Mighty-Pronk

[Pronk]

Mighty-pronk got that first homer of the season tonight. Way over the retaining net and dented a car for good measure. This was off a pretty good pitcher who hasn't given up many homers that I know of. No clips because wife is gone and I don't really have a reliable helper. He had a rough weekend and was getting under everything and hitting it a mile high, or else rolling over on the outside pitch.

I made him work on split grip swings for about 20 minutes after school because experience tells me he's pushing the bat and not getting a good rear vertical forearm. (actually the order of that last statement should be reversed). So after the home run he hit one off the fence for a double, so it should get him back in the groove.

I did get some pre-game swing clips. By the way I wish he would do something besides pump the knob down during load, and the hands at this position often get trapped because it's harder to get the rear forearm vertical, but so far no luck.

These are just pickle balls, and the first one is smashed right at the pitcher while the other has that home run trajectory. The ball looks like it sticks for a second, if you haven't used pickles, that is when you dent the ball (they pop back out). If you barrel it just right you usually dent it, plus you can throw them harder so I recommend pickle balls.

[Shumro]

Pronk
Who do you order your pickle balls from. I had a batch and liked them because they were heavier than a regular whiffle but, they started cracking after a few sessions

Thanks
Shumro

[mightylakers]

Just a matter of time

During our Sunday's game, I saw John was doing one leg drill on deck so I told him that looking pretty good and said just relax John.

That's all he needs now, relax and trust his swing.

[Pronk]

Just a matter of time

During our Sunday's game, I saw John was doing one leg drill on deck so I told him that looking pretty good and said just relax John.

That's all he needs now, relax and trust his swing.

He was stressing too much about the home run thing, now that the monkey is off his back he can settle in. I took DP's brother in the draft who is a league age 9 which we almost never allow in majors. He hit a grand slam Saturday which is unbelievable but it caused some stress with Mighty. Trust is a good word something he must do.

[mudvnine]

Time to move the fences back . . . sounds like the HRs are becoming too big of a measuring stick at that league . . .

[mightylakers]

Time to move the fences back . . . sounds like the HRs are becoming too big of a measuring stick at that league . . .

You know there I agree with you Mud

Gary also played two games on a small field, 195' to the 8' fence. And he didn't hit HR there, well some of those were due to nothing to hit, tons of walk. But he did hit the ball 3 times for a double and a single and a ground out, you can see how disappointed he was every single time after AB. When playing at the big field all the sudden balls are smacked over 220-230 ft without pressure.

[Teacherman]

Pronk,

I like what I see with John. I like his rear hip action. I wonder if it is spring loaded (as shown in the hip coil clip) It might be. I can not tell for sure due to the intensity of these swings. But I don't think it is. If it isn't, he simply needs to create a tighter rear hip to rear leg bind.

But....here is what I really want to post. Once a hitter learns the proper rear hip coil....he will love it. The rear hip loads the butt. You can feel the glutes work when you coil the hip properly. If he sits a little, he will also load the rear leg. Then....if he takes his hands back....either Kent like....in constant motion and still going rearward at go....or....preset them further back....then a tight little poke at go....he will get the last little bit of stretch that is needed.

Hip Coil stretches the butt and lower back.
Sit stretches the leg.
Poke stretches the upper rear torso.

From that position....whether preset or achieved on the fly.....it is right....it is easy....it is the thing to do.....the only thing to do..............turn the hands and uncoil the rear hip. You will whip. From that position you have eliminated the arms. You are hands and hip only. You have two pivot points......pivot them.

[Pronk]

As a rec boardmember I totally disagree. You guys think in terms of what will make my kid get to high levels and I am fine with that not criticizing either of you. However I am a big proponent of kids continuing to play baseball and smacking a couple of homers at 12 is probably what makes the kids who can't play varsity still smack it around on the Colt field. Most of the Colt kids I see were decent ballplayers who decided to focus on football or something and it's cool seeing them still out there playing. One guy even got on at Pasadena City College even though he couldn't crack the team at La Costa.

[mudvnine]

Pronk, not to get too wrapped up in all the HR stuff, but when I read quotes like this . . .

Mighty-pronk got that first homer of the season tonight . . .

