Thread: Hitting Clips

I am not real computer literate, but is there a way I can take my personal videos off my sony camcorder & slow them waaaaaay down?

YouTube - Paige crushes the ball!

Swing slowed down...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/550c90

Hi everyone thanks for the input, BusterT I have a question, what software are you using to create the gif files, I would like to create my own. Thanks for helping out on this everyone.

Straightleg, do you have an example I can look at with the "walking away from hands" illustrated?
No, my daughter is the only one who goes to a hitting coach, Vannessa has never been to a hitting coach. Thanks again for your help.

MarkH - Thats funny that you mention Temple because that is where we played in these tournament clips.

Spent most of my school years there back in the late 60's early 70's. It was a fun time.

To get an idea of what the hands should be doing, look at this Benji Clip:

Photo 10 of 16, Fastpitch

Notice that as she strides forward to toe touch, her hands stay back, and do not move forward until heel plant. Planting the front heel appears to be a "trigger" to start the elbow moving down to slot - OR is it the elbow starting it's move that cues the heel plant? IMO, it doesn't matter. What's important is that the hitter feels what she is doing, and it's a repeatable motion similar to what all the high level hitters do.

There have been many verbal cues used over the years to describe this. IMO, a picture or video says it all - no description needed. Word "cues" can conjure up different mental pictures to different people. Ten different people may describe motion in a video clip ten different ways - even though they are all looking at the exact same video clip.

Study some of the great hitters and notice what is happening with their hands, and the timing relationship between upper and lower body. Have your daughter watch them so she has an idea of what she should strive for. Then video her from time to time and let her make corrections in her motion. Video doesn't lie. What she feels happening may be something entirely different than what another kid feels with the same motion.

Originally Posted by BusterT

To get an idea of what the hands should be doing, look at this Benji Clip:

Photo 10 of 16, Fastpitch

Notice that as she strides forward to toe touch, her hands stay back, and do not move forward until heel plant. Planting the front heel appears to be a "trigger" to start the elbow moving down to slot - OR is it the elbow starting it's move that cues the heel plant? .

It ain't the elbow. It's the upper torso, the shoulders, the scapular complex that moving the elbow. It's not the heel and the hands or elbow. It's the whole system. A systems problem with a systems answer.

There's moving the elbow and then there's moving the elbow. One way sucks the other way doesn't. I totally agree with you about the timing.

Mark H - Notice I used the word "appears" in my description, followed by two "cues" - heel and elbow. What I was trying to get across (poorly worded) was that each hitter needs to develop their own feel for what they are doing. Some hitting instructors say "drop the heel", and some may say "start the elbow", or "start the hips". I agree 100% with your "systems approach" - everything working together with perfect timing, especially the rotational part immediately following toe touch.

Found a great free software program to make slow motion .gif and video files if anyone is interested, here is my first one.