Weak bottom hand

[GeorgeZip]

My 10 year old has a very weak bottom arm. Not sure if this is causing her hitting issues or not.

Essentially she is making contact every time, but the ball is always a grounder and mostly weak. She does get occasional hits to the outfield but when that happens it is like the ball is traveling in slow motion.

I do think that she is not using her entire body when swinging and she tends to push her hands away from her body and not towards the pitcher, however that is discussed endlessly here and I think we can work on that. My question is what could help strengthen her non-dominate arm when she is hitting.

 

[rdbass]

I do think that she is not using her entire body when swinging and she tends to push her hands away from her body and not towards the pitcher

Might be the problem there. We don't want the hands 'pushed'.

however that is discussed endlessly here and I think we can work on that

Since you already 'endlessly' read that and already know that we can skip that.
Video would be helpfull.

 

[guero_gordo]

Depending on your style and mechanics, the bottom hand is pretty passive, directing the force generated by the big muscles more than providing force of its own. I don't think conditioning the arm would be very productive.

What helped DD immensely was: Get a tee-ball bat and hit balls off a tee one-handed with the back knee on the ground and the tee about belt high and pretty deep. Keep track of the hands and hinge angle, while feeling the hips pull and letting the barrel snap through.

Hope this helps.

 

[rdbass]

A little different 'version' of the above mentioned drill:
SeanCaseyhandwork_0.mp4 Video by bucketdad | Photobucket
Better:

Not:

Gifs posted 2-2-11 by FFS.
Posted just because sloooooooooooow day.

 

[Eric F]

My 10 year old has a very weak bottom arm. Not sure if this is causing her hitting issues or not.

Essentially she is making contact every time, but the ball is always a grounder and mostly weak. She does get occasional hits to the outfield but when that happens it is like the ball is traveling in slow motion.

I do think that she is not using her entire body when swinging and she tends to push her hands away from her body and not towards the pitcher, however that is discussed endlessly here and I think we can work on that. My question is what could help strengthen her non-dominate arm when she is hitting.

There could be a number of issues contributing to her hitting pattern, and it would be way easier to diagnose them with video. Becoming stronger overall will certainly help hitting, but strength doesn't fix poor mechanics.

In the meantime...

What is happening with her front elbow as she swings? Does she straighten the front arm and keep it straight? Is the elbow bent as she swings through contact? If it's bent, is the elbow pointing upwards, creating separation between her upper arm and her chest, or is it bent downward, pinning her upper arm to her chest?

On of the most common swing patterns for young hitters is to swing the bat by pulling their arms around their torso. This can be done with varying degrees of body involvement. The biggest step in heading in a better direction is for them to understand (feel!) that the bat is swung by rotation of the hands, powered by the body.

 

[GeorgeZip]

Depending on your style and mechanics, the bottom hand is pretty passive, directing the force generated by the big muscles more than providing force of its own. I don't think conditioning the arm would be very productive.

What helped DD immensely was: Get a tee-ball bat and hit balls off a tee one-handed with the back knee on the ground and the tee about belt high and pretty deep. Keep track of the hands and hinge angle, while feeling the hips pull and letting the barrel snap through.

Hope this helps.

Thank you this was helpful. I like the drill. I have had her instructors tell her to do this drill, but one instructor did not think it was an issue and one told me that she needs to do one arm swings, front ends? About a 100 a week.

 

[GeorgeZip]

There could be a number of issues contributing to her hitting pattern, and it would be way easier to diagnose them with video. Becoming stronger overall will certainly help hitting, but strength doesn't fix poor mechanics.

In the meantime...

What is happening with her front elbow as she swings? Does she straighten the front arm and keep it straight? Is the elbow bent as she swings through contact? If it's bent, is the elbow pointing upwards, creating separation between her upper arm and her chest, or is it bent downward, pinning her upper arm to her chest?

On of the most common swing patterns for young hitters is to swing the bat by pulling their arms around their torso. This can be done with varying degrees of body involvement. The biggest step in heading in a better direction is for them to understand (feel!) that the bat is swung by rotation of the hands, powered by the body.

Thanks. I will get a video, I have some but they are taken from so far away that it is difficult to tell what the arms are doing. One thing i do notice is that her finish is around her waist instead of her arms extending out from her body, but you're right a video would be better.

 

[GeorgeZip]

In the post with the gif, what is the difference between the two stances? What is each one trying to accomplish?

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

In the post with the gif, what is the difference between the two stances? What is each one trying to accomplish?

He was working on going "through" the ball. He was giving himself a goal of hitting up the middle and staying "through" the ball.

 

[Eric F]

Thanks. I will get a video, I have some but they are taken from so far away that it is difficult to tell what the arms are doing. One thing i do notice is that her finish is around her waist instead of her arms extending out from her body, but you're right a video would be better.

Watch what is happening with her front elbow as she swings. I'm betting it collapses down against her torso. I could make some further assumptions about what is likely to be happening in her swing pattern, but I will wait for video so there's less guessing involved.