Your kid swings 100 balls off a tee. In a real at-bat, they get about 2 swing decisions per inning. That's the gap nobody talks about. Try this in your next cage session: call 'swing' or 'take' after the pitch is released. No tee. Just decisions. That's it. Try it tonight, let me know how it goes.

Most parents think their kid has a mechanics problem. They don't. They have a decision problem. Here's what I mean: Your player looks great in the cage. Smooth swing. Good contact. But the moment the game starts, something breaks down. That's not a swing issue. That's a decision window issue. The decision window is the split second between pitch release and contact. Elite hitters train that window. Youth hitters ignore it completely. Here's what trains it: → Live at-bats, not tee work → Pitch recognition drills before mechanics drills → Mental reps — seeing the pitch before it's thrown The cage builds confidence. The decision window builds hitters. This is the foundation of The Plane Truth method — and it's exactly what we work on inside The Dugout. If your player hits great in practice but disappears in games — drop a comment below. Tell me their age and position. I read every one. — Coach Ricks ⚾ #YouthBaseball #HittingCoach #BaseballTraining #HittingWithRicks #ThePlaneTruth #YouthHitters #BaseballParents #HittingTips #ElizabethtownKY #NXT1UP This post does three things simultaneously ranks for youth hitting search terms, speaks directly to parent anxiety, and drives community engagement from day one. Pin it right below your welcome post.