This was off a pretty good pitcher who hasn't given up many homers that I know of . . .

So after the home run he hit one off the fence for a double, so it should get him back in the groove . . .

These are just pickle balls, and the first one is smashed right at the pitcher while the other has that home run trajectory . . .

I find it very curious that a 12 year old is "pressing" (my word) for a home run so much that it took one to "get him back in the groove", rather than simply squaring up the ball well and hitting LDs for base hits would not have done the same thing for him . . . but more interesting, is the fact that now 11 and 12 y/o pitchers are being ranked as those that "give up homers" and those that do not.

At that age, we played on a field that was 235' down the lines and 275' in center with 8' fences and although there were some home runs, they were definitely NOT ones that are "popped up and out" like I see in the 200' all the way around fields in the LLWS games that are televised and it had nothing to do with the quality of the pitching, but rather the right swing at the right time . . . our league "leader(s)" typically had 2 or 3 per season . . .

As a rec boardmember I totally disagree. You guys think in terms of what will make my kid get to high levels and I am fine with that not criticizing either of you. However I am a big proponent of kids continuing to play baseball and smacking a couple of homers at 12 is probably what makes the kids who can't play varsity still smack it around on the Colt field. Most of the Colt kids I see were decent ballplayers who decided to focus on football or something and it's cool seeing them still out there playing. One guy even got on at Pasadena City College even though he couldn't crack the team at La Costa.

I must say, with how differently kids grow and mature as prepubescents, I find it a bit confusing at how what a 12U kid does on his LL field translates into what he'll do even as a 15 y/o freshman, not to mention as he matures into adulthood as an 18 y/o and older . . .

As for them continuing to play as they get older; the Colt and Palomino leagues in our area start after the HS season and typically consist of the area HS players anyway . . . with a smattering of a few "bubble" kids that have/had a shot of making the HS team anyway. I'm not convinced that they're still there trying to play, simply because they hit a homer or two as 12 year olds . . . but that's just my take on it . . .

[Pronk]

Not sure why any of this matters, or why I am explaining why a home run means something to a 12 year old but here goes...The goal of any rec coach should be to not run kids out of the game. Some days of the week I wear the Rec hat, and really there is at least one kid I travel I probably should run out of baseball but he loves it so we carry him. Honestly what they do after they leave my team is out of my hands and the kids who don't play some kind of travel don't play HS ball with few exceptions, but what I am trying to make sure of is that they have one great 12 year old year of baseball. My goal is to get them to love the game and I will not back down from pumping kids up to hit homers.

As far as the pitcher, I was saying was mightypronk smacked a homer off an all-star pitcher not one of the scrubs and it was very tight game at the time and he "broke dey hearts" with a 3-run homer. So much so that the manager took him out of a close game to save him for the next one. Hell you saw the field, teach sat in and watched griff hit, it's just baseball if you square it you might put one out. Typically in LL you have 1 really good pitcher per team, meaning 1 kid who 9-12 just won't hit, and the rest of the lineup hits sporadically. You hope for walks, some wildness and pitch count to expire and kill the #2 guy. Nobody is tracking whether this kid gives up homers, it's just that when he pitches teams don't score that much because he's a kid we'll trot out in all-stars. Smacking a homer off of him means more than off of some weak throwing kid. Nothing more nothing less. MightyPronk was a better hitter in 13U tournaments than LL because he was good about line drives, but which do you think meant more to him? Nobody at 54 blows it by these kids whereas at 46 feet, you've got to be on your game.

I will argue this till the cows come home because it's the same disagreement I have with LCYO Pony dad with a tiny weak hitting kid complaining about LL fences. (Mightylaker knows who I mean--Toreros). The kids who really hit the shite out of the ball at 12, whether they have HI mechanics or not end up playing travel ball and usually doing the same in travel. Basically because if you can hit the shite out of the ball in a stronger little league from 46, travel ball is a piece of cake. The really good ones go to some of the elite teams and it's fairly obvious who hit homers because they were one-trick ponies popping up 220 and happened to grow early and poked a few out. If you read up in this thread you'll see that HI Clinic hitter smacked a ball 343 feet at the HR Derby and he is by far the hardest hitting kid I've seen at 12 in my 5 years of coaching this age and watching travel ball all across SoCal. That is my #2 hitter and mightypronk is #3. My #1 hitter is the son of a professional golfer and absolutely destroys the ball. Ask Mightylakers how he has asked the kid's dad if he could play for their team as a fill-in. Even if we don't agree with the dad's cues, he is a dead nuts hitter at this age with a huge upside. His San Diego Show team won whatever 12U tournament they were in this past weekend in Vegas or AZ (can't remember) with the 12U Tomateros playing. Heck I love every time little Laker play for us but no way could you draft him over these two kids, and laker has show an ability to play high level 13U ball.

