redhotcoach
Out on good behavior
- May 8, 2009
- 4,704
- 38
Yeah RDB, Don't know about you, but I haven't seen a girl with great mechanics that doesn't hit well.
I hate side toss, do you?
- Thread starter PaPa Pump
- Start date
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FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Have had the opportunity to see many kids hitting with these balls. What they encourage is "pushing" through the ball. What they discourage is a proper release of the barrel through contact.
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We need fewer hitting coaches and more psychotherapists and Discuss Swagger Forums.
The side toss is an unnatural angle for the ball to be entering the hitting zone.
I stopped using it a few years ago because the girls would start locking out there
elbows before contact, making long sweeping swings instead of being short to the ball.
I front toss with wiffles and jugs indoor light flight balls, 15 feet away.
I will also front toss 2 different colored wiffles at the same time, and call a color to hit.
Yes there is the odd occation when there is limited space, so we add 1 extra tee station
to the 2 we do already as part of warmup.
I stopped using it a few years ago because the girls would start locking out there
elbows before contact, making long sweeping swings instead of being short to the ball.
I front toss with wiffles and jugs indoor light flight balls, 15 feet away.
I will also front toss 2 different colored wiffles at the same time, and call a color to hit.
Yes there is the odd occation when there is limited space, so we add 1 extra tee station
to the 2 we do already as part of warmup.
Please explain why you say it promotes pushing, if your swing is a push then it's a push, it would have nothing to do with what happens upon impact, at that point the work has already been done...it's over. Weighted balls are designed to help cure that exact thing that you say it promotes. Tcb balls are in theory supposed to promote driving through the ball.
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FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Bat/ball contact time with TCB balls is considerably longer than the bat/ball contact time for regulation softballs. The increased time allows for feedback to the body that doesn't exist when hitting regulation softballs. It is the longer bat/ball contact times that leads to pushing through the ball rather than releasing through the ball.
I hear what you saying and can picture what you are saying. Isn't the swing after the 'launch' a kind of 'push' through the ball at contact?
Sort of like this:
Maybe because of 'squishiness' of the TCB and that they kind of 'stick' to the bat make it look like a 'bad' push instead of power/pushing through extention/release.
I hope I made some sense?
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FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Rdbass, in Papa’s post he correctly wrote of work already being done by contact. That is how a proper swing “should” work. When kids hit TCB balls they find that the longer duration of the bat/ball contact time allows them an additional opportunity to push … and what happens over time is that hitters modify their swing such that the work is NOT done by contact.
This isn’t an observation of seeing one or two kids modify their swing to hit TCB balls …. But the observation of a decent sample of 12A, 14A, 16G and 18G hitters.
The observation of desiring to drive the ball is correct. The players want this, the players in a sense compete to do this, and the coaches desire to see this ….. the desire is there ….. and given enough swings a player will tweak/modify their swing to accomplish this.
It isn’t like the TCB balls are simply heavier balls with the same bat/ball collision process. The bat/ball collision process is considerably different for TCB balls …. Which is what makes their use convenient … but at the same time, it can (and does) lead to hitters adapting/modifying their swing to account for the different bat/ball collision process.
This isn’t an observation of seeing one or two kids modify their swing to hit TCB balls …. But the observation of a decent sample of 12A, 14A, 16G and 18G hitters.
The observation of desiring to drive the ball is correct. The players want this, the players in a sense compete to do this, and the coaches desire to see this ….. the desire is there ….. and given enough swings a player will tweak/modify their swing to accomplish this.
It isn’t like the TCB balls are simply heavier balls with the same bat/ball collision process. The bat/ball collision process is considerably different for TCB balls …. Which is what makes their use convenient … but at the same time, it can (and does) lead to hitters adapting/modifying their swing to account for the different bat/ball collision process.
FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Yes Rdb, the 'squishiness' of the TCB ball contributes to their convenience, but also to the significantly different bat/ball collision times.
It isn't just a 'look' of a 'bad push', but the actual encouragement of a 'bad push'.
Not only have I seen a significant sample of kids modifying their swings to hit TCB balls, but I have hitters that come to me that suddenly reserve energy in their swing to push hard with their hands/wrists, with a notable muscling action, through contact. When I ask why the change in their mechanics, they (and the parents) inform me that they've been hitting TCB balls.
The use of TCB balls is becoming popular. They are convenient ... but they are also different.
It isn't just a 'look' of a 'bad push', but the actual encouragement of a 'bad push'.
Not only have I seen a significant sample of kids modifying their swings to hit TCB balls, but I have hitters that come to me that suddenly reserve energy in their swing to push hard with their hands/wrists, with a notable muscling action, through contact. When I ask why the change in their mechanics, they (and the parents) inform me that they've been hitting TCB balls.
The use of TCB balls is becoming popular. They are convenient ... but they are also different.
