Without a doubt, the best move we ever made for the progression of our 9-year-old son's game.

After considerable time and money spent at another baseball academy and not seeing progress commensurate to the money we were putting in, we decided to see what else might be out there.

Jack had developed a sweet swing. I just couldn't get over the feeling that he was leaving so much power potential on the table, and it just didn't seem anyone could figure out how to crack it. To make it click for him.

I came across their sign near my neighborhood and checked out their website. They teach a hitting pattern that I'd come across on YouTube, but didn't understand, other than that it was non-traditional, controversial, but whose champion was a dude who personally worked with Aaron Judge and insisted it was the pattern of many of the game's greatest hitters, even if they themselves didn't realize it.

I was intrigued.

We signed up for the offered free lesson and in just ONE CLASS, Jack was hitting harder than I've ever seen him hit, and it was one after the other. Bryan took him aside in class, gave him individual attention, and told him to forget just a couple "fundamentals" of traditional hitting, showing him instead how to feel which muscles are responsible for launching.

I don't pretend to understand how the HLP pattern works exactly. I'm still learning. So is Jack. He's a work in progress. All I know is that he picked up enough in just that first several minutes with Schmidty that he was letting loose like I'd never seen.

A couple months in and his confidence and love of the game have absolutely taken off. His exit velo has taken off. Their drills are just go go go, and Jack's just lapping it up.

I believe in what they are doing. I don't know if it works for everyone, but it's working for my son and we're all in.