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Jun 8, 2016
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One thing you can try is to do drills/games which she will only succeed on if she does things in a correct way. For example with my DD, her swing is often too flat. Things like having her hit off of a low tee and giving her the cue to hit it up into the net or throwing her low pitches in front toss and having her try to hit it over the L-screen promote a better barrel path without any excessive instruction. She will have to self-organize her body to try and do what is being asked. Another one is doing self-toss for max distance which can be useful for getting better separation/sequencing in your swing for example. Stuff like that.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Who are you kidding, when I am having a bad day have batters toss ball up to themselves and try to hit the ball. Most of them are a trainwreack. Keeps me ammsued.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Who are you kidding, when I am having a bad day have batters toss ball up to themselves and try to hit the ball. Most of them are a trainwreack. Keeps me ammsued.

If you are talking to me regarding self toss, it will take a few days to get it but they will. My three year son can do it...
 
Oct 2, 2017
2,283
113
I've been where you are, and faced a lot of the same struggles. In hindsight, I would have slowed down at the start. Keeping things fun is very important. I didn't do a very good job with that part of it.

Based on what I have seen of her swing, I would keep trying to reinforce a pattern of separation, and getting away from the all-back/all-forward pattern she has had. Other than that, letting her figure it out in her own body is a good approach. When you make swing changes, there will be adjustment time. This is to be expected and needs to be allowed for. The changes aren't recipes for instant success, they are building the foundation for long-term success. Judging the validity of swing mechanics changes on what happens in the next game isn't an accurate meter.

Those are the kind of things that I think she grasp and is what I am getting at. I do expect an adjustment period to allowed for sure.
 
Oct 2, 2017
2,283
113
One thing you can try is to do drills/games which she will only succeed on if she does things in a correct way. For example with my DD, her swing is often too flat. Things like having her hit off of a low tee and giving her the cue to hit it up into the net or throwing her low pitches in front toss and having her try to hit it over the L-screen promote a better barrel path without any excessive instruction. She will have to self-organize her body to try and do what is being asked. Another one is doing self-toss for max distance which can be useful for getting better separation/sequencing in your swing for example. Stuff like that.

Great advice. Those I think are the kind of drills that are helpful to a younger player.
 
Apr 16, 2013
1,113
83
I started working with my DD on parts of her swing when she was 8. It's been a long ride, 7 years now. Crazy to think it's been that long! First, it's already been said, and I can't reiterate it enough, ONE THING AT A TIME! Second, you have to find a way that THEY understand what the issue is and then what the goal is. That's the largest part of all of it. YOU need to understand it and then convey it in a way that SHE understands it. It may take 20 different attempts, all with totally different cues. I wanted my daughter to explain to me why we were making the change. I then would show her clips of herself and show her where she "got it" vs didn't. We would often sit and watch baseball games together and we'd talk (of course not in ear shot of others) what the current batter's biggest issues were. Truly understanding things went a MASSIVE way to helping her. She's to a point now where she can feel so many things with her swing and tell me what an issue is without me having to even say what it is.
 
Oct 4, 2018
4,611
113
Agree.

You gotta keep this fun. I struggle with that myself. I watch my 11 year old daughter play rec ball and she has a blast. Being silly at times, rocking out to music during practice, having fun with new and old friends. Caring a lot less about wins and losses.

Then there's my 9 year old, on the travel team where I'm AC. Serious stuff, fast-paced drills. 3 extra weekly practices with me each week. Pitching lessons. Hitting lessons. She's improving so fast and still loving it, but I do worry about burnout, especially when her dad (me) is tough on her.


Are you considering a hitting coach in years to come? Reason I ask is that my 9 year old started with hitting coach and pitching coach this year. She knew nothing about pitching, and that resulted in her not having bad habits. The other girls in her group lesson are struggling some due to years of bad habits. My daughter is thriving and only doing the motions/mechanics she's taught.

But in hitting, we're having to build it back from scratch. Having a hard time breaking her of lunging and teaching her out of using her upper body to hit the ball hard. Makes me wish we had a lesson or two at a younger age.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
uncdrew;489994 Then there's my 9 year old said:
A safety tip from someone who has been there, and didn't always get it right...

When you are with your DD's team as a coach, make every effort to treat your DD the same way you treat the other players on the team, and require that your DD treat you just like she would every other coach.
 

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