Five major adjustments in the life of a hitter

When a baseball player first picks up a baseball bat he must begin to make adjustments throughout his career. Here are the five major adjustments that I believe have the biggest impact on a player.

1- Going from the tee to the overhand toss

The overhand toss provides something that the tee simply couldn't. Force in the opposite direction than the batted ball. This can not be overstated. The ball now has some momentum behind it as it travels to the hitter. This momentum must be overcome with the force of the batter. The difficulty that kids have is that in order to produce a force that can counter the balls they must summon enough energy to create this force. Guess what? If they swing and miss while trying to create this force the ole "keep your eye on the ball crowd" starts to chirp. Overcoming momentum is the first major adjustment.

2- Going from overhand toss to kid pitch

Kid pitch provides the second major challenge as it provides kids the opportunity to take pitches on a consistent basis. This can be very detrimental as the walk becomes an attractive consequence. Kids should not be thinking walk and coaches need to refrain from asking to swing only if it's perfect. We're talking player development- not just winning. Oh, did I also mention that when kids pitch hitters begin to have real fears that they're going to get hit. Another psychological issue to overcome.

3- The introduction of the curveball

Whoa. What to do with this thing? We have a ball breaking down and most often away from us. How do we hit this thing. Top spin is introduced and it's like nothing we've seen to this point. Proper posture and approach can offer some idea as to how to hjt this thing but nothing substitutes for experience. The curveball can take years to learn to hit.

4- Adjusting to the big field distance

The field difference happens at 13. It can happen again at 14 if there happens to be a transiition field that kids play on. This adjustment is critical because of timing issues that develop when the mound difference presents itself. Furthermore, the big kid that could pop balls out at the little league field has his power re-defined. Often times, other kids begin to catch up and that power never truly does come back.

5- Pitcher's pitching backwards

The last and final adjustment is the idea that pitchers will throw a hitter backwards. Curveballs come when fastballs are expected. This can foul everything up. How are you supposed to time a pitcher if you can't anticipate what is coming. Those darn pitchers.

These five adjustments certainly aren't the end all be all adjustments in the life of a hitter. However, after watching players develop from tee ball to professional baseball these are 5 biggies. Today, they're big enough for my attention.