Samantha Ricketts Two Tee Drill

[FiveFrameSwing]

Cabrera would fail the two-tea drill .....

 

[obbay]

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.

Thanks for posting that. That's basically how I feel but I believe Mark McGuire and others teach that you get a long ball to carry farther by swinging down on it - which I will never believe. I like your application in practices or also for (good) hitters who don't have the long ball in their bag of tricks. In tennis you can make the ball move effectively by applying spin, so I believe it could be done in softball, but I don't think it's a technique that can be applied to every batter, every situation - but now you got me thinking...

I've seen so many players who swing down on the ball with no positive result. In some it gets exacerbated when they are tired or facing much faster pitching than they are used to wher it becomes a defensive swing.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

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.

 

[Doug Romrell]

That 2-tee drill (back tee/ball higher than front tee/ball) has been around a long time. I use to use it 16 years ago when I first coached. I don't use it now.

I want the barrel coming into contact with the ball from behind the ball.

The following 2-tee drill with associated swing is, IMO, superior. Notice the back tee (with no ball) is lower than the front tee. I would argue, however, that the front tees are just a smidgen too far forward.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

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.

 

[Eric F]

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.

 

[knightsb]

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.

FFS, absolutely correct. That was the purpose of the OP. Here you have a very accomplished hitter/player, now coach, offering this kind of instruction. You have to apply the Hanson Principal.

If you coach, you should be a student of the game.
Coaches should be required to apply the Hanson Principal.

"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." -Albert Einstein

 

[guero_gordo]

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

 

[knightsb]

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 like ssarge's response from that thread:

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

 

[rdbass]

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]