12U Hitting... hands way too fast

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Sep 17, 2016
11
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So I have an 11 yo 12U travel ball player as my DD. She has a great swing, good load, and is starting her swing exactly when she should be (sorry no current video as this is a new issue she is having), but her swing is sooooo much faster than the other girls on her team. I'm not sure when her hands got so fast but the coach doesn't seen too worried since as a 1st year 12u team they will be seeing much faster pitching come this Spring in comparison to our current scrimmages.

She is so far ahead of the slower pitching and she knows it but it is hard for her to slow down her swing when all of last season the coach wanted the majority of the team to work on quicker hands (my daughter hits better off of 48+ mph pitching).

My question is to slow down the hands/swing, buy her a heavier bat, or not slow down the swing. I am new to all of this.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
This is strictly a timing issue, do not try to slow her hands or get a heavier bat; this is very typical for girls training against faster pitching to struggle with slow pitchers.

The correct approach is to don't begin anything until later, so she needs to find the right time to begin which is later than normal, maybe not even until it leaves her hand to actually stride if the ball is going 35mph. She can start by being able to pause at plant and full separation, at that point it almost becomes a drill stride/reach back/separate pause, pause, pause, go.

Ideally she could start with this idea in the batters box then at the plate begin everything later hopefully taking out one or two of those pauses, eventually after one at bat and actually paying attention from the dugout she should figure out when she needs to start her swing. The best hitters can make these adjustments from the batters box or after a couple pitches.

This is honestly hard to do so don't expect instant results, many coaches actually rotate their pitchers using this strategy to keep offensives off balance.
 
Last edited:
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
As DJ said, it's a timing issue. Slowing down the hands is the wrong approach. We want to maintain a quick, explosive swing. The adjustment is in waiting longer to launch the swing.

This is a topic that we cover frequently with my DD's 12U TB team. The thing I see most often is that the girls will leak their load, and let their hands drift forward as they read slower pitches (whether it's a slow pitcher or a change-up from a faster pitcher). This leaves them with no significant power source, and the typical result is a weak ground ball or pop-up. What I talk about with our players is they need to continue to pulling back with their hands/scap until launch time, maintaining the tension in their body.
 

rdbass

It wasn't me.
Jun 5, 2010
9,131
83
Not here.
What I talk about with our players is they need to continue to pulling back with their hands/scap until launch time, maintaining the tension in their body.
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Psst.....Search Command Drill.
 
Nov 2, 2015
192
16
Never try to slow down the hands...

It's all timing. One suggestion, just to get her to time it differently, is to have her take some AB's with no stride. I'm not saying to turn her into a no-stride hitter, but having her switch-up her routine at the plate may help her focus on the ball as opposed to her normal timing routine.
 
Jun 19, 2016
858
63
I rate this right up there with moving a player forward in the box. Fast hands = fast bat = big hits. You just need to get the timing down. I use screened front toss to address this issue.
 
Jun 19, 2016
858
63
How do you mean?

Some coaches/parents tell their kids to move up in the batters box to solve early swinging. Using a heavy bat or intentionally trying to slow down fast hands is a bad way to address the issue of swinging too early. I am generally against these bandaid fixes that ignore the larger issue.
 

Cannonball

Ex "Expert"
Feb 25, 2009
4,854
113
Brian, what "larger issues?" The first thing I teach any hitter I work with is to ask themselves the question, "can she beat me with a fastball?" If the answer is no, then they can move up in the box to take away other pitches.
 
Sep 17, 2016
11
1
Some coaches/parents tell their kids to move up in the batters box to solve early swinging. Using a heavy bat or intentionally trying to slow down fast hands is a bad way to address the issue of swinging too early. I am generally against these bandaid fixes that ignore the larger issue.

Another parent did tell me to have her move up in the box. She has always been a back of the box batter until now I guess lol. Can't hurt to try.

Another parent also said to teach her to fake bunt, pull back then swing. She said that her daughter's swing is too slow to teach her but my daughter may be able to and her coach does have her fake bunt almost every tournament. She is almost always 4th batter and if the 3rd batter only gets a single she has to fake bunt the 1st pitch to move her to 2nd so my daughter can bring her home. She was hitting at least a double pretty consistently if not better all last season with very few strike outs.

What are your thoughts on fake bunting to pull back and swing?
I just want my girl to get out of her slump!
 

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