For better or worse those two kids are who mighty-pronk compares himself to. It's not fair, of course but it is what it is. They hit 13 and 12 homers last year at 11, more than double the best 11's I've seen come through. And I've seen both hit 300+ foot shots. So naturally my kid is going to press to try and keep up but he is just not gifted like they are.

[1chapterahead]

Yes?/No?

In any case, I like the swing!

[powertoallfields]

Not sure why any of this matters, or why I am explaining why a home run means something to a 12 year old but here goes...The goal of any rec coach should be to not run kids out of the game. Some days of the week I wear the Rec hat, and really there is at least one kid I travel I probably should run out of baseball but he loves it so we carry him. Honestly what they do after they leave my team is out of my hands and the kids who don't play some kind of travel don't play HS ball with few exceptions, but what I am trying to make sure of is that they have one great 12 year old year of baseball. My goal is to get them to love the game and I will not back down from pumping kids up to hit homers.

As far as the pitcher, I was saying was mightypronk smacked a homer off an all-star pitcher not one of the scrubs and it was very tight game at the time and he "broke dey hearts" with a 3-run homer. So much so that the manager took him out of a close game to save him for the next one. Hell you saw the field, teach sat in and watched griff hit, it's just baseball if you square it you might put one out. Typically in LL you have 1 really good pitcher per team, meaning 1 kid who 9-12 just won't hit, and the rest of the lineup hits sporadically. You hope for walks, some wildness and pitch count to expire and kill the #2 guy. Nobody is tracking whether this kid gives up homers, it's just that when he pitches teams don't score that much because he's a kid we'll trot out in all-stars. Smacking a homer off of him means more than off of some weak throwing kid. Nothing more nothing less. MightyPronk was a better hitter in 13U tournaments than LL because he was good about line drives, but which do you think meant more to him? Nobody at 54 blows it by these kids whereas at 46 feet, you've got to be on your game.

I will argue this till the cows come home because it's the same disagreement I have with LCYO Pony dad with a tiny weak hitting kid complaining about LL fences. (Mightylaker knows who I mean--Toreros). The kids who really hit the shite out of the ball at 12, whether they have HI mechanics or not end up playing travel ball and usually doing the same in travel. Basically because if you can hit the shite out of the ball in a stronger little league from 46, travel ball is a piece of cake. The really good ones go to some of the elite teams and it's fairly obvious who hit homers because they were one-trick ponies popping up 220 and happened to grow early and poked a few out. If you read up in this thread you'll see that HI Clinic hitter smacked a ball 343 feet at the HR Derby and he is by far the hardest hitting kid I've seen at 12 in my 5 years of coaching this age and watching travel ball all across SoCal. That is my #2 hitter and mightypronk is #3. My #1 hitter is the son of a professional golfer and absolutely destroys the ball. Ask Mightylakers how he has asked the kid's dad if he could play for their team as a fill-in. Even if we don't agree with the dad's cues, he is a dead nuts hitter at this age with a huge upside. His San Diego Show team won whatever 12U tournament they were in this past weekend in Vegas or AZ (can't remember) with the 12U Tomateros playing. Heck I love every time little Laker play for us but no way could you draft him over these two kids, and laker has show an ability to play high level 13U ball.

For better or worse those two kids are who mighty-pronk compares himself to. It's not fair, of course but it is what it is. They hit 13 and 12 homers last year at 11, more than double the best 11's I've seen come through. And I've seen both hit 300+ foot shots. So naturally my kid is going to press to try and keep up but he is just not gifted like they are.

