Help with 11 year old DD swing

[ahiggins1804]

Would like to get some opinions on DD's swing. Things I see wrong:

Dropping her hands
Dipping at low strikes
Rolling wrist to early
Not coiling enough

Your help would be greatly appreciated.




<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/waIs-aqxdXc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[jbooth]

Would like to get some opinions on DD's swing. Things I see wrong:

Dropping her hands
Dipping at low strikes
Rolling wrist to early
Not coiling enough

Your help would be greatly appreciated.




<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/waIs-aqxdXc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yes, she flattens the bat (gets it horizontal), drops her hands to the height of the ball and then pulls the bat to the ball.

The hands should stay above the ball, and the barrel should arc to the ball from it's original loaded position. She does what I call, "chasing the ball with the hands and/or head", instead of throwing the barrel at the ball from a stable launch position.

She creates a different launch point depending upon pitch location, instead of throwing the barrel to the ball from a consistent launch position. Also, she drops her elbow vertically into her side and then swings, rather than bringing the elbow into the side as part of throwing the barrel.

 

[Wellphyt]

Agree with jbooth's analysis.

Like most hitters, she gets to the basic universal launch position; defined as the back elbow slotted, the front forearm up off the chest, and the barrel pointing back behind the shoulders.


However as jbooth points out, the way she gets there is by lowering her hands/barrel straight down. What your DD is doing is very common. I see it all the time, including from players that I have coached. I've had 14U players hit it off the top of a 200' fence, swinging this way. This swing will work ok against "B" level pitching if the player waits for a pitch above the waist. The downside is that this is a very long and draggy swing, and it will break down badly against "A" level pitching.

If she wants to have success against better pitching, she will need to learn to work her back arm more like this:


One player I worked with last year did the same thing. She fixed it by applying the overhand throw sequence to her swing. I never once told her to "keep her hands up" or to "not drop her hands". I actually told her that it was ok to lower her hands when she lifted her front foot to coil/stride. If the kids are allowed to lower their hands when they lift the front foot, they won't drop them when the back elbow lowers. Allowing them to lower their hands when they lift the front foot is what keeps their hands in sync with their lower body, so that their hands go back during the stride, creating the stretch part of the sequence.

I can actually see your DD wanting to lower her hands when she lifts her front foot. However she is not allowing herself to do it; probably because she has been told to..."keep her hands up" or to "not drop her hands". So she trys to keep her hands up when she lifts her front foot, which results in her hands being above armpit height as she begins her stride. She has two options at this point. She can keep her hands above armpit height and swing from there, which would result in a downward chop. Or, she can drop her hands straight down in an attempt to level the barrel to the path of the pitch.

Starting from her raised handset position, if she were allowed to lower her hands as soon as she lifts her front foot, her hands would lower and go back in a smooth arc, as if her hands were going down a slide. Hold a ball in glove, starting from the same position your DD holds her hands in her stance. Break your hands as if you were going to throw the ball. Your throwing hand will arc downward and back, and end up at about armpit height. This is the same basic hand path your DD needs to use when she loads her hands. Her bottom hand will naturally restrict how far her hands can go back. If she keeps her front arm flexed as her hands go back, she should be fine.

 

[ahiggins1804]

New video of DD

Here is two video's. One from last week and one from this week.

Been working on not casting and staying connected. I see a little improvement from the first video.

Question is what issues do you see and how would you correct them?
Also do you see any difference between the two swings using different bats.

Can someone break the video down in slow motion for better analysis?

Last weeks video using RT 31" 22oz.
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/X_8bFcWEMgI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This weeks video, using a 31" 20oz Easton Synergy
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mjWevz7fEe8?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[jbooth]

Here is two video's. One from last week and one from this week.

Been working on not casting and staying connected. I see a little improvement from the first video.

Question is what issues do you see and how would you correct them?
Also do you see any difference between the two swings using different bats.

Can someone break the video down in slow motion for better analysis?

Last weeks video using RT 31" 22oz.
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/X_8bFcWEMgI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This weeks video, using a 31" 20oz Easton Synergy
<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mjWevz7fEe8?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

She never gets her hands back and loaded. She has them near her head and hardly moves them back. She just turns her shoulder in and then turns out and drags the bat.

