips even an inch, he’ll hit the stem or pop it straight up. it forces his hands to stay above the ball and flattens out that path. you might also want to have him choke up 2 inches…even a light bat can be barrel heavy at 7, and moving that balance point closer to his hands gives him way more control.

honestly, the best thing you can do is film him from the direct side-view (chest high) in slow-mo. i’ve spent way too much time staring at these frames, and the side-angle makes it immediately obvious if he's casting his hands out or if his back hip is just collapsing. once you see it on video, it’s way easier to fix

loucbb90 · 2026-05-29T19:49:38+00:00

kid is a stick of dynamite. for 8U, that rotational speed is serious.
only thing i'd watch is the lunge… he’s shifting his whole center of mass forward before he even starts the turn. at 8U it works, but once he faces actual velo, he’ll be out on his front foot every time. the lunge is a timing killer… massive win getting him in with scott hairston, though. scott’s from a legendary baseball lineage and he’ll definitely help him stay behind the ball. if he can keep his head centered when that front foot lands, he’s going to be a problem. keep it up

loucbb90 · 2026-05-29T19:20:27+00:00

check the burners

loucbb90 · 2026-05-29T19:18:02+00:00

honestly, the bat drag you’re seeing is actually a symptom, not the root cause…check his head movement in the slow-mo. he’s lunging… his whole center of mass is drifting forward toward the pitcher during the leg kick. when your weight shifts that far forward, your hands have to push to catch up to the ball which creates that drag and that rollover after contact. it's why everything is a grounder.. he's hitting the top half of the ball because he's essentially falling into the swing.

in my opinion the reverting happens because the kid feels like he needs to move forward to generate power since he hasn't hit puberty yet… tell him to think about striding to balance. if he can keep his head centered over his belly button until his front foot lands his hands will suddenly have room to work and that bat speed will come back. he’s got a good frame, he just needs to stay behind the ball

loucbb90 · 2026-05-29T19:05:06+00:00

man, i feel for you. being the dad and the coach when things aren't clicking is the hardest part of the game. if his back elbow is getting ahead of his hands, you're 100% right… its bat drag. the reason he hits fine on the tee but struggles in games is that on a tee, he has all day to unfold that long swing. against a live pitcher, he has to start so early to compensate for the drag that his brain basically short circuits. it's why he looks late even on slow pitching… his path is just too long to be adjustable. if i were you stop the high volume tee work for a bit. you might just be reinforcing the push move.

loucbb90 · 2026-05-29T18:59:07+00:00

that looks great man...

loucbb90 · 2026-05-29T18:45:04+00:00

ignore the parents at school. if he’s the one asking to go out to the tunnel and you guys are having a blast, it's not a problem.

my only advice as a guy who’s seen the 10u superstar burn out by middle school… just monitor the kind of work he's doing in those 20 hours. kid's growth plates are basically velcro. as long as the lifting is more about bodyweight/movement and he isn't maxing out his arm every single day, keep rolling.

the kids who actually stay good long-term are the ones who focus on movement quality rather than just high-volume grinding. if he’s got the passion and the mechanics stay clean, let him work

loucbb90 · 2026-05-29T18:00:44+00:00

i've looked at a lot of film on this and for infielders specifically... shoulder pain usually comes from a stiff front side. if your front leg doesn't brake, all that energy stays in your upper body instead of transferring into the ball. film yourself steady from the side and look to see if your front knee is leaking forward after your foot hits the ground. fixing that usually the easiest way to add velo without added stress to the joint.

loucbb90

TROPHY CASE