Thread: Need a Little Help

Cyclone, I assume that you are happy with your DD's beginning sequence in that she is coiling well, loading the hands so that they are fully loaded when she goes to toe-touch with the front foot, etc...

The three things that I've found useful for my DDs are:
1) Slow-motion swings--I have them slowly begin their swing and pause at toe-touch (hands completely loaded). From there I tell them to begin their swing with their hips only and resist letting their hands come forward until the back hip begins to pull the back shoulder through. We do this so that they can feel the hips moving first and what effect that has on the back shoulder (as well as the back, back leg, core, etc...). It also gives me a chance to make sure their back foot is not squishing and their knee is moving down and toward pitcher (but they are younger so I don't bother them with that, that's just for me).

2) Face the Fire is a great drill to get the girls to feel the hips leading the swing (good overall drill for weight shift). This is especially true if you also incorporate the reverse top hand into the drill since one benefit (at least to me) is that is forces them to keep their hands back longer. There are some great video examples on this forum of girls performing this drill.

3) Walk throughs or "Happy Gilmore" is similar to the "face the fire" drill except the girls may not feel as dramatic a weight shift.

My DDs seem to like drills 2 & 3. Sometimes we exaggerate the weight shift / movement and allow the back knee to kick up.

One thing I had to focus on in drills 2 & 3 for my DDs was the front hip. I had to remind them to let the front hip act as an axis point to allow the back hip to rotate around. It seemed like they weren't doing it at first and they were off balance after their swings and falling in toward the plate. I think they weren't allowing the full force of the back hip to rotate around and some of the momentum was being lost or left out toward the plate.

Hope this helps.