DBSFA-(Drop-Barrel-Swing-Flat-Anonymous) a FFF thread

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JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
I continue to see the leveling issue we call DBSF all over the place. Both my girls do it, many teammates/opponents do it, many DFP DDs do it.

Some claim it is an easy thing to correct, but I still have not seen a player actually correct it in real life or on video on this site. It is really puzzling to me. I get really frustrated because it seems so easy to fix. I disagree with others about why it is important to fix. I think it needs to be fixed for better zone coverage (try to hit a low inside strike with this pattern and you are dead meat), many other say it needs to be fixed to be able to handle fast pitching while adjusting to offspeed. My real world experience tells me that girls with this pattern can hold their own with speed but are vulnerable to good placement. I know others are working through the same issue so I wanted to see if there are better results if we share specific info about what we have tried, maybe someone even has the magic fix and can post video showing that it is possible to fix (after two years I am beginning to have my doubts).


I called this an FFF thread and that means (fiveframefree), but more generally, I am hoping we can avoid the whole "post a clip of Miggy and say do this" part of most threads, I think people posting real world video clips of their students and/or DDs is so much more helpful. That is why it is in the practical forum.

Here is some background....DD in all stars n the summer of 2014

[video]https://youtu.be/JFLu3dAmc9w[/video]

Swing from a couple of weeks back

[video]https://youtu.be/Uj3XL3clZtc[/video]

Between these two points (that are basically identical) we have done at least 100 hours of hitting work with the majority of focus on trying to come up with the magic elixer to get to this in games.

We have gotten to the point where she can do front toss and get her swing to where we want it leveling wise

[video]https://youtu.be/53oIHAc3V9U[/video]

But it just does not show up in games.

This is not really aimed at trying to fix my kid specifically, it is aimed at creating a little space here where the folks who are working on this now can maybe share ideas with some help from folks who have fixed it before (if you exist :))

I was even thinking of having a competition between our daughters so they had some extra motivation to fix it, I know that Stick/Eric/Me at least have kids that are the same age and are trying to fix it, maybe if all the dads who are currently working on this got together and ponied up 10 bucks each then the kitty would be big enough to motivate the rugrats to fix it. I'll try anything at this point as you will see below.

What we are working on today will be golf swings, I will have her hitting wiffle balls off the ground with a wedge. The idea here is that low/inside location cannot be gotten to with a drop and drag swing. One of the things we do often during front toss when she is dropping is I will throw low and inside over and over again until she can hit one hard up the middle. This tells me she has the feeling of turning the barrel more. When she is dropping and dragging she is not capable of hitting a low inside pitch in fair territory, the swing path created means that she will coming across her body and hitting the ball towards the third base dugout. More than any advice I have been given about this issue, that one thing, working low and in is the thing that seems to install the feeling for her to be able to take some front toss cuts without dropping (it quickly comes back though). It is too hot to work during the day so we will do it at dusk and I will post a clip.

Anyone else starting to get "creative" in an attempt to fix this?
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
I'm starting to think that drawing a chalk box on the ground has some sort of magical properties that removes a player's ability to swing the same way they did in practice.
 
May 22, 2012
745
16
I like your post JJ. Not sure I have anything creative to add, but I will continue to work with DD1 and DD2 and post results here. I appreciate your posts as well.
Additionally, I will be sure to share any revelations and discoveries that I find along the way. I do think there is a lot of merit in the "forward as we prepare to throw" stuff that FFS is promoting in my DD's thread. The sequence is the ultimate goal, and with the proper sequence I also believe a lot of the "downward" motion of the hands is bound to disappear naturally. Our daughters seem to feel the need to drop the hands and get level to the ball.
Albeit, a much better swing overall, you can still see quite a bit of downward movement of the hands in the front toss swing that you posted.
Keep posting and sharing. Thank you!
 
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JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
yeah- there is downward movement still, which is fine by me as long as the downward movement is part of the swing and not the load. The hands have to get "there" so they are going to move down during the swing but when they move down/why they move down is the key for me. "dropping hands" is not an issue, leveling before swinging is.

So using some D1 examples....this
2gt8d1w.gif


is not the same as this

34rzsdk.gif


Using my rugrat as an example I see her hands up to launch as more of