please critique DD's swing

[Wellphyt]

Does anyone that teach's hitting wonder why more girls have bat drag verses boys of the same age.

One fix is the elbows like the roof of a house with girls.
You can thank Howard (hitter) for that piece of information. Watch a ton of girls hit better with that adjustment



SL

My experience is that boys typically have a better side arm throw motion than girls. When I tried to get my 14U girls last year to perform a sidearm throw, they all looked at me like I was speaking another language. Ask a 14U boy to do that and it's no problem. Or, ask a 14U girl and a 14U boy to skip a rock. The boy will know what to do and the girl will look at you like this confused

My experience is that most hitting instructors don't understand how the back arm works in preparation to throw the barrel. So the instructor comes up with a work around to try and compensate. Then they teach "THEIR" work around as an absolute, under the guise that girls can't stay connected as well as boys from various handset positions, because girls are different than boys.

Just because girls don't grow up skipping rocks or pretending they are Derek Jetter turning a double play; doesn't mean they can't be taught. I know several girls with really good sidearm throws. I had to teach my DD and she now has an ok sidearm throw for her level of athleticism.

I see the "roof of a house" setup all the time. I would say it's the most common setup in my area. I see girls with that set up with bat drag all the time.

I teach this action:


...and then let the girls experiment with their handset position until they settle on a style that works for them. My DD still experiments with her handset position and batting stance in general; and it's a terrific thing to see. There is a tremendous educational value in teaching kids the correct basic underlying actions and then giving them the freedom to experiment. IMO they need the freedom to do that in order to discover how to improve their sync/sequence.

 

[rdbass]

I have my DD internally rotate her back arm as she forwards by coil.DD has her back elbow up almost 90 degrees pointing back at catcher.The reason being when my DD had her arms in the "roof of a house"set up.From that postion she would just push her hands straight back then straight forward.More like a push to and through the ball.Hands would be in a drop postion.Hard to get a ball high in the zone or any kind of bat whip.DD is able to externally rotate from that postion easier. Hands are able to pull in opposite directions on the handle.She is able to get better bat whip.I like the higher back elbow for the DD.Internally rotating then externally rotating the back arm is what we've been/are working on.Hope this makes sense in my explanation.Trying what Yeager demo's and in his video.

 

[jbooth]

Couldn't tell for sure because of the darkness of the video but the tee appears to be way too far out towards the pitcher. The tee should be inside the front foot after stride. Somewhere between just inside the front foot to the middle of the stride for a pitch (tee) down the middle.

The current placement of the tee will cause reaching and encourage lunging over top of the front foot instead of against the front foot as it should be.

I meant to mention that also. And, she is too far away from the tee. At the beginning of the video she sets her distance by extending her arms to measure the distance. That is WAY too far. Her elbows should be touching her body when the ball is at the sweet spot of the bat. She's hitting the ball out front and too far away. She is extending and then throwing the barrel instead of throwing it from the back armpit.

 

[Wellphyt]

I have my DD internally rotate her back arm as she forwards by coil.DD has her back elbow up almost 90 degrees pointing back at catcher.The reason being when my DD had her arms in the "roof of a house"set up.From that postion she would just push her hands straight back then straight forward.More like a push to and through the ball.Hands would be in a drop postion.Hard to get a ball high in the zone or any kind of bat whip.DD is able to externally rotate from that postion easier. Hands are able to pull in opposite directions on the handle.She is able to get better bat whip.I like the higher back elbow for the DD.Internally rotating then externally rotating the back arm is what we've been/are working on.Hope this makes sense in my explanation.Trying what Yeager demo's and in his video.

The most common three ways I see kids load their hands are 1) Straight back, 2) Around, and 3) Internal rotation. I see the girl in this thread loading more around. IMO she would benefit by experimenting with loading via the "palm down hand break" action used in the throwing motion.

I do think her recent swings are a step in the right direction.

 

[rdbass]

DD is starting to understand more about her swing (myself included)and what went right or wrong during an at bat.Still lots of work to do.I think we will be better prepared for fall and winter workouts.Less than a year before high school try outs.

