Good contact - but ball doesn't go very far... suggestions?

My DD is 12U travel team. She makes contact most the time, but almost always stays in the infield & mostly right back to the pitcher.
What can I work on with her to "muscle her up" to get those hits to go somewhere?

Is it bat swing?
Is it strenth? (lifting weights?)
What can I do to help her?

Been to a hitting coach - hits well in the cage, nails the balls actually! In games they flop & nothing but infield grounders....

SSmom83 said:

My DD is 12U travel team. She makes contact most the time, but almost always stays in the infield & mostly right back to the pitcher.
What can I work on with her to "muscle her up" to get those hits to go somewhere?

Is it bat swing?
Is it strenth? (lifting weights?)
What can I do to help her?

Been to a hitting coach - hits well in the cage, nails the balls actually! In games they flop & nothing but infield grounders....

Click to expand...

Without video, it's impossible to say. But, power comes from using the body to power the bat, not the hands and arms, and the sequence is critical. The hands stay back while the legs drive the torso, and then the torso pulls the hands, then the hands throw the barrel. If that sequence is not there, you get no power.

Got it - will video a current shot this weekend & watch for the sequence... Thanks!

First thought when DD does this is it's due to hitting top of ball.

Posting your DD's swing would be better. Then depending on what is on the video, helpfully suggestions could be made. Then you will have a game plan on what you may need to work on.

More than one swing is much better. Real pitches are much better as far as analyzing.

What SIZE is your DD and where is some video of her?

I feel your pain, my dd just moved into 12u this fall and is only batting .235 through about a dozen games. She only has one K, the rest have been ground ball outs. She is a small girl with just average power for her size. She bats 5th in the lineup, and she understands her job is to move runners over.
Mechanically mine looks pretty good, but it is more of a strength issue with her. Plus the girls she is playing with are bigger and better now in the infield.

There was a video posted one time showing Howard Carriers hitting screen or it might have been straightlegs, but it had lines painted across it for when you were doing T work. The lines gave the batter instant feedback as to where the ball probably would have gone. I would have to go set mine up and measure it, but I think the top line was 50" and the bottom line was 30", you would set the T up about 4.5' away. As long as you were hitting balls in between the two lines, it was considered a good line drive. Above the line was a flyball out, under the bottom line and that was a ground ball out.

It is a good visual aid for the batter and a parent, you instantly know how the ball is leaving the bat.

Here are the measurements :The hitting net is marked with (2) two horizontal lines one line at 51 inches high and another line at 39 inches high, as measured from the floor. The hitting net is also marked with one vertical line down the middle. Paint the 51 inch and 39 inch lines black and paint the middle of the two line red also paint the vertical line black. The Tee is setup to represent a down the middle pitch and is positioned about to 2 to 3 inches forward of Home plate. Tee is set up 4 ½ feet from the net, and 29 ½ inches high. With this setup the 51 inches horizontal line on the net represents a 26 degree angle from the top of the tee, while the 39 inch line represents a 10 degree angle from the top of the tee. If the ball is hit at the 39 inch line, it would make the ball at 86 feet which is second base for softball, the ball would be about 8 to 10 feet high and at the 51 inch line possible out of the park. Provided the middle of the ball is hit with about a 8 to 10 degree up swing. Always line up off the back corner of home plate the length of a bat. We lay the bat down on the back corner of home plate with the sweet spot on the plate. We stand /set up to hit at the end of the handle of the lay downed bat. ( not tee *see picture of schutt Multi position Tee) as a reference point so we are consistent when determining where the ball hit’s the net when doing Tee work. Difficult to establish bat control without having a place to set up that would make hitting a ball off the tee in a fixed position repeatable in my opinion. When done correctly and when hitting up the middle the ball should hit in the zone and be close to the vertical line.

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Here are pics of my Hitting area in my garage.