More early batspeed?

[julray]

Remember that all these guys are capable of hitting homeruns, so maybe their focus is staying relaxed which is a good point.
On the other hand, if you want to teach your dd to hit it hard, what good will it do to teach her to take nice easy swings that result in soft line drives to ss? Do you think she'll ever hit one out with that approach? Maybe by accident. Then if she trys to hit it out she'll be in unknown territory. I say, perfect practice makes perfect. If you want to hit homers, practice hitting homers.
So yes, I can say "imagine how good he might have been."

Teaching your DD to hit the ball hard is a good thing, completely agree. And that's the mindset they should have. Having HR on your mind all the time is not good, the intention should be to hit it hard..IMO. Staying relaxed is key for any hitter. Staying inside the ball is also good practice. The pros practice staying inside by going UTM and Oppo.. so that they can hit the ball hard, stay through the ball. Which results in more extra base hits, hard hit balls, HR's. Need to look at the big picture. Hitting Hr's don't happen just because they say "I want to hit HR's".

 

[Bobby Shirer]

Teaching your DD to hit the ball hard is a good thing, completely agree. And that's the mindset they should have. Having HR on your mind all the time is not good, the intention should be to hit it hard..IMO. Staying relaxed is key for any hitter. Staying inside the ball is also good practice. The pros practice staying inside by going UTM and Oppo.. so that they can hit the ball hard, stay through the ball. Which results in more extra base hits, hard hit balls, HR's. Need to look at the big picture. Hitting Hr's don't happen just because they say "I want to hit HR's".

Agreed. Except that there's more to it than just saying, "I want to hit home runs." Organizing toward a goal would be smart. I remember a coach telling my 13yo dd that if she continued hitting with a positive launch angle, she was going to hit a lot of balls in the air. Her reply was, "How am I going to hit it over the fence if I don't hit it in the air?" I just don't see how practicing hitting soft liners to short is a part of that plan. Maybe it's a good warm up until you're loose?
Recognize that there was a point in time, prior to all of the technology that we enjoy today, when there was a lot of bad instruction that we now know was counter productive.

 

[TDS]

This girl had a great swing when she was young.. Her dad was on here lots sharing the journey through the years.. They ended up aborting the mechanics in college due to swinging underneath to many pitches but she had great early bat speed.

I am sure someone has one of her swings when she was young so feel free to share.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Looks like she is dumping the barrel and dragging the bat.

 

[julray]

This girl had a great swing when she was young.. Her dad was on here lots sharing the journey through the years.. They ended up aborting the mechanics in college due to swinging underneath to many pitches but she had great early bat speed.

I am sure someone has one of her swings when she was young so feel free to share.

I believe I seen this full swing, shoulder high pitch that resulted in a bomb.

 

[julray]

Agreed. Except that there's more to it than just saying, "I want to hit home runs." Organizing toward a goal would be smart. I remember a coach telling my 13yo dd that if she continued hitting with a positive launch angle, she was going to hit a lot of balls in the air. Her reply was, "How am I going to hit it over the fence if I don't hit it in the air?" I just don't see how practicing hitting soft liners to short is a part of that plan. Maybe it's a good warm up until you're loose?
Recognize that there was a point in time, prior to all of the technology that we enjoy today, when there was a lot of bad instruction that we now know was counter productive.

Do you agree it's good practice to stay inside and through the ball and not swing around the ball?



We are at a point in time where most active pros see their swing broken down frame by frame. Yet they still practice much of what Thome is alluding to in his video. And I am talking about pros with tons of power who hit HR's regularly.

 

[TDS]

I believe I seen this full swing, shoulder high pitch that resulted in a bomb.

Yes, it did end up as a bomb.... She struggled in college with the same mechanics so they aborted.. Unfortunately I believe she had some injuries that ended her career to early.

 

[Rolling Hard]

How can it be a bomb? It is indoors. ????

 

[FP26]

Yes, it did end up as a bomb.... She struggled in college with the same mechanics so they aborted.. Unfortunately I believe she had some injuries that ended her career to early.

Yes, Brooke had some injuries that derailed her career. Stating that the mechanics limited her is a bit presumptuous. That is certainly a possibility, and I will not claim it isn't, but it could have also been due to other factors such as the injuries she endured. Mechanics are one piece of the puzzle... There are other factors that also determine how far a player goes and what type of success they experience.

 

[765Seth]

I don't think one actually torques the handle/bat with the hands. They (hands) setup a rotational point for the barrel to be turned. I'm going to buy a PVC pipe, 4 to 5 ft, that Stone uses, to help create this rotational point. I'll tell you later how/if it works well to help create this rotational point.

I thought is was a gimmick until we started using a 7 ft piece of PVC to show her swing path. It's a great visual aid when you combined with a video of the swing. We do a 50% full swing and also use the PVC with one end on the floor to show her if her hands drift forward on her stride.