What if I told you your kid's .210 batting average might be flat out lying to you? I've seen it over and over, parents stressing over numbers that don't actually tell the full story of how their hitter is developing. I'm Joey Myers, founder of HittingPerformanceLab.com, former Division I Fresno State ballplayer and author of the Amazon bestselling book, The Catapult Loading System. And in today's episode of the Swing Smarter Hitting Training Podcast, I'm pulling back the curtain on one of the most misunderstood stats in youth baseball and softball batting average. I'm going to show you why it's such a blunt, misleading tool, especially for young hitters, and what you should be tracking instead if you actually want to see progress. We'll talk about quality contact, smarter pitch selection, and competitive bats that tell a much clearer story. You'll get simple science-backed ways to measure development without fancy techs. Plus a practice framework you can start using this week to improve timing, approach, and confidence. So if you're a parent, coach, or player who's tired of chasing numbers that don't reflect the real growth happening at the plate, stick around. By the end, you'll know exactly what to look for beyond the box score and how to help your hitter swing smarter, not just harder. Baseball's traditional metrics, particularly batting average, often paint an incomplete and potentially misleading picture of a young player's development. This fixation on batting... ...has become deeply ingrained in baseball culture, leading parents and coaches to make hasty judgments about player performance based on a single, flawed statistic. When parents check stat sheets after weekend tournaments and see their child's batting average looking less than stellar, it can trigger unnecessary worry and potentially harmful reactions. The fundamental problem with batting average is its binary nature. It only recognizes hits versus outs, ignoring crucial aspects of player development and quality at bat. Consider a player who hits a line drive directly to a fielder versus one who gets a lucky bloop single. Batting average treats these outcomes completely differently, despite what they might tell us about hitting skill. This oversimplification can lead to misguided training decisions and unnecessary stress for young athletes. The conversation about batting average's limitations is gaining traction, even on social media platforms like TikTok, where videos showcase MLB players with average batting averages... ...but exceptional performance in more telling metrics like exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and on-base percentage. This shifting perspective is particularly crucial for youth baseball, where development and confidence building should take precedence over traditional statistics. A real-world example illustrates this perfectly. A 12U player named Ethan maintained just a .180 batting average in the first half of the season. On paper, this might seem concerning. However, deeper analysis revealed significant improvement. His barrel percentage had doubled from the previous season. Exit velocity increased by four miles per hour, and his pitch selection showed marked improvement. These underlying metrics painted a much more accurate picture of his development as a hitter, demonstrating how traditional statistics can mask real progress. There are three primary reasons why batting average fails as a meaningful metric for youth players. First, the sample sizes in youth baseball are typically too small. Fifteen to twenty-five games simply isn't enough to draw meaningful conclusions. Second, it completely ignores the process of improvement, focusing solely on outcomes. Third, and perhaps most importantly, it can negatively impact a player's mental approach, leading them to press or make counter-productive changes to their swing mid-season. Instead of fixating on batting average, coaches and parents should focus on three key alternative metrics that provide a more comprehensive view of player development. The first is... Quality Contact Percentage which measures how often a player hits the ball hard with proper trajectory, regardless of the outcome. This metric rewards good process over lucky results, and provides a better indication of hitting skill development. The second crucial metric is... Pitch Selection Success This evaluates a player's ability to... If today's episode hit home, if you're ready to stop chasing batting average and start building quality contact, smarter pitch selection, and truly competitive at-bats, then Swing Shift is where to start. Where we make that happen, day-to-day. I built Swing Shift for busy baseball and softball families. It's a daily, bite-sized video series that gives you exactly what we talked about today. Simple, science-backed drills, clear cues, and a process scoreboard you can track without fancy tech. We'll work the same ideas from this episode, things like quality contact percent, green zone vs. yellow zone decisions, and two-strike compete, and turn them into 5-7 minute wins you can stack all week. No overcoaching. No gimmicks. Just a step-by-step plan to improve timing, approach, and consistency, and to protect your hitter's confidence while the hits start to fall. Whether your athlete is 7 or 17, you'll know what to practice, how to measure it, and how to adjust. So you're developing a hitter, not just a batting average. Join me inside at hittingperformancelab.com forward slash swing shift. Let's turn today's insight into tomorrow's hard contact. Identify and swing at pitches they can drive while laying off less favorable ones. As sports psychologist Dr. Brett McCabe emphasizes, this focuses on controlling the controllables. Players can't control where the ball lands after contact, but they can control their decisions about which pitches to swing at. The third metric to track is competitive at-bats, which examines how well a player battles in tough situations, works counts, and contributes to wearing down opposing pitchers. This includes factors like fighting off tough pitches with two strikes, putting the ball in play after falling behind, in the count, and consistently making the pitcher work harder. To implement these concepts in practice, the two-zone tee game drill provides an excellent framework. This exercise involves setting up a tee with two distinct hitting zones, a green zone for optimal pitches, and a yellow zone for borderline pitches. Players take 10 swings from each zone with different success criteria for each. For green zone pitches, the focus is on hard line drive contact, while yellow zone pitches are focused on hard line drive contact. Yellow zone pitches emphasize smart pitch selection and controlled contact. This approach helps develop better hitting fundamentals while teaching crucial pitch recognition skills. It's more engaging than traditional tee work and builds the foundation for success in the metrics that truly matter for development. The drill can be easily tracked without complex technology. Just a notebook and attentive observation are sufficient. The mental aspect of baseball development cannot be overlooked. Marcus Aurelius' wisdom applies perfectly to this situation. You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength. Young players can't control whether their well-hit balls find gaps or gloves, but they can control their approach, preparation, and response to challenges. This mindset helps players focus on improvement rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics. Parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift.
Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. Rather than getting discouraged by traditional statistics, parents and coaches play a crucial role in this paradigm shift. can track these important developmental metrics. The goal isn't to become a statistical analyst, but to maintain a clear picture of genuine progress over time. By focusing on these more meaningful metrics and maintaining a process-oriented mindset, we can better support young players' development while helping them maintain perspective on their true progress. This approach creates an environment where players can develop both their baseball skills and the mental fortitude needed for long-term success in the sport. The next time you see a concerning batting average on a stat sheet, remember to look deeper at the quality of at-bats, the process of improvement, and the development of fundamental skills that will serve players well in the long run. If today's episode helped you look past batting average and focus on what actually moves the needle, quality contact, smart pitch selection, and truly competitive at-bats, I've got a shortcut for putting that into action without adding more chaos to your week. It's my AI for Youth Sports online video course. I show you step-by-step how to use simple AI tools to build personalized practice plans, track the right metrics, think quality contact percent, green versus yellow zone decisions, two-strike compete, and turn notebooks into clear week-by-week progress. No fancy tech required. You'll get prompts and templates to create drill menus, session plans, and recap notes you can share with your athlete or team so everyone stays focused on the process that produces results. If you're a baseball or softball parent or coach who wants less guessing and more growth, head to hittingperformancelab.com forward slash AICourse and use code AICoursePodcast for $20 off. Let's turn today's insight into a plan you can run this week. If today's breakdown helped you look beyond batting average and focus on quality contact, smarter pitch selection, and truly competitive at-bats, do me a quick favor, follow subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode, leave a short review to help more families find us, and share this with others. I'll see you next week. Thanks for listening. Keep showing up, keep learning, and keep swinging smarter.
