I do not see any pulling of the bat at all. The front side is totally dead in this swing. She flattens the barrel, then leans forward and pushes with the top hand. How do we know this? She rotates her shoulders but the bottom hand is dead. There is ZERO extension. She makes contact way out in front of her core, her top hand has very little power at this point, and at contact the ball darn near stops her bat and her front arm (bottom hand) collapses. This has nothing to do with turning the barrel. This has nothing to do with rear hip pivot point and pulling back the upper body. You can worry about those things all day and it's still going to be a weak swing because she will still be weak at contact due to the dead front side. You have a chance to help your dd and it appears what you think is sound hitting advice is not helping your dd one bit. You might want to explore different options to see if you can get your dd on track.
Wish it was better.
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R
RayR
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So, if the lower body spins before the upper body you make a good hitter?
You and Lenski forming a nice comedy duo....beating up turning the barrel as advice not working when it is clear (no offense RD) that this hitter is not even close to turning the barrel....
You and Lenski forming a nice comedy duo....beating up turning the barrel as advice not working when it is clear (no offense RD) that this hitter is not even close to turning the barrel....
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My interpretation of 'turning the barrel' and then my DD's interpretation of 'turning the barrel' seemed to be totally different. I believe from reading and seeing video that the barrel must be turned behind a corner after IR of the rear leg. The hips should pull the barrel not push them. I posted my DD's swing. So, there is our work. Not good but, it will get better.
Here is a drill to try to improve turning the barrel, tilt and bat path which may put some of the other parts of the swing in place as well.
TRY A TWO TEE DRILL:
TEE ONE slightly above knee high. place this tee so the ball would be maybe middle of plate (side to side) and 8 inches deep from front of plate. Put a balled up piece of paper on the tee. This is your deep tee. Your dd has to be able to hit this ball (paper) center, center/right.
TEE TWO should be about a foot ahead. Make this tee about 4 inches higher than tee one and about 3 inches further outside. hit a real ball on this tee.
Line up correctly at the plate. Set a goal of the deep tees ball (paper) flying over the first tee or slightly right of it. Drive the ball from the second tee center, center right.
This will radically change her barrel path, tilt and when she turns the barrel into the zone.
If you are satisfied with the movement switch to front toss middle/middle out and see of she can hit a few up the middle.
Just a thought. I have recently had some success with this and it has improved extension for hitters as will.
TRY A TWO TEE DRILL:
TEE ONE slightly above knee high. place this tee so the ball would be maybe middle of plate (side to side) and 8 inches deep from front of plate. Put a balled up piece of paper on the tee. This is your deep tee. Your dd has to be able to hit this ball (paper) center, center/right.
TEE TWO should be about a foot ahead. Make this tee about 4 inches higher than tee one and about 3 inches further outside. hit a real ball on this tee.
Line up correctly at the plate. Set a goal of the deep tees ball (paper) flying over the first tee or slightly right of it. Drive the ball from the second tee center, center right.
This will radically change her barrel path, tilt and when she turns the barrel into the zone.
If you are satisfied with the movement switch to front toss middle/middle out and see of she can hit a few up the middle.
Just a thought. I have recently had some success with this and it has improved extension for hitters as will.
R
RayR
Guest
Just to be clear - there is always IR of the rear leg in this approach - I would time the barrel turn to release the pull back against the rear leg IR. Meaning that while the rear leg is Iring - the back is resisting - the barrel turn releases the resistance (pull back) - she will feel very late based on how she thinks now about the swing and amount of time she needs to get the barrel around.
Show her my hitter and how quiet her bat is - I really think Laura needs to get control of the barrel as part of this.
Show her my hitter and how quiet her bat is - I really think Laura needs to get control of the barrel as part of this.
R
RayR
Guest
I like this drill (or variations) that spell out the path visually for the hitter. Nice.
It's not about "beating up" turning the barrel. Do you honestly think a high level swing will appear in RD's dd just by turning the barrel?
Some things that could help your dd straight away RD are: stay tall (so she doesn't lean forward), keep the bat close to the back of helmet (at the ponytail area) during her stretch and before her forward part of the swing, keep front elbow higher than hands, and hands higher than barrel as bat travels through the hitting zone using both hands to rip the barrel through the zone (hammer the ball), hit through the ball - not to the ball, and extend and finish long. Get that front side involved RD; don't let the front side be simply guided by the top hand.
Some things that could help your dd straight away RD are: stay tall (so she doesn't lean forward), keep the bat close to the back of helmet (at the ponytail area) during her stretch and before her forward part of the swing, keep front elbow higher than hands, and hands higher than barrel as bat travels through the hitting zone using both hands to rip the barrel through the zone (hammer the ball), hit through the ball - not to the ball, and extend and finish long. Get that front side involved RD; don't let the front side be simply guided by the top hand.
R
RayR
Guest
Rd - turn the barrel behind the rear leg is a good thought - here is a visual - sorry about the dropped frame in this clip but you should get the gist of it....and watch the "curve" of her back being produced by the action of the rear leg and pull back.
R
RayR
Guest
Do you honestly believe I believe that turning the barrel will magically transform any swing into a high level swing?
Your statement would discount the hard work my hitters have put in thus far to make the change from knob pullers to barrel turners...
And if you have read through - my advice to RD was mostly about learning how to create more overlap and separation using the rear leg and back muscles against each other - barrel turning is piece of this.
Your statement would discount the hard work my hitters have put in thus far to make the change from knob pullers to barrel turners...
And if you have read through - my advice to RD was mostly about learning how to create more overlap and separation using the rear leg and back muscles against each other - barrel turning is piece of this.
This is so true 'barrel turning' is just part of the swing. No one is making us 'turn the barrel' this is the path I chose for my DD and I believe it is the corrext path. We just have to correctly sequence up everything together. I knew the swing was bad. I posted because I have a big mouth and post and comment on others alot. I wanted to put my work out there. We are trying and try and work as much as possible. Laura will get there,I promise. I hope others reading along don't form a bad opinion on 'turning the barrel'. Just look at the other hitters that have been posted that are having success such as RayR students and Knights DD to name a few. Laura just needs to start using her hands. Thanks again for everyones comments. I believe everyone has Laura's best interest in mind.
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