kf

Love my family, work, and sports . 11U travel baseball coach @hitdogsacademy. I love you Dad. Miss you

[kf @KellenFerris]

@CoachSwit @DanCevette Kinda like 11u & 12u parents rolling their kids’ bats. Sad and dangerous.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@DavePrichard Preach on!!!

[Jermaine Curtis @JermaineCurtis]

A parent reached out because his 10U player was struggling with velocity.

The results in games were:
- strikeouts
- weak ground balls
- very few line drives

His concern was timing.

Here's what I told him...

🧵

One thing Dusty Baker taught me was:

"When the pitcher shows his back pocket, you show your back pocket."

What he meant was this:

As the pitcher starts moving toward home plate, the hitter should start loading.

The pitcher loads.
The hitter loads.

The pitcher unloads.
The hitter unloads.

Good timing is really synchronization.

The tricky part is that not every pitcher moves at the same speed.

Some pitchers are quick.

Some are slow.

That's why your trigger has to change.

If the pitcher is throwing harder or moving quickly down the mound...

you may need to start loading earlier.

Sometimes that means when the front knee first starts coming up.

If the pitcher is slower or has a longer delivery...

you may be able to wait until hand break.

The key is finding the trigger that allows you to be on time consistently.

One thing I've learned:

A trigger isn't a mechanical move.

It's a timing cue.

It's simply the moment that tells your body:

"Get ready."

So here's how I would train it.

First, I'd put a glove on his top hand (his left hand since he's a left-handed hitter).

Then I'd act like a pitcher.

The moment I show my back pocket, he starts loading.

Then I'd throw him baseballs just like a game.

His job?

Catch the baseball.

Not hit it.

Catch it.

This does a few things:
- teaches him when to load
- teaches him to track the baseball all the way into the zone
- trains the top hand to go to the baseball

Next, I'd start mixing speeds.

Fast.
Slow.
Fast.
Slow.

And I'd still have him catch everything.

This forces him to slow his body down and react to the baseball.

My rule is simple:

If you can't catch it, you probably can't hit it.

Once he gets comfortable, I'd move into a split-grip drill.

Same trigger.
Same timing.
Same mixed speeds.

Now we're training the hands and barrel while keeping the timing piece.

Then I'd let him hit.

Different speeds.
Different locations.
Game-like reps.

Try this tonight:

- 10 catches with the glove drill
- 10 catches with mixed speeds
- 10 split-grip reps
- 10 regular swings

Then record a before-and-after video.

I'd love to hear what changes.

Thank you for reading,
Jermaine Curtis

P.S. If you enjoyed this, and found it helpful, please share it. This tells me you want more content like this.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@dmalcolmcarson @CoachSwit If they don’t pitch, you don’t want them pitching with game on the line 🤷🤷🤣. It ain’t easy. Feel free to hop out there, we’ll count your strikes and quality pitches for you.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@TTaylorMHS85 @rjw19343 @CoachSwit Exactly! Good travel. IMO, eighth graders shouldn’t worry about promoting themselves. They should be working their tail off to make varsity as a frosh . Once you get to HS, and if you are good enough while promoting yourself good ball will find you. Impress your league coaches.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@CoachSwit I thought more about it and I think it is hurting more than helping,

[kf @KellenFerris]

@CoachSwit It’s not helping, but I don’t know if it’s hurting. Maybe fewer travel baseball teams would improve the product. Way too many dad’s who ‘played’ HS baseball coaching travel teams.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@CoachSwit Says a lot about you coach. Your eye for potential, your ability to coach the technicals and mechanics of the game along with the mental battles, and so much more that goes into it.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@statechampsmich @MIArmyGuard Is there a reason Seaholm’s pitcher is yelling into Farmington’s dugout at the end of the game?

[kf @KellenFerris]

@the_det_times @tigers @971theticketxyt @WatchDSN @bet365_us Come on. The middle of this does not scare anyone and more importantly, strikes out WAY too much.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@M_Gerber17 Well said. I feel lucky to coach my son, for free

[kf @KellenFerris]

@spotbt41 @FreeRangeKids @iamjackedcrypto As a former Little Leaguer, LL has implemented way too many silly rules which I believe is a primary driver they are losing so many kids.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@nathannharris @padrescertnerd @HeilmanJoseph @kennyfgan I’m sorry, but I completely disagree. I graduated HS in 2000. I played one yr of travel ball when I was 12. I was heavily recruited and ended going to school on a Division I scholarship. You do NOT need travel ball. You need to be good and be creative to get exposure.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@padrescertnerd @HeilmanJoseph @kennyfgan A bad varsity team? The leagues are broken down by divisions so not really sure what you’re trying to say. Seems to me, you are describing means you live near a large, well funded school, and $$$ base where parents wanted and could pay for their kids.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@kennyfgan Good luck with that. I say that as someone who played legion from age 15-18 in MA. We drew kids from 6 towns so it was the best of the best and we finished top 10 in the state every summer. Playing legion was the best part of my baseball career…and I had a DI scholarship.

[kf @KellenFerris]

@11thHour What are we actually doing here? Serious question. 🤷🤷🤷🤯🤯🤯

[kf @KellenFerris]

@BaseballDudes48 Powerful and spot on!

[kf @KellenFerris]

@coachajkings If anyone other coaches out there has suggestions to help us coaches of 11u and 12u travel players talk to our players about managing pressure, expectations, and most importantly when things don’t go their way? I’d love to see what resources you recommend. TY

[kf @KellenFerris]

@CoachSwit Without a doubt!! I was recruited as a D1 pitcher out of New England way back in the very late 90’s, and even I hit .440 my junior year. We played in a strong HS division too.

Pretty sad D1 recruiters have been tricked to look at EV more than game stats/quality of competition..

[kf @KellenFerris]

@wjeffpetty Preach!!!