FiveFrameSwing
Banned
Cabrera would fail the two-tea drill .....
While I disagree completely with Ricketts' Two Tee drill, you can actually cause the ball to significantly backspin by swinging down and "skinning" the back of the ball. I wouldn't want players trying it in games though.
Read her body posture. She is really uncomfortable with what she is saying. I suppose she was given a script to read, by her sponsor.
We can make excuses for why she demonstrated this drill. The same drill is demonstrated by others ... some of which have fairly convincing positive body language. The message of course is to apply the Hanson Principle and seek confirmation regarding the advice being given. It isn't to personally attack the person giving the demonstration, but to extract content that helps the kids you wish to help.
The backspin aspect was discussed in length a while back. IIRC the video shows homerun balls having minimal spin, but don't take my word for it.
http://www.discussfastpitch.com/softball-hitting-technical/2756-hitting-backspin-fact-fiction.html
I agree that the physics concludes relatively little additional carry from imparting backspin (and into the wind, it may be less). Plus it is astronomically more prone to timing error to swing down to a downward moving pitch in order to try to hit the bottom 35% of the ball and create backspin. Plane matching is far better for a longer zone and more consistent contact.
Ted Williams put it more succinctly (if profanely).
"If you're that f***ing good, why don't you just hit the f***ing middle of the ball EVERY TIME?"
Eloquent, in a way.
Regards,
Scott
The biggest issue I have with the "swing down" approach is also a basic physics thing. A downward barrel path will intersect the ball path at one point. This means that the hitters timing has to be PERFECT to hit the ball solidly. A barrel travelling longer on the path of the ball allows the hitter a much larger window of time to hit the ball.[/QUOTE]