Why your cage swing disappears in games

Every coach has seen it. A kid barrels everything in the cage, then goes 0 for 4 on Saturday. It's not in his head. The cage and the game are testing different skills.

The cage tests your swing. The game tests your timing.

Off a tee or soft toss, the ball is where you expect it, when you expect it. In a game, you get a fraction of a second to decide if it's a strike, what it is, and when to start. A great swing that starts late is still a foul ball or a strikeout.

Train the parts a tee can't

• See real velocity. Machine work and live arms at game speed or faster. Your eyes and timing need reps against the speed you'll face.
• Mix speeds and locations. Front toss with changing speeds forces you to stay back and adjust, like a real at bat.
• Make decisions. Call balls and strikes out loud during rounds. Pitch recognition is a skill, and it gets better with reps.
• Live at bats. Nothing replaces facing a pitcher who is trying to get you out.

Have an approach

Go to the plate looking for one pitch in one zone early in the count. Hitters who swing at everything give the pitcher the at bat. Hitters with a plan make the pitcher come to them.

Keep the cage, change the cage

Tee work still matters for building the swing. Just make sure the end of every practice looks more like a game than the start of it did.