STUDENT EVALUATIONS


OVERVIEW
During a first lesson or the evaluation lesson, you should expect the instructor to be evaluating the student and outlining the goals and curriculum that she/he will use with the student. This first lesson should be very informal for both the student and parents. Evaluations will be affected by the nervousness of the student, so keeping everything low key will help bring about an honest, accurate evaluation. Do not stress contact or good hits. Try not to let the student think of anything other than a very relaxed swing. This not only gives the instructor a good look at the skills of the student, but helps set the tone for a good future learning environment. This is only an evaluation. Do not use it as a determinator of success or failure.



STEP 1: DETERMINING A STUDENT’S MOST CONSISTENT SWING
When a student comes for her first lesson, always take time to watch her bunt and swing off the machine. Avoid instructing right away: this helps you analyze what may be the student’s most consistent swing. It may take 20 to 40 swings to get to this point. Once you’ve determined the most consistent swing, you can begin to teach.
It is very important to evaluate her physical skills and what instruction, if any, she has received in the past. This evaluation is strictly an opinion based upon experience; but it’s designed to help understand when to start teaching and how to determine the point at which the first goals should be set. In addition, it is very important to video the student. This helps to document a starting point that will be needed later in an improvement analysis, and gives you the chance to watch her swings in slow motion. Slow motion video picks up many things that can be missed with the naked eye. Video also helps in setting the first goals that will be used with the student.



STEP 2: STANCE
After watching a student swing the bat for a while, it’s time to focus on her stance. Since this is the point at which everything starts, it’s one of the most important areas. Here are some specific areas to look at:

1. Where the student is standing in the batters box. Example
2. How close the student is to the plate. Example
3. The students center of balance. Example
4. Any leaning or angles that would cause a hitter to be off balance. Example
5. General angle of the body in the students normal hitting stance. Example
6. Hands and where the bat is being held. Example
7. Head position and eyes. Example

Remember, while making notes, that these are just observations. They are references that may change once instruction has started. It is important to keep an eye on them, but not give them too much weight just yet.



STEP 3: HEAD AND EYES
While watching the student swing the bat, focus on her helmet and how much it moves during a swing. Teach what is often called a quiet swing, where the core of the body rotates with little or no effect on the center of gravity. For this to happen, a student’s head needs to stay still, yet allow the student to concentrate on seeing the ball. When looking at a video, try placing a mark on the side of the helmet to see just how much the student’s head moves during a swing. It’s helpful to remind the students to swing as though there is a ball balanced on the top of their helmets that should not fall off is a help.Example
Another method: watch the student’s eyes. A very common problem is closing the eyes right before contact. Also, be sure to look to see if the student is tracking the ball to the bat, and at what point in the swing her eyes leave the ball to watch it leave the bat. A very good time for evaluating tracking the ball is while bunting. This is because the student must wait for the ball during the flight of the ball. You can get a very good idea of how she sees the ball by watching her eyes. Tracking is another area in which videos will show you things you would have missed by just watching.




STEP 4: HAND PATH
Hand path is another area that needs to be evaluated. This is an area that you may not necessarily want to address right away. Think of it as part of the overall goals to be met somewhere within the first month or four lessons. It‘s very easy to work on hand path, but it is best to wait because as we adjust other thing such as hips rotating and leg and foot turning, the hand path will change. I define hand path as the path the hands take from the trigger of the swing all the way through the finish or follow-through.Example




STEP 5: STRIDE AND FOOTWORK
When evaluating stride and footwork, look at them not so much as areas to work on right away, but as areas that will help address other areas of concern. Watching how a student plants her feet and allows her body to rotate through the swing will tell a great deal about how effective her legs will be in generating power and bat speed. Looking at the angle change between the stance of a swing and the angle after the stride can help evaluate the upper body movement and how the eyes stay in line with the ball as it comes toward the hitter. You may want to let this area go for a couple of lessons before starting to adjust the distance of the stride or the angle of the front foot . . . unless the issues truly affect the hitter so much that she cannot have success without a change.




STEP 6: EQUIPMENT
Equipment is one of the most important categories of hitting. In a sense, it should be the first. By equipment, we’re speaking of a helmet that fits and is safe, a bat that is sized for the hitter, and cleats (if you are hitting outside on the dirt). This has nothing to do with the brands or cost. We are talking about safe equipment that is sized for the student at her current physical ability.




Basic Hitting Stages...
BASIC HITTING STAGES

To read about the basic hitting stages, go to:Basic Hitting Stages Info


Contact me if you have any questions regarding these steps