How to Fix the Chicken Wing

[JNew0872]

DD has been to 3 different hitting coaches over the last 3 years and none have been able to fix the chicken wing. How do you fix this? What causes it? I now believe that the chicken wing is a symptom of something else not being done right and that drills such as throwing the bat do not fix it. She has done extension drill after extension drill and it is still rearing its ugly head. She has been working consistently on fixing this for the last year but it is not happening. She is first year 14u. She is very inconsistent at the plate with above average strikeouts.

Is dropping the bat head the cause?
Is it being late to the ball and getting jammed up?
Is it the back elbow getting away from the body?
Is it lack of tilt and trying to swing level?
Is it inefficient use of the hips?
Not coming into a firm front side or releasing the front side?
Is it over swinging?

What has been your experience with the chicken wing and what have you done to fix it?

 

[mann]

Teach her to stay connected, till its fixed, then you can show her a good hand load, or stick with rock the u

Stay connected drill.
ConnectionDrill - YouTube

manns bag drill.
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-technical/18852-manns-bag-drill.html

I would say this is the number 1 problem with all youth, boys or girls, even into high school.

Of coarse there is a bit more to it, but a clip would be good, then others will help also.

 

[Coach Al]

I'm from Buffalo! We just fry those wings and throw hot sauce on them!

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

This thread may help ...... http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-practical/11095-here-my-dds-latest-swings-entering-senior-year.html

 

[JNew0872]

This thread may help ...... http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-practical/11095-here-my-dds-latest-swings-entering-senior-year.html

That thread helps after rereading it and watching the videos again. She has done a ton of throw the bat drills and now I realize she was able to throw the bat without ever rolling her wrist and get it to go the direction she wanted. Need to focus on rolling/releasing the wrists/backhanding the ball. She has also done a ton of one-hand drills with the bottom hand and never rolled her wrist. Now I have videos to show her and can explain what she should be doing/feeling. Hopefully she will have some progress soon.

 

[Chezaré Sievers]

The dreaded chicken wing. I have a player right now who dealing with the same problem. She only chicken wings on inside pitches.

Is your DD chicken winging on every pitch or is it just inside?

Here are a couple things to try:
1. Attach a theraband or rubber tubing to the fence and attach the other end to her elbow. Have her stand far enough from the fence to create a resistance. Ask her to get in her stance, load and practice 50 takes driving her front elbow down. Move into front toss. If the elbow comes up 3 times in a row, have her do 15-20 reps of the elbow band.

2. Attach an ankle weight to her front elbow when she hits. The weight keeps her front elbow down. Use the elbow weight to start then end your hitting session by taking the elbow weight off.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

That thread helps after rereading it and watching the videos again. She has done a ton of throw the bat drills and now I realize she was able to throw the bat without ever rolling her wrist and get it to go the direction she wanted. Need to focus on rolling/releasing the wrists/backhanding the ball. She has also done a ton of one-hand drills with the bottom hand and never rolled her wrist. Now I have videos to show her and can explain what she should be doing/feeling. Hopefully she will have some progress soon.

Also this thread .... http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-practical/18090-hand-action-contact.html

 

[coach james]

I'm from Buffalo! We just fry those wings and throw hot sauce on them!

Lol...beat me to it! Was thinking the same

 

[mann]

This thread may help ...... http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-practical/11095-here-my-dds-latest-swings-entering-senior-year.html

This post By Rayr, sums in up nicely, and is the point of my bag drill.

SL
Agree the HPP is too far away from her body

Trying to use more meaningful mental imagery give this a shot:

Have her picture in her head that the sweet spot of the bat is a fly swatter and the ball is a fly....would she try and swat the fly using a slow sweepy motion and intentionally try and lock the wirsts or would she try and use her wrists/hands to quickly swat the fly.

Once the barrel is put in motion correctly (and it may not be visually apparent) the whip of the barrel will create a tighter HPP and thus allow the back arm to "roll out" and extend....

You have to trust using your wrists and hands to apply force to turn the barrel...there will be cocking of the wrists to do this efficiently

 

[pumpkinbear]

DD has been to 3 different hitting coaches over the last 3 years and none have been able to fix the chicken wing. How do you fix this? What causes it? I now believe that the chicken wing is a symptom of something else not being done right and that drills such as throwing the bat do not fix it. She has done extension drill after extension drill and it is still rearing its ugly head. She has been working consistently on fixing this for the last year but it is not happening. She is first year 14u. She is very inconsistent at the plate with above average strikeouts.

Is dropping the bat head the cause?
Is it being late to the ball and getting jammed up?
Is it the back elbow getting away from the body?
Is it lack of tilt and trying to swing level?
Is it inefficient use of the hips?
Not coming into a firm front side or releasing the front side?
Is it over swinging?

What has been your experience with the chicken wing and what have you done to fix it?

I'm not sure if you define a chicken wing the same as Chris O'Leary (who used to post here a lot), but he believes it isn't necessarily bad: Keep Your Front Elbow Down