Thread: Straightening arms too soon. Help please!!!!!!

I agree with FFS don't use them. Back to your question. On a slapper doing that I use the Whip Hit. Be very careful and wear a helmet. Many young slappers do that and tI use the whiphit for many different things to teach a kid what we want to fix. I actually warm up my slappers( older players) soft tossing with the whip hit. My dd can hit it just like a normal bat.

Originally Posted by 02Crush

Unless I missed something here...the OP's concern sounded like Casting (super early arm extension and dragging the arms through the zone)

I recommended this product as I use it for those who cast their arms early. I use it to teach them
the keep the arms in close to the body as they rotate. If they use proper form it allows them to take the hands to the ball. Sure they cannot make much of an adjustment on different locations but it is not designed for that.

I have also had them use a cheap bat off of a regular tee close to a fence. If they cast they get instant feedback by hitting the fence. IMO if you can afford $90-100 I prefer the Muhl Tech as there is less injury and wrist sting this way.

It was those demonstration photos that caused a stir, not how you were using the product. I assume you're setting up the 'obstacle' to prevent casting, not in the way show in those photos, which encourage a downward swing. I suspect those will wind up on a lot of websites for rotational hitting to demonstrate what NOT to do.

Originally Posted by FiveFrameSwing

It forces you to take the bat straight down to the ball, leveling the swing at the point of contact.

Do the exact opposite of what this says and work the lead elbow up. Lag the barrel until it clears the upright and then work the hands straight out in front of the body while releasing the wrist into contact. Also, the hips need to open and lead the hands to get the proper hand path.

I prefer having the kids take dry swings standing approximately 18" away from a fence or pitching screen. Slowly at first and then gradually building up to full speed.

Do not like this product either. Kid in photo lacks tilt.and crunch of the back side. I would try some front arm t work focusing on lead elbow pointed (bent) going up the ramp as a result of rotation (not arm swinging)

Have a couple of these tees at the HS and we dont use them the way it is described. Instead turn the tee with the "obstacle" point away from the hitter so a casting hand path will make contact with the ball and obstacle at the same time. A correct hand path will be "inside" the ball, the barrel of the bat will contact the ball and the end of the bat will travel inside the obstacle and thereby prevent the casting in the swing. Casting happens when the power V points down toward the tee/plate instead of making contact around the front foot palm up palm down and extending/unloading the power V straight back toward the pitcher.

If your DD is extending too far you can do this. Set up two tees. One where she will hit it and the second tee about a bat lengths away (maybe a little bit shorter). Have here hit the ball on the inside tee and if she starts to hit the outside tee... then she is over reaching her arms. You can bring the outside tee closer if you want to force her to keep her hands in. You can also do this using a net or a fence.

Lol, everyone wants to comment on the kids swing or the description of the benefits of the muhl tee. The tee IMO is a great product, one of the best. It does not promote a level swing, you can easily have tilt and a correct angle of attack (the arm holding the brush tee is very narrow, not like a big table to swing across). The outside barrier gives instant feed back if the hitter did not keep their hands inside the ball, did not have bat lag, and did not take a good path to the ball. I dont know of another tee that promotes attacking the inside of the ball. One of the most difficult things to teach kids is to keep the hands inside the ball, this tool helps.

muhl tee.jpg

I think some of the posters were worried you couldnt have an angle of attack like this or similar.

She needs to load her back arm/elbow to peak launch position in order for her to throw the barrel through the zone. If her back elbow stays down during her load, like the girl hitting of that flat tee contraption, her elbow will be slotted too soon in relation to her hands. Her elbow must load up then slot as her hands get to a leveraged position to drive/throw the bat.

This is why players "bar" the front arm when they load. They load their "hands" back but the back elbow stays down. This leads to the classic long swing with straight arms before contact.

This will help your DD when she does it right, I assure you.

Lock in on the back elbow of the best power hitters in baseball... Back arm/elbow loads up!!!!