Pretty big bat change, not much time--suggestions pls?

[MsDinosaur]

DD broke her 32/22 Monday night. Coach found a couple of bats for her to try on Wednesday. She loved the 33/24 and is going to be using it. We have our first game of the weekend on Friday night.

Does anyone have any suggestions for drills, etc. she can do between now and then that will give her the best chance of adjusting to the extra inch and extra 2 ounces as quickly as possible?

 

[redhotcoach]

Not beyond just swingin.

I have an 11 year old (shes big) that went from a 19oz cheapo to a 23 oz xeno. She struggled for about 2 tourneys...last weekend she hit her 2nd and 3rd homeruns over 220 ft fences.

 

[redhotcoach]

PLUS, at our dd's age, I don't see too many super high velocity pitchers...early swings are usually more of an issue.

Most of the 13 year old boys are swingin 27-30 oz bats...can't let them out do us! And come to think of it, I don't see the "leveling" problem with the boys that is common with the girls...with a heavy bat you gotta keep the barrel up.

 

[Stand an]

Grab a tee and give er. Front hand, back hand, soft toss. Front inside pull, deep zone outside push. Knee high and upper zone up the middle. If she slaps then do a bunch, bunting. Pitch to her. Keep your eye on the mechanics and have fun.

Needs to get used to the weight and be completely confident.

 

[MsDinosaur]

I got her in with her hitting instructor last night. DD was casting out a bit with that unaccustomed weight, opening up too much, trying to do too much with her arms--lots of little bad things, LOL. She made some tweaks with her, got her using her hips and legs again and gave her some things to do in the short-term (instead of her weight 60-40 to start, go about 65-35; be extra careful to have her knob aligned correctly; when she gets tired, step out and back into the box and carefully reset herself for every pitch). Her instructor told her, "That extra weight can be your greatest friend or it can be your greatest enemy." By the end of the hour, she was getting tired, but when she made the effort to concentrate, she was really smacking it and could go right back up the middle and even to oppo. We'll see how it goes in the game tonight!

Thankfully, her coach understands and has said he doesn't care how many times she strikes out. She does, though. :-D

 

[maksoftball]

Tee work, tee work and more tee work. That's what we would do.

 

[PEPPERS]

I got her in with her hitting instructor last night. DD was casting out a bit with that unaccustomed weight, opening up too much, trying to do too much with her arms--lots of little bad things, LOL. She made some tweaks with her, got her using her hips and legs again and gave her some things to do in the short-term (instead of her weight 60-40 to start, go about 65-35; be extra careful to have her knob aligned correctly; when she gets tired, step out and back into the box and carefully reset herself for every pitch). Her instructor told her, "That extra weight can be your greatest friend or it can be your greatest enemy." By the end of the hour, she was getting tired, but when she made the effort to concentrate, she was really smacking it and could go right back up the middle and even to oppo. We'll see how it goes in the game tonight!

Thankfully, her coach understands and has said he doesn't care how many times she strikes out. She does, though. :-D

I’ve seen the same thing more than once, no quick solution I’ve seen. Some things I have seen the former coach at Chattanooga State use two drills that increase wrist and arm strength that may help.

One she caked the windshield washer extend the bat out in front you barrel pointing up then have the wrist move the bat left to right like a windshield washer. The second she called the figure eight drill, point the barrel straight out in front of you and draw a figure eight with the end of the barrel.

Maybe this will help her get use to the extra weight.

 

[Greenmonsters]

1. Practice with an even heavier bat, then the new bat will feel light. 2. Replace the 33/24 knob sticker with a 32/22 and tell her that any perceived difference is imagined.

 

[coach james]

Tee work with a men's slow pitch bat at practice and in the off season... this will build a lot of strength and speed

 

[MsDinosaur]

Well, it was an ok, but not great hitting weekend for DD. She had a strikeout! :-O, a pop fly out and at least a couple of ground outs. She did have a few decent hard grounders back up the middle and several "hits" where it was a grounder that bounded off the tip of the infielder's glove and continued into the outfield. If you were being generous, they were hits and if you weren't, they were ROE. She isn't getting that pretty line drive flight path, but she's hitting the ball very hard and of course, her pitch selection wasn't affected by the change in bats. It could have been a lot worse.

LOL, by the way, her coach moved her out of the fourth slot into the leadoff slot. Apparently he decided her BA and OBP were high enough that he wanted to have her bat as much as possible, even though she doesn't have a lot of wheels. (That actually happened back in 10U too.) It's very flattering that the coaches have such faith in her; I'm not sure this was the best weekend though...

I'm going to have her try some of these suggestions and see if we can help her get back to being more productive! Thank you all!