12u - Latest Swing

[Eric F]

Eric, IMO none of the high level hitters try to get on plane early.. Bonds IMO is trying to keep the barrel working between the lines (sagittal plane) as long as he possibly can whipping the barrel.

Bonds' bat turning behind his shoulder - and being launched from behind his shoulder - is what I'm talking about in regards to deep vs. out-front.

Mig demonstrates it here, too...

 

[FP26]

batdragon,

Overall there is a lot of good in this swing. But there are some things that do stand out to me when comparing the two swings. I guess it depends on who you use as your model and what the goals are. As you can see, some posters like the recent adjustments, some not so much. Ultimately it is your decision (and hers). Here are some things I notice.

1) Draw an imaginary line between her shoulders in both clips and extend those lines to the infield. IMO, the shoulders in clip two are pointed more to the first base side of the infield. This is initially from her pre-set position.
2) The stride in the second clip is shorter. IMO, stride length is personal preference, but it is something that I noticed immediately.
3) She does seem a little stiffer in the second clip. I am not sure if that is something intentional, or just adjusting to the new movement pattern as others have mentioned.

I am curious of your thoughts concerning these items. Are they specifically things you worked on?

 

[batdragon]

batdragon,

Overall there is a lot of good in this swing. But there are some things that do stand out to me when comparing the two swings. I guess it depends on who you use as your model and what the goals are. As you can see, some posters like the recent adjustments, some not so much. Ultimately it is your decision (and hers). Here are some things I notice.

1) Draw an imaginary line between her shoulders in both clips and extend those lines to the infield. IMO, the shoulders in clip two are pointed more to the first base side of the infield. This is initially from her pre-set position.
2) The stride in the second clip is shorter. IMO, stride length is personal preference, but it is something that I noticed immediately.
3) She does seem a little stiffer in the second clip. I am not sure if that is something intentional, or just adjusting to the new movement pattern as others have mentioned.

I am curious of your thoughts concerning these items. Are they specifically things you worked on?

Basically the main adjustment she made was to not to sit "down" into the hip. She is primarily trying to not bend the rear knee as she loads. She is now loading tall around the rear hip and falling. Before she would sit down into her rear hip causing her head to rise during her swing. It seems to have given her more power and she says it feels cleaner to the ball. The swing just happens when the weight is allowed to fall.

It seems to me the main difference between the 2 swing philosophies is in regards to how the stretch/resistance is created....dynamically (with flow...or manually.....or a combination of both. My DD can easily swing at either end of the spectrum....but its all about what she "feels" makes sense..and the results she is getting.

She is 12 and she will naturally figure out what feels right. For example some say her swing looks a little more down to the ball...today she on her own lowered her handset an inch. She said "since my back knee is straighter...i think my hands need to be a little lower"....she made that adjustment...and squared up the pitch well...and smiled. Its constant focus on feel and making minor adjustments.

This board is a great resource to get a bunch of good observations quickly. I appreciate everyones thoughts. Keep them rolling in !!

Thx,
batdragon

 

[FP26]

She is 12 and she will naturally figure out what feels right. For example some say her swing looks a little more down to the ball...today she on her own lowered her handset an inch. She said "since my back knee is straighter...i think my hands need to be a little lower"....she made that adjustment...and squared up the pitch well...and smiled. Its constant focus on feel and making minor adjustments.

batdragon

This is good stuff batdragon. I am a strong believer that a hitter is responsible for their own swing. Yes, we do what we can to help them / teach them. But ultimately they are the ones that are using it in application. The ability to adjust and tweak on her own will be a valuable tool as she gets older. Congratulations.

In regards to the mechanics, that is one thing I like about this forum and others. While several people have very strong views of what they think is right, or what they think is optimal, there are several movement patterns that can be effective and successful. Finding one that she is comfortable with is an important step. Whether or not someone agrees with it should be irrelevant.

 

[batdragon]

Here is a game swing from 2 weekends ago. This was a line drive to left center.



She hit very well in that big tournament. Squared up a lot of pitches.

You can see she likes to sit down in the rear hip while she loads, which causes her head to rise prior to launch. This weekend she is going to try and stand a little taller on the backside and let the weight/energy on the backside drop/fall onto the ball.

When she is taller on the backside the swing seems cleaner/simpler during BP. Also, it seems more powerful. She likes the change so far. We will see if it works out this weekend against good pitching.

Thx,
Batdragon

 

[chrispots]

 

[Perfect Circle]

 

[batdragon]

Double 10-4-15 LF fence:

 

[batdragon]

Double to CF fence 10-4-15

 

[batdragon]

Single to left 10-4-15