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CoogansBluff · Oct 23, 2014

GA42sDad said:
What's wrong with bug squishing?

It's a common and misguided method of teachng kids how to get their hips going. It doesn't match what good hitters actually do. That is, they do not pivot on the back foot, or ball of their back foot.

Not everyone is enamored with the hitting coach that I'm about to reference, but hard to argue with this:

Squishing The Bug

softballphreak · Oct 24, 2014

GA42sDad said:
What's wrong with bug squishing?

There's a good reason it doesn't match what good hitters do. The main reason IMO is it throws the balance off to a point where you lose a tremendous percent of the force that should be helping drive the ball. Instead of helping direct the energy toward the ball, it is now leaking part of the energy to the weakened side of the bug squish.

Throwing and hitting are almost identical until release point. Think about how it would feel if you tried to squish the bug as you throw. Wouldn't work well. It doesn't work well with hitting either. (Another reason to teach throwing first?)

The rear foot should react very similar to the way it would if you were actually taking a step to your left. There is no squish the bug there—unless you were marching maybe.

nicelag · Oct 31, 2014

Two points here. As far as throwing goes I see too many coaches who try to teach the young ones proper throwing mechanics from the top down almost never addressing the footwork. 99% of bad throws come from bad mechanics, and if you break it down (especially with young ones) bad mechanics almost always come from bad footwork. I constantly see coaches get on girls for dropping their arm angle, all the while they are stepping so far out that they couldn't keep their arm up if they wanted too. Which, leads to a great deal of frustration for the coaches and players. Especially when throwing after fielding a ground ball. 8 out of 10 players (10 and under) have bad footwork when fielding the ball which leads directly to bad footwork when they throw. Work on better footwork prior to receiving the ground ball and watch how much better they throw, and field for that matter!
I have had great success teaching throwing from the ground up. You can't have proper upper body mechanics if you don't have proper footwork, period! Try it. I constantly tell my girls that you want to hit your target because you are good, not because you are lucky.

As far as hitting goes, when I hear "squish the bug" it makes me cringe also. I think most rec coaches, baseball and softball, teach that because that is what they have heard other coaches say. I know I did. From my experience squishing the bug leads to batters getting up on their back toes, and most often too early in the swing, as stated. It also tends to cause the batter to drive /push up with their back leg during the swing sending their low body energy or power up instead of through the ball. This causes and lot of grounders and pop ups do to forcing the swing through the ball. Turning and pushing off of the ball of the foot helps the player stay down and through thus driving the ball. My opinion.

SoAZDad · Oct 31, 2014

nicelag said:
Two points here. As far as throwing goes I see too many coaches who try to teach the young ones proper throwing mechanics from the top down almost never addressing the footwork. 99% of bad throws come from bad mechanics, and if you break it down (especially with young ones) bad mechanics almost always come from bad footwork. I constantly see coaches get on girls for dropping their arm angle, all the while they are stepping so far out that they couldn't keep their arm up if they wanted too. Which, leads to a great deal of frustration for the coaches and players. Especially when throwing after fielding a ground ball. 8 out of 10 players (10 and under) have bad footwork when fielding the ball which leads directly to bad footwork when they throw. Work on better footwork prior to receiving the ground ball and watch how much better they throw, and field for that matter!
I have had great success teaching throwing from the ground up. You can't have proper upper body mechanics if you don't have proper footwork, period! Try it. I constantly tell my girls that you want to hit your target because you are good, not because you are lucky.

As far as hitting goes, when I hear "squish the bug" it makes me cringe also. I think most rec coaches, baseball and softball, teach that because that is what they have heard other coaches say. I know I did. From my experience squishing the bug leads to batters getting up on their back toes, and most often too early in the swing, as stated. It also tends to cause the batter to drive /push up with their back leg during the swing sending their low body energy or power up instead of through the ball. This causes and lot of grounders and pop ups do to forcing the swing through the ball. Turning and pushing off of the ball of the foot helps the player stay down and through thus driving the ball. My opinion.

So there it is, yes? Throwing, catching, hitting, and baserunning form/mechanics.

Fastpitch86 · Nov 1, 2014

I helped coach my nieces 8u team a couple years ago while my brother-in-law traveled for his work. Anyway, had 2 practices per week, one for hitting and the other for base running and throwing. Once they got the basics down, added fielding and outfield while keeping the hitting on a separate day.

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