Thread: End of season.Time to start new season.

Originally Posted by rdbass

I am her hitting coach,the best that we can afford.Everything I learned was from this site and 1 other(BBD) What I see is yes,I see her straighten her arms sooner then I think she should.I have slowed down video of DD hitting and she does not have the frt arm bent as much as I think it should be at impact.Not sure how to teach that.I'm afraid of frt arm drills only,because I haven't seen any and really not sure how to teach.I also would prefer less bat wrap,think she is getting better.I also would like her to get more forward momentum and less sit back on the back leg.She is close to bug squishing,to be truthful.The other problem I see is(not off tee,but when I pitch to her)her frt shoulder flies open to soon,so when she hits some times it a slicing swing.This will cause a back spin on the ball.I would like her to keep her frt shoulder in more.Lastly DD over rotates on every swing.Even if the ball goes to rf(rht batter) her bellybutton/frt shoulder will point to lf.Being honest with what I see.

Don't sell yourself short. You know more than 90% of the hitting coaches out there.

My opionions and the way I like it (more than one way to skin a cat). Front arm.... I typically don't look too much into what the front arm is doing. If the back arm is throwing the barrel, the front arm doesn't matter a ton. That being said I agree to watch the front shoulder, it needs to stay in there. The tee is set up a good foot in front of ideal contact, pause the vid a foot sooner and look at her arms, look fine to me except the front shoulder issue.
Bat wrap: I notice a whole lot of girls bat wrap off the tee, then don't do it on live pitching, so unless you notice in games, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Weight shift: your right, she has very little. Work on the (darn I call it the Iciro, others call it different. Front foot to knee, swing....oh someone has video of it from an Alabama clinic on here.)
Finish: yes, agree with you, finish out front. I tell my girls the at full extension their bats should point just above the pitchers head. Yeager says there front hand should only move about 6 inches, finishing out front, not around the corner.

Also, as I watch the slow mo you just posted. She has a firm front leg, but is upright from the waist up. No tilt. I will try to find a pic.
Check out isobaseball.com, I am sure there is video talking about that.

Quality tilt requires quality shift – for hitters only! - ISOBaseball

I will tonight.At work and video is on home computer.

Originally Posted by rdbass

Here is DD hitting off a tee.To muddy and raining for pitch machine.This is where we are with Laura's swing.What should we work on in the fall and winter to get her ready for softball tryouts.She will be a freshman this school year.She is 5'2 100lbs jumping on the scale.I will post 3 video's 2 off a low tee and 1 off a waist high tee.Thanks for the help.

20120805122300 - YouTube

You have done a good job thus far! Proceed with caution!!!

My general advice is to start comparing her swing to slow motion video of MLB players. Some on here don't like that approach and get their feelings hurt when it's pointed out that their DD doesn't match, but IMO your DD is at a point where it gets harder to figure out what she needs to do to continue to improve. MLB players are a great road map to help you find your way forward. Your DD may never perfectly match the swing of a MLB player, but if she can get close she will be further along than many girls her age. I don't believe my DD's swing will ever match that of Ted Williams, but I can't think of a better target to shoot for. Katie Cochran used him as a model for her swing, and I'm sure other fastpitch players have done so as well. It's not unheard of for fastpitch players to use MLB players as models to improve their swing.

I have a couple of specific suggestions that may help your DD if you're interested, but I don't have time to get into them right now. Keep in mind that when a kid's swing progresses to a certain point, small details begin to matter if the swing is to improve. Some consider it nitpicking, but if you're willing to set aside your pride, not take things personal, and keep an open mind, I think you will find that a more detailed approach is helpful as you get closer to your target.

I have put aside my pride for my DD sake.I have learned to have tougher skin.I would like all the help I can get.Just some thoughts that I have seen through working with Laura.Like Bouldersdad has pointed out about her frt shoulder.DD seems to over rotate,no matter where the ball is hit her hip,bellybutton and frt shoulders all point to left field.I have told her she only needs to rotate,bellybutton to the field the ball is hit.She needs to keep her front shoulder in longer.Laura seems to pull her front should off the ball. If the ball is an outside pitch when the ball is hit it looks like it's sliced.The ball will have a back spin,so when the ball hits the ground it will bounce back and to the right side.So I need help on the front shoulder and how to keep it down and in longer.Also need to get help on the front arm not being so straight at contact.I also think she needs more forward momentum.I think she shifts then swings instead of shift and swing.This is some of the things I will work on this fall and winter.Just need help on how to go about working on through this.

I know we have more to work on.I'm just happy to hear that we are finally getting more right with DD's swing then wrong.I am on this site everyday and all day.I wanted to make my DD a better hitter so I learned as much as I could.I have everyone to thank.To all the average dads I'm like you.As you can see from my first post of my DD. I did not no the proper sequence.I learned alot form this site and will continue to learn.If you want to help your DD this is the site.My DD's goal is to play softball for her high school team.So I can take the good and the bad.Hopefully posters can see from our history that we do listen and work very hard at practice.Thanks to everyone for helping.