The back elbow needs to get more horizontal and more behind her back. Or, just think of getting the hands closer in to the shoulder and farther back. Like this guy. Note his hand elbow position in the first frame, and how they stay back. The first frame is after he strode to heel plant. He loaded his hands back as he took his stride.

She's also not pushing from the rear butt, to stride. She has a bit of a bug squish, although not real bad.

 

[ahiggins1804]

Last couple of days we have been working on getting DD's hands back and staying connected. What helped is getting her to get in her stance and her hands and back shoulder up. We used a reference point to where her hands need to be. (Top hand thumb in ear hole) We also worked on sequence. She came up with a one line song she used to remember. First part was My hips loads (to remember to load) Step (to start stride forward) Kick (to kick off her back toe and get the hips going) POW (to start upper body rotation and finish)

So it goes like (Think of the line to the song Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas “and my beats goes boom boom pow” ) so her rhythm is “And my hips load, step, kick, pow"

Here is a video of her swing from last night. IMO Ithink a big inprovement. Still need to work on her not turning on her back toe so much and to finish the bat over the shoulder.

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CXYOA1dePXE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Your daughter is spinning ... ... ... bug squishing.

You might want to rethink the "Kick (to kick off her back toe and get the hips going)".

Instead of attempting to spin the entire rear leg, instead think of Jim's cue of turning the magic spot ... the upper rear leg, and not the entire rear leg.

 

[ahiggins1804]

Thanks for the imput FiveFrame. As I mentioned in my last post that was something that we needed to work on. Just trying to progress her new swing mechenics with baby steps since we're in the middle of TB play every weekend don't want to over load her with to much to think about.

What are some good ques are points to help DD understand what she needs to be doing to correct the spinning on the back foot?

If I tell DD (Just made 11 last month) to turn the upper rear leg I'm sure I would get the "Deer in the headlights look"

 

[cshilt]

Thanks for the imput FiveFrame. As I mentioned in my last post that was something that we needed to work on. Just trying to progress her new swing mechenics with baby steps since we're in the middle of TB play every weekend don't want to over load her with to much to think about.

What are some good ques are points to help DD understand what she needs to be doing to correct the spinning on the back foot?

If I tell DD (Just made 11 last month) to turn the upper rear leg I'm sure I would get the "Deer in the headlights look"

Place a small section of a 2x6 board in the inside edge of the back foot. Tell her that when she finishes her swing, her back foot should be on top of the board. It is similar to the kick drill, but more closely resembles the desired end result. When newbies first do this drill, they usually get the back foot on top of the board after the swing. The back foot should be lifting as the ball is being hit if the drill is done properly.

BTW, good progress so far. The early clips she was all arms, but has made some good improvement. Keep it up!

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Thanks for the imput FiveFrame. As I mentioned in my last post that was something that we needed to work on. Just trying to progress her new swing mechenics with baby steps since we're in the middle of TB play every weekend don't want to over load her with to much to think about.

What are some good ques are points to help DD understand what she needs to be doing to correct the spinning on the back foot?

If I tell DD (Just made 11 last month) to turn the upper rear leg I'm sure I would get the "Deer in the headlights look"

Let’s attempt to make this real simple.

As Jim says … “turn the magic spot” … the magic spot being the top of the rear leg, and NOT the “entire rear leg”.

What your daughter does currently with her “rear toe kick notion” is an attempt to turn her entire rear leg as a unit. That is not uncoiling of the rear leg … that is spinning the rear leg.

As a drill … have your daughter attempt to leave the rear foot on the ground and perform full swings … see if you can get the rear foot to be pulled off of the ground by the action of the upper rear leg, and not the action of the foot attempting to turn in the same direction as the upper rear leg. Instead of the “kick with the rear toe” cue to spin the entire leg, “turn the magic spot” to uncoil the rear leg.

Not to over complicate the matter … but there can be a feel in the rear foot applying a pressure in the opposite direction as the upper rear leg is initially being ‘turned’ … but let’s see if we can simplify the process … try the drill and see if your daughter’s spinning action begins to correct.