u/LoreUhKay

Help! I feel like I've done my son a disservice.

He has never had proper hitting instruction. He's done winter group classes, but not really any one-on-one, and it's starting to show. He's 15, and up until recently, he's had a great batting average every year, often leading his team. But the past year or so he's really starting to struggle. He plays open/major, so I think the pitching and fielding are just getting better and better, and he can't keep up. But everyone else on his team seems to be adjusting just fine while he continues to drop.

He's had some one-on-one hitting instruction this year and it's helped. He really changed his swing (it was ugly before) but he's struggling with timing. I don't think he's ever been taught how to get his timing, even off of a machine. At his last lesson, his hitting coach called him out for not finding his timing even after 25 pitches off the machine.

I think he really needs someone to break everything down for him, to the basics. Timing, pitch selection, studying the pitcher while he's warming up, having a plan when he goes to bat. He is incredibly book smart and very analytical but doesn't have a ton of natural instinct. His coaches and his dad are all pitchers, so he doesn't get any real hitting instruction from them during games.

What are your suggestions for helping him in this area? More private coaching? Videos?

I have a finished basement that is very dark. Black paneling on the lower half of the walls, black cabinets in the kitchen, black plantation shutters, dark brown paint on the top half of the walls, dark tile on the floor. I'd love to redo it in lighter colors but I have no eye for this. I'm think about starting by just repainting the walls and maybe the shutters a lighter color and leaving the rest black. Does anyone have any pictures of a basement remodel that went from dark colors to light that they love?