Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Although I respect the knowledge and passion for hitting exhibited by the frequent posters in this technical hitting forum, I must admit that this forum has been of limited value to me since shortly after Hitter/Howard left. I’m not pointing fingers or blaming anyone, just wanted to let you know what I previously found useful. I've helped coach my DD's U14/U16 travel team the last 2 years. Played D1 college BB, but my FP experience and knowledge is limited. I try to learn from others with more experience, watch as much college and elite FP as possible, and try to figure out how to effectively teach what I've learned. Howard offered up his version of What to Teach and How To Teach It – I found this TYPE of approach to be invaluable, whether I agreed with the approach itself or not. Additionally, to me, it was very relevant that his instructional approach was based on working with youth/young adult female FP players, not BB players, not MLBers.
The videos of Howard's drills and his detailed explanations of how to perform them benefited my DD and her teammates as well as numerous others based on responses I've read here. There is a distinction between asking constructive questions to gain an understanding as to how and why a drill is performed and that of repeated questioning that is purely critical in nature. If you don't agree with what someone's posted, please make it known, but don’t beat a dead horse. If you’re strongly opposed, post a video that shows how you teach your DD or FP students how to do it the way you think it should be done (ala Tewks). I love seeing Pujols, Mauer, and Griffey swing – but IMO there’s little relevance to the FP world. FFW posts of swings from the WCWS were great and much more applicable. I find it much more valid and tangible to teach DD to try to emulate Jen Yee than Albert P (hey that rhymes). Maybe it her swing wouldn’t be perfect, but if she accomplishes that initial goal, it would put her in the top < 1% of female FP hitters and she can work to improve from there. Is being the next Bustos, Yee etc. a realistic goal for most of our DDs? No, but it’s definitely more plausible and attainable than trying to be the first woman to play MLB and contend for the triple crown.
Personally, until I see all elite-level FP players and all MLB players with identical, carbon copy swings, I will continue to believe that while they are major commonalities, there's more than one way to swing the bat effectively and there's a multitude of ways to teach it.
Just my 0.02 - Greenmonsters
The videos of Howard's drills and his detailed explanations of how to perform them benefited my DD and her teammates as well as numerous others based on responses I've read here. There is a distinction between asking constructive questions to gain an understanding as to how and why a drill is performed and that of repeated questioning that is purely critical in nature. If you don't agree with what someone's posted, please make it known, but don’t beat a dead horse. If you’re strongly opposed, post a video that shows how you teach your DD or FP students how to do it the way you think it should be done (ala Tewks). I love seeing Pujols, Mauer, and Griffey swing – but IMO there’s little relevance to the FP world. FFW posts of swings from the WCWS were great and much more applicable. I find it much more valid and tangible to teach DD to try to emulate Jen Yee than Albert P (hey that rhymes). Maybe it her swing wouldn’t be perfect, but if she accomplishes that initial goal, it would put her in the top < 1% of female FP hitters and she can work to improve from there. Is being the next Bustos, Yee etc. a realistic goal for most of our DDs? No, but it’s definitely more plausible and attainable than trying to be the first woman to play MLB and contend for the triple crown.
Personally, until I see all elite-level FP players and all MLB players with identical, carbon copy swings, I will continue to believe that while they are major commonalities, there's more than one way to swing the bat effectively and there's a multitude of ways to teach it.
Just my 0.02 - Greenmonsters