 

[straightleg]

My experience is that boys typically have a better side arm throw motion than girls. When I tried to get my 14U girls last year to perform a sidearm throw, they all looked at me like I was speaking another language. Ask a 14U boy to do that and it's no problem. Or, ask a 14U girl and a 14U boy to skip a rock. The boy will know what to do and the girl will look at you like this confused

My experience is that most hitting instructors don't understand how the back arm works in preparation to throw the barrel. So the instructor comes up with a work around to try and compensate. Then they teach "THEIR" work around as an absolute, under the guise that girls can't stay connected as well as boys from various handset positions, because girls are different than boys.

Just because girls don't grow up skipping rocks or pretending they are Derek Jetter turning a double play; doesn't mean they can't be taught. I know several girls with really good sidearm throws. I had to teach my DD and she now has an ok sidearm throw for her level of athleticism.

I see the "roof of a house" setup all the time. I would say it's the most common setup in my area. I see girls with that set up with bat drag all the time.

I teach this action:
View attachment 2119

...and then let the girls experiment with their handset position until they settle on a style that works for them. My DD still experiments with her handset position and batting stance in general; and it's a terrific thing to see. There is a tremendous educational value in teaching kids the correct basic underlying actions and then giving them the freedom to experiment. IMO they need the freedom to do that in order to discover how to improve their sync/sequence.

If you teach this in the swing, as you have stated. The second picture you posted would be severe bat drag.

You want the hand stacked over the elbow in the swing. Or the hand alittle ahead of elbow when slotting.
You have to teach them how to slot the back arm with different pitch heights.



SL

 

[n10sivern]

tonight, we watched the college world series games and made a note of the swing of each batter, except slappers. correct me if i'm wrong in describing the lower part of the swing. actually, this is how she described the swing to me. my description below would be batting right handed.

the beginning of the swing the weight is pretty evenly distributed. the batter should rotate her left hip a little outward (right butt cheek facing more toward the pitcher) to load/coil the right rear leg. a little weight shift to the rear leg. then the batter steps toward the pitcher with her left front leg. next, she pushes the right hip around and forward toward the pitcher with her right leg, straightening the front leg and shifting her weight to her front leg. the hip rotation is followed by her hands to swing and follow through. her weight should mostly be on her straightened front leg. her head should still be over her rear lower leg/foot at the end of the swing. the weight dispersal to the front leg removes the weight from the rear leg and the right foot can actually slide forward a little due to the momentum and weight shift.

so basically a turn (right hip slightly out), step, turn (right hip in), and swing. is this pretty much correct cause this is what we saw routinely with essentially ALL of the hitters. some did not fully open up their hips on their swing and some didn't step, only lifted the heel of the front foot up then put it down again, but what i described was pretty consistent between all the batters

 

[casedawg51]

We use the split grip drill to get the feel of a good hip and shoulder turn through the ball. Also teaches the back elbow a better idea of where to be since it will greatly discourage bat drag.

 

[jbooth]

We use the split grip drill to get the feel of a good hip and shoulder turn through the ball. Also teaches the back elbow a better idea of where to be since it will greatly discourage bat drag.

OK, I'm baffled. How does your grip have anything whatsoever to do with the hips and shoulders?

That's like saying blinking my eyes fast will help my hip turn.

 

[jbooth]

tonight, we watched the college world series games and made a note of the swing of each batter, except slappers. correct me if i'm wrong in describing the lower part of the swing. actually, this is how she described the swing to me. my description below would be batting right handed.

the beginning of the swing the weight is pretty evenly distributed. the batter should rotate her left hip a little outward (right butt cheek facing more toward the pitcher) to load/coil the right rear leg. a little weight shift to the rear leg. then the batter steps toward the pitcher with her left front leg. next, she pushes the right hip around and forward toward the pitcher with her right leg, straightening the front leg and shifting her weight to her front leg. the hip rotation is followed by her hands to swing and follow through. her weight should mostly be on her straightened front leg. her head should still be over her rear lower leg/foot at the end of the swing. the weight dispersal to the front leg removes the weight from the rear leg and the right foot can actually slide forward a little due to the momentum and weight shift.

so basically a turn (right hip slightly out), step, turn (right hip in), and swing. is this pretty much correct cause this is what we saw routinely with essentially ALL of the hitters. some did not fully open up their hips on their swing and some didn't step, only lifted the heel of the front foot up then put it down again, but what i described was pretty consistent between all the batters

Your description seems a little off.

The front hip turns in toward the plate as you put 100% of your weight on the back foot. The back hip/leg pushes the front foot out. When the front foot receives weight the front leg straightens and your hips rotate.

Below is the sequence all good hitters use. I've posted this many times;