Hitting the high pitch - Suggestions?

[FiveFrameSwing]

When the hands drop. The hitter must/is elevating body to raise up to ball height.

In what you are referring to as "hands drop" ... do you see a significant difference between the clips above that you "like" and "don't like" in terms of the "hand dropping movement"?

 

[nanotech14]

Elbow knob hands is good for path....when emphasis is placed in flipping elbows (back drops and front elevates) not good...

Which one is not good? This is twice in this thread you have me wondering what your saying? The other was something about the hands lower then the front elbow. Could you help to make clear to me what your saying if you would? Not saying your wrong I'm just a little lost today, to much time in the woods deer hunting yesterday, brain is fried.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

High tee drill. Sit your tee on a chair and start chest high and go up from there. Balls hit should go down or straight out. NOT UP. I believe Bonds said he wants to feel his knuckles brush his cheek when they move out. When I do this drill the cues I use are, stay tall on the back side and see your hands go out eye level. It will be uncomfortably high. She must keep a vertical forearm. It is just a great all around drill for staying above the ball on all pitches.

Thank you for writing this HYP. Very nice description.

I know you know this already ... just commenting further .....

The "high tee drill" is sometimes referred to as the "fast hands drill" ... ... ... Rudy would refer to this drill for what he termed the development of "fast hands". The drill helps give the feel for the importance of having the top hand activated. Much like in the "Attacking Oppo drill", it can give the feel of having a desire to turn the barrel ... and often that feel of an activated top hand is all that is needed to avoid dropping the hands prematurely.

 

[rdbass]

Top gifs hands not really dropping. They pretty much stay where there are with no adjustment. The adjustment is made with the lead arm.The hitter is pulling(I see the girl in the on deck pulling her front arm so I went with pull) and raising the front arm,elbow to the ball. When the hitter realizes that the barrel is to low she make further adjustments by raising up her body to contact.
The bottom gif the hitter throws the barrel at the ball with the hands.
That is how I see it.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Top gifs hands not really dropping. They pretty much stay where there are with no adjustment. The adjustment is made with the lead arm.The hitter is pulling and raising the front arm,elbow to the ball. When the hitter realizes that the barrel is to low she make further adjustments by raising up her body to contact.
The bottom gif the hitter throws the barrel at the ball with the hands.
That is how I see it.

Better.

MTS has already described the issue IMO. One of these swings is elbow centric and the other is more hand centric.

The "high tee drill" is still a good choice for this individual ... but not so much because of a hand drop issue so much as a top hand activation type issue.

 

[rdbass]

I helped
I kid.
The girl in the on deck shows the problem.

 

[HYP]

Everyone please look at both clips again.

I am betting that somewhere along the line this hitter was taught to exchange elbows - drop the rear / elevate the front

The hands get under the front elbow immediately and will create holes in the swing.

Her brain recognizes this and her body lifts to try and get her hands above the ball....

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The OP mentioned the coach follows Epstein. Notice the hitter on deck. The down side is it doesn't look like the Epstein teaching is being translated very good or the players are struggling with the instruction. Weight is shifting forward on the on deck hitter and the live hitter. Epstein teaches staying back and down. If the weight shifts onto the front leg the only place to go is up. If you are rising up you are just turning to hit. If you are doing this you usually are dropping your hands behind you as you move forward and come up. You will also turn as a unit.

What you mention about the player rising up is true. That is why I like the high tee drill. I stress staying down with the body. Start with the hands at eye level and never let them move below that point. You have to see the hands cross your vision as they go out. You can do the drill from a no stride, a preset modified torque drill or a normal stance swing. I generally start it out with a controlled, wide stance with just a lift and put it down stride. I will also have them start at about 50% because the hands are uncomfortably high. I want the hands to stay up with a vertical forearm. I have at times placed a golf ball size ball in the bend of the rear elbow forcing them to keep the bicep pinch forcing the vertical forearm.

 

[HYP]

Looking at the swing on the right. Why does a live pitch ball cause a hitter to swing like this? When the hitter has a swing like the one in the "walk up drill"
I ask because my DD kills off of the tee but sometimes off of live pitching we get the "lunge & push type swing.

There is no miracle cure. Mostly it is intent. Off the tee the intent to swing is predetermined. She is going to swing without fear of failure.

What has worked for me is the check swing drill. Have a tee standing near by. Live pitching or, if you can't get live pitching, use a machine. Pitch the ball and have your hitter do check swings. Ask the hitter were you on time? Could you have hit that pitch? Do a couple and then put the tee down and have them take swings off of the tee and feel the mechanics. Then go back to check swing drill. Making sure they are feeling the same mechanics up to the point of checking. Then keep repeating until the check swings start the same as the tee swings. then have them start swinging through actually hitting the pitches. Hit a few and then go back to the tee. Then hit a few more. If the mechanics start to break down go back to the tee and then the check swings. Rinse and repeat.

Take your time and ask questions of the hitter. Does the swing feel the same? What feels different? A hitter has to take ownership of their swing. They have to learn what it feels like when it is good and bad. What is right and what is wrong. IMO, most instructors are always telling players what to do and not making the player think. After a swing that looks good I ask, what did it feel like? I tell them to think about what they did. Get the player thinking about feel. This way when things start to go bad they can fix the problem.

 

[rdbass]

There is no miracle cure. Mostly it is intent. Off the tee the intent to swing is predetermined. She is going to swing without fear of failure.

What has worked for me is the check swing drill. Have a tee standing near by. Live pitching or, if you can't get live pitching, use a machine. Pitch the ball and have your hitter do check swings. Ask the hitter were you on time? Could you have hit that pitch? Do a couple and then put the tee down and have them take swings off of the tee and feel the mechanics. Then go back to check swing drill. Making sure they are feeling the same mechanics up to the point of checking. Then keep repeating until the check swings start the same as the tee swings. then have them start swinging through actually hitting the pitches. Hit a few and then go back to the tee. Then hit a few more. If the mechanics start to break down go back to the tee and then the check swings. Rinse and repeat.

Take your time and ask questions of the hitter. Does the swing feel the same? What feels different? A hitter has to take ownership of their swing. They have to learn what it feels like when it is good and bad. What is right and what is wrong. IMO, most instructors are always telling players what to do and not making the player think. After a swing that looks good I ask, what did it feel like? I tell them to think about what they did. Get the player thinking about feel. This way when things start to go bad they can fix the problem.

Always tell DD this (mostly yell haha). Tell her your the hitter you have to understand what went right or what went wrong and try to make the necessaryadjustments to your swing.
I think there is alot to be learned in this post. What started out as "how to hit a high pitch" has become so much more. Good job to everyone.

 

[RayR]

Sorry for being confusing.

In the hitter posted in this thread - in both swings the front elbow is going up as the rear elbow lowers. The hands immediately get under the front elbow. This is bad IMO. See the still pics below - Tyson and Williams are swinging at pitches up in the zone and their hands are not under the front elbow.

What I saying about elbow / knob / hands is that it is a good cue to work on hand path....meaning the front elbow goes forward followed by the knob followed by the hands....this is not in a literal sense - just a cue.

Which one is not good? This is twice in this thread you have me wondering what your saying? The other was something about the hands lower then the front elbow. Could you help to make clear to me what your saying if you would? Not saying your wrong I'm just a little lost today, to much time in the woods deer hunting yesterday, brain is fried.