Practice swings hitting the players in their back - Why?

Screwball said:

It is awful to hit your back. It is bad role modeling for young girls.

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You got that right!

Get the darn bat through and away, and practice the way you hit the ball, BTW: No one hits their back while really hitting so why practice that.

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Some females actually do, and that's why they can't hit.

Amy in AZ. said:

It has been taught in IL., at many universities, (at least 10 years ago) to finish the swing. You can't hit yourself hard enough to hurt anything. At least I can't.

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A good swing should finish with your hands at the outside of your front shoulder, not at your neck, and the bat should never hit your shoulder or your back.

I do this myself. When we are told to practice swing before we get into the box. When we swing we like to hit our backs because it lets us know where the barrel is. It helps us know if we have extended the bat properly or if we rolled or did something else different. We are also told to follow through with our swing and not quit so when we practice swing we swing ALL THE WAY THROUGH which makes the bat hit our backs. It makes us practice swinging the bat hard even after contact and not to quit. I know a lot of people don't like this technique but I personally love it and it helps with a lot more than you would think!!☺

Zombie thread, but great first post @SoftballGirl15! !

I appreciate the insight. The "taught in IL" thing from over a decade ago explains to my where my daughter's softball coach got it, as she played for an Illinois university.

What you said makes sense, if it is taught properly. My issue was that my daughter's coach didn't teach them properly, and the girls became more concerned with THUMP!-ing their back than focusing on the swing. Instead of extending and following through, they were shortening up so they could place the bat for the thump.

@Bat Trac , THAT is how you "first post!"

The Man In Blue said:

Zombie thread, but great first post @SoftballGirl15! !

I appreciate the insight. The "taught in IL" thing from over a decade ago explains to my where my daughter's softball coach got it, as she played for an Illinois university.

What you said makes sense, if it is taught properly. My issue was that my daughter's coach didn't teach them properly, and the girls became more concerned with THUMP!-ing their back than focusing on the swing. Instead of extending and following through, they were shortening up so they could place the bat for the thump.

@Bat Trac , THAT is how you "first post!"

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Thank you! And yes I do know that the thread was forever ago I just saw it and didn't want girls seeing this thinking that they should stop doing it. If you really understand why you do it it can be extremely helpful with getting your swing perfect. You also really need to make sure that you aren't so concerned about hitting your back because if you do it will mess your swing up. Just follow through and extend and swing hard then you will automatically do it. Also yes I do agree that coaches need to teach why you should do it instead of saying just do it. It can actually be very very helpful if you know what you are doing!

Elite hitters do not do this. Once I got my DD to stop hitting her back and truly getting to extension, she starting hitting HR's within weeks. No lie! When you hit your back you are not actually achieving full extension, you are folding your arms around your back and your lower half stops rotating.

It's a terrible practice. It teaches bad mechanics.

It is not something I would do. Because it is not in alignment with the hitting mechanics I use.

Elite hitters don't need to do it because they have their swing down. When you hit your back you want to make sure that your bat barrel is diagonal on your back going down and that tells you whether or not you extended or not. It makes my lower back rotate more because I want to hit my back. People do this all differently and it all depends on why you do it. Some people do it because they think it looks good (which is not a reason to do it), because other people do it, or because they just want to. If you truly know why you are doing it doing this truly helps but if you are doing it just because you want to it does mess up with your mechanics because you are thinking to just hit your back and not focus on what you are trying to accomplish. I do not recommend always doing this because when you always do it you forget what you are trying to accomplish. I just do this when I feel like I need more extensions so I can see where my bat ends up after I swing. I have a problem with swinging all the way through and not quiting once I hit the ball and this definitely helps as a reminder. Lastly, if we roll our wrists then the bat does not get that perfect angle when it hits your back. It tends to be more flatter when you roll your wrists. Doing this gives you a good indication of what you did wrong. Again this is not for everyone and if you do it just to do it it will mess up your swing if you do it constantly.

While I tend to agree with the regulars, I am finding myself agreeing with the rookie!

Singing your praise again, but I really appreciate the fact that you are not saying "DO THIS, IT WORKS!" You are identifying a very specific faulty mechanic that this can correct IF used properly.

I learned this as a coach and I continue to use this as a teacher : There is NOT a cookie cutter approach that works for every one. You must see what an individual does and then you can make adjustments (not necessarily corrections).