Here's how The Epstein Teaching System™ works: 

As this learning process relates to baseball players, they are generally unaware of their lack of competence as they progress to a higher level.  Normally, this is because they have always had success up to this point, and usually believe they are merely in the midst of a "slump."  Pitchers progress when they display the ability to throw strikes to all four corners of the strike zone. Mechanical adjustments are part of the pitcher’s routine development. Those that make the correct adjustments keep moving up. Those that don’t become history. Hitters also must learn to make good adjustments. If pitchers are continually getting the hitter out on pitches on the inside-half of the plate, he's got to make some adjustments.  If he correctly anticipates pitches “in” up to two strikes, but if their mechanics won’t let him “clear their hips,” it won’t make much difference. In other words, part of the learning process is mechanical, as well as mental.

But the baseball "system" (especially professional baseball) has its own way of dealing with hitting adjustments. Historically, it has gone like this: “Let the player figure it out for themselves. If they can’t, and their 'back is to the wall,' they’ll find someone to help them (a friend, their coach or a hitting instructor). However—at all costs— the coach or  hitting instructor, should NEVER approach a struggling player with advice. Let them come to you.” The fallacy with this notion is, by the time the player does seek help, way too much time has passed, and their confidence level is shot. This is because the player is usually not "conscious" of their lack of competence. They say to themselves, “It’ll pass. It's just a "slump."

A qualified hitting instructor will attempt to make the player AWARE by asking the player questions when they begin to struggle. “Having trouble getting your bat head through on inside pitches? Are you anticipating pitches correctly up to two strikes?  Do you think your hips are rotating as well as they can? Are you starting on time? Can you feel yourself lunging?”  These just scratch the surface, but serve as a wake-up call to the hitter, because most times they feel their mechanics have gotten them to this point, so it must be something else. Unfortunately, many times it usually isn’t. As pitchers get better, hitters must make their adjustments, too. Mechanics are continually refined and adjusted—mostly through emulation and trial-and-error. This can be a very awkward, as well as a slow process.

Once you get through to the hitter—that, indeed, there may be something they are—or is not—doing that is causing the problem, then they will probably listen. Show them some things you feel can help them. For example, show them correct lower body movements where they can rotate their hips correctly, which will then “pull” their hands through with quickness and velocity they have never experienced before. Show them videos of baseball’s elite hitters doing THE VERY SAME MOVEMENTS. If that doesn’t convince them, they probably doesn’t WANT to get any better. As an instructor, the player has to meet you halfway.  Otherwise, it won’t work, and will frustrate you. They have to WANT to be helped!

If you succeed getting through to the player, and you make the player aware of their incompetence, they will enter the Awkward Stage.  This is arrived at when the player is asked to perform certain physical movements that they have never done before. This is their “shaky” period, the difficult time when everything feels different and they've got to “think through” every movement they make.

As the player gets better, and their new muscle memory "burns in" through constant repetition, they become less awkward—and more fluent in their movements. They become much more conscious of their new-found ability to perform these movements, which become consistently better as each day progresses. There is not a set timetable when the player is able to take it back on the field.

Finally, the player is ready! When they get into the batter’s box, they are now totally unconscious of their competence.  They don't think about what they are doing. They can now react and make the on-the-fly, instinctive adjustments that will keep them moving up the ladder. They have redefined their mechanics positively with hard work and an open mind.

How quickly a player breaks out of the Awkward Stage to the Skill Stage is dependent on their relationship with the hitting instructor and the ability of the hitting instructor to articulate good information that the hitter can identify with, internalize and USE. If the instructor can TEACH, is credible, has good information, is positive, and gains the respect of the hitter, it doesn’t take very long. However, if the player doesn’t respect the instructor for any of the above reasons, it probably won’t happen. The instructor must make the hitter “buy into” the mechanics and their ultimate reward: the player hitting their potential.

My experience suggests the journey from the Aware (Something New) Stage to the It's Me (Natural) Stage requires approximately 1,500 diligent repetitions. Every hitter is different! I have three, five and seven-day programs. I GUARANTEE the seven-day program: the player will have the same "core" mechanics of 95% of baseball's Hall of Fame hitters—or you pay nothing.

My progressive hitting program can be effectively taught to players 10 years and up. We have had good success with younger players (Click here to see an actual BEFORE/AFTER video clips of some of our students). However, unless a younger player is fairly advanced, he can struggle at this age. Often, younger players do not have the control of the motor coordination needed to effectuate these athletic movements, nor, in most instances, do they have the "attention span" to be instructed. However, that being said, let me emphasize that every player is different. In most cases, the younger your son/daughter can get started, the better.