i coached lil league baseball last year i had that problem he need to pratice his foot work the. the heal toe drill works the hips are the key ball of the front foot toes and back foot heel turing the hips are key pratice that with out the back let hime gett us to doing it

Sounds like he might be a little afraid. See if that is the issue first. If he isn't afraid, the old bucket drill might work. Put a bucket where he has been stepping. He'll want to avoid it and should start stepping towards the pitcher. This is one way to build awareness of what he is doing.

Good luck....

Coach Bill Mooney

I used to do the same thing when I played LL waaay back when. My coach placed a bat parralel to my stance behind me so it was either step back and step on the bat or step towards the pitcher. Worked wonders for me.

I've used the same drill as Jeff.

We've had several kids doing this & have fixed most of them. There were several solutions. We used the bat behind the heels, that works great. We also have them stand in there without a bat, just get in the stance & watch the ball all the way into the mitt. This focuses them on the singular purpose of overcoming the fear & urge to move.

I had one kid who hit great, just had the habit of stepping in the bucket. We had him stand with a completely open stance, then step in as the pitch is coming & that worked almost immediately. I tried it on other kids with no luck at all.

Try having the batter stand on a 2x6 during part of BP. This will help the batter with stepping away from the plate, and over all balance during the at bat.

In addition to the ideas above, you could also try (1)If you are using a hard ball you should try something softer like a Tee Ball or a Level 1 or level 5 baseball. (2)You could have him swing without moving his feet. (3) Tell him to take a practice swing before every pitch. (4) have him hit off a tee to develope the habit of good foot work; (5) Brides also work, it is amazing what a happy meal will motivate a child to do.