All sports have their hook, that moment of success. That nothing but net sound, the rattle of a golf ball in the cup, or the cheer of the crowd after scoring a goal can get kids hooked on their sport for life.
For baseball or softball the hook is a little more difficult to point out at a young age. Kids have trouble making solid contact with the pitched ball at age 5. They struggle to really make the mitt pop with a sizzling fastball at age 9.
Big Bat gives boys and girls at a very young age that hook that will get them excited about playing the game. The core idea behind Big Bat is to get kids crushing the ball from the very start. Not only crushing the ball but hitting it over the fence, sometimes on day one! We purposely bring the fences in close with Big Bat. We want kids hitting over the fence home runs as soon as possible. Putting a young hitter in a position to fail in their first 100 at bats is not the right way to teach them how to hit.
The hitter steps into the box, gets into a strong athletic position, ready to crush the ball. The pitcher goes into the windup. The batter tracks the ball right out of the pitcher’s hand. It’s a fat pitch right down the middle. The hitter’s eyes get big. He starts his load and gets ready to crush it. Because of his strong, athletic foundation, he generates unbelievable bat speed at contact. He squares the ball up, right on the sweet spot, launching the ball at the perfect trajectory. It seems like the ball is in the air forever! It’s a no doubter, landing far over the left field fence. The hitter goes into a home run trot, touching all the bases. A mob of teammates awaits at home plate to celebrate the game winning home run.
That little scenario was describing a 6 year old playing Big Bat.
The home run has been totally taken out of youth baseball and softball. Our young hitters have been set up for failure. Bats that are much too big, hitting the ball off a tee, and fences that are much too far away have deprived countless young hitters of the “hook” in our national pastime. Hitting is about confidence. If you think you will crush the ball on every swing, you probably will.
Let’s put our young hitters in a position to succeed at the plate from the very beginning. Get a bat in their hands they can handle. Wiffle ball Big Bats at ages 4-9 get kids crushing thousands of hits before they ever pick up a metal bat.