Hello Coach

   My son is starting little league (after a few years of T-ball) and I am racking my brain during his first-year struggles -- which have been hard on him. He's always held a hockey stick left-handed (as I played lefty too), so I had him in T-ball hold the bat/hit left-handed too and did pretty well hitting this way (a good, contact hitter). But unfortunately, he looks woefully overmatched hitting lefty in little league. Admittedly, he's a smallish boy, but it seems he has very little bat control. Obviously he's not hitting the pitching machine at all. Since I played ice hockey as a lefty but played baseball batting righty, I'm wondering if I have him hitting from his wrong side? I've toyed with him trying righty, but since he's never hit that way, he worse off. I just fell like I may have made a mistake and could be doing him a disservice but now I'm not sure what to do?

Any thoughts you have on this I'd love to know and would appreciate it greatly. He's incredibly discouraged and I fear he may give up due to all his failures.  Thanks..

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Jeff- you're faced with an eye hand coordination problem. I believe I would start back over with the basics go-ahead and having hit left-handed so you started that's why he feels natural and hockey will be right there. But he needs to go back to hitting the ball off the tee, hitting front toss for you to start to under from about 10 feet away, and then finally backup about 2025 feet and throw overhand.   These can all be done with softballs, plastics, they don't have to be done with regulation baseballs. In the final piece of information that I can offer is do 10 or 15 of each one of these drills a day it will make a huge difference. That every day is what causes it over and over everyday is much better than 50 one day 60 it another day to three days later or even the worst is hundred swings and then not doing the for to the date smaller increments but daily and he'll learn to hit the ball he really well.

Coach Arnald Swift