I agree with you 100% Pronk! There is no better feeling in baseball than to hit a HR and have your team mates waiting for you with all smiles. The ultimate is a game winning dinger. A great play on defense is close, but unless it ends the inning, you don't get that immediate love from the whole team up close like you do on a HR. IMO, anything that keeps them playing gives them a chance to reach their potential. One day the light may go on or the fire may start to burn inside them to work harder. That can only happen if they are still playing the game.

[mightylakers]

Not sure why any of this matters, or why I am explaining why a home run means something to a 12 year old but here goes...The goal of any rec coach should be to not run kids out of the game. Some days of the week I wear the Rec hat, and really there is at least one kid I travel I probably should run out of baseball but he loves it so we carry him. Honestly what they do after they leave my team is out of my hands and the kids who don't play some kind of travel don't play HS ball with few exceptions, but what I am trying to make sure of is that they have one great 12 year old year of baseball. My goal is to get them to love the game and I will not back down from pumping kids up to hit homers.

As far as the pitcher, I was saying was mightypronk smacked a homer off an all-star pitcher not one of the scrubs and it was very tight game at the time and he "broke dey hearts" with a 3-run homer. So much so that the manager took him out of a close game to save him for the next one. Hell you saw the field, teach sat in and watched griff hit, it's just baseball if you square it you might put one out. Typically in LL you have 1 really good pitcher per team, meaning 1 kid who 9-12 just won't hit, and the rest of the lineup hits sporadically. You hope for walks, some wildness and pitch count to expire and kill the #2 guy. Nobody is tracking whether this kid gives up homers, it's just that when he pitches teams don't score that much because he's a kid we'll trot out in all-stars. Smacking a homer off of him means more than off of some weak throwing kid. Nothing more nothing less. MightyPronk was a better hitter in 13U tournaments than LL because he was good about line drives, but which do you think meant more to him? Nobody at 54 blows it by these kids whereas at 46 feet, you've got to be on your game.

I will argue this till the cows come home because it's the same disagreement I have with LCYO Pony dad with a tiny weak hitting kid complaining about LL fences. (Mightylaker knows who I mean--Toreros). The kids who really hit the shite out of the ball at 12, whether they have HI mechanics or not end up playing travel ball and usually doing the same in travel. Basically because if you can hit the shite out of the ball in a stronger little league from 46, travel ball is a piece of cake. The really good ones go to some of the elite teams and it's fairly obvious who hit homers because they were one-trick ponies popping up 220 and happened to grow early and poked a few out. If you read up in this thread you'll see that HI Clinic hitter smacked a ball 343 feet at the HR Derby and he is by far the hardest hitting kid I've seen at 12 in my 5 years of coaching this age and watching travel ball all across SoCal. That is my #2 hitter and mightypronk is #3. My #1 hitter is the son of a professional golfer and absolutely destroys the ball. Ask Mightylakers how he has asked the kid's dad if he could play for their team as a fill-in. Even if we don't agree with the dad's cues, he is a dead nuts hitter at this age with a huge upside. His San Diego Show team won whatever 12U tournament they were in this past weekend in Vegas or AZ (can't remember) with the 12U Tomateros playing. Heck I love every time little Laker play for us but no way could you draft him over these two kids, and laker has show an ability to play high level 13U ball.

For better or worse those two kids are who mighty-pronk compares himself to. It's not fair, of course but it is what it is. They hit 13 and 12 homers last year at 11, more than double the best 11's I've seen come through. And I've seen both hit 300+ foot shots. So naturally my kid is going to press to try and keep up but he is just not gifted like they are.

How's Jose doing this year? He is another one who can hit over 300 ft easily.

[Pronk]

How's Jose doing this year? He is another one who can hit over 300 ft easily.

Jose is up to two homers but has struggled at the plate a little. He is starting to heat up though as he went yard and doubled last game. For Jose and some of these guys its much harder in league at 46 to hit than what he typically sees in travel from 50. We played him once and struck him out three times. Trey twice and mightypronk once and he couldn't hold back on the curve. Each year it seems the pitchers have the upper hand until mid-april and the batters start catching up when it gets a little warmer.

[mudvnine]

Not sure why any of this matters, or why I am explaining why a home run means something to a 12 year old but here goes...The goal of any rec coach should be to not run kids out of the game. Some days of the week I wear the Rec hat, and really there is at least one kid I travel I probably should run out of baseball but he loves it so we carry him. Honestly what they do after they leave my team is out of my hands and the kids who don't play some kind of travel don't play HS ball with few exceptions, but what I am trying to make sure of is that they have one great 12 year old year of baseball. My goal is to get them to love the game and I will not back down from pumping kids up to hit homers.

As far as the pitcher, I was saying was mightypronk smacked a homer off an all-star pitcher not one of the scrubs and it was very tight game at the time and he "broke dey hearts" with a 3-run homer. So much so that the manager took him out of a close game to save him for the next one. Hell you saw the field, teach sat in and watched griff hit, it's just baseball if you square it you might put one out. Typically in LL you have 1 really good pitcher per team, meaning 1 kid who 9-12 just won't hit, and the rest of the lineup hits sporadically. You hope for walks, some wildness and pitch count to expire and kill the #2 guy. Nobody is tracking whether this kid gives up homers, it's just that when he pitches teams don't score that much because he's a kid we'll trot out in all-stars. Smacking a homer off of him means more than off of some weak throwing kid. Nothing more nothing less. MightyPronk was a better hitter in 13U tournaments than LL because he was good about line drives, but which do you think meant more to him? Nobody at 54 blows it by these kids whereas at 46 feet, you've got to be on your game.

I will argue this till the cows come home because it's the same disagreement I have with LCYO Pony dad with a tiny weak hitting kid complaining about LL fences. (Mightylaker knows who I mean--Toreros). The kids who really hit the shite out of the ball at 12, whether they have HI mechanics or not end up playing travel ball and usually doing the same in travel. Basically because if you can hit the shite out of the ball in a stronger little league from 46, travel ball is a piece of cake. The really good ones go to some of the elite teams and it's fairly obvious who hit homers because they were one-trick ponies popping up 220 and happened to grow early and poked a few out. If you read up in this thread you'll see that HI Clinic hitter smacked a ball 343 feet at the HR Derby and he is by far the hardest hitting kid I've seen at 12 in my 5 years of coaching this age and watching travel ball all across SoCal. That is my #2 hitter and mightypronk is #3. My #1 hitter is the son of a professional golfer and absolutely destroys the ball. Ask Mightylakers how he has asked the kid's dad if he could play for their team as a fill-in. Even if we don't agree with the dad's cues, he is a dead nuts hitter at this age with a huge upside. His San Diego Show team won whatever 12U tournament they were in this past weekend in Vegas or AZ (can't remember) with the 12U Tomateros playing. Heck I love every time little Laker play for us but no way could you draft him over these two kids, and laker has show an ability to play high level 13U ball.

For better or worse those two kids are who mighty-pronk compares himself to. It's not fair, of course but it is what it is. They hit 13 and 12 homers last year at 11, more than double the best 11's I've seen come through. And I've seen both hit 300+ foot shots. So naturally my kid is going to press to try and keep up but he is just not gifted like they are.

I agree with you 100% Pronk! There is no better feeling in baseball than to hit a HR and have your team mates waiting for you with all smiles. The ultimate is a game winning dinger. A great play on defense is close, but unless it ends the inning, you don't get that immediate love from the whole team up close like you do on a HR. IMO, anything that keeps them playing gives them a chance to reach their potential. One day the light may go on or the fire may start to burn inside them to work harder. That can only happen if they are still playing the game.

We'll I guess I'll have to start a petition at the league to pull in all of the fences to 200' all the way around . . . I never realized that 12U baseball had such a direct effect on the future success of a ball player . . .

I'm just happy my oldest didn't read this when he was younger, since he never hit one out until his senior season of baseball . . . hell, he never made the "A" all-star team for that matter, until he was all-league and all-valley that same senior season.

Oh, the two kids that lead the league in HRs when they were all 11-12 year olds, only hit two HRs between them in HS (my son doubled each of their HR production his final season), even though they were the biggest kids on the team as juniors and seniors.

But I do agree with you on one thing Pronk . . . I don't know "why any of this matters, or why I am explaining why a home run means something to a 12 year old" . . . sorry I brought it up in the first place . . . have fun with 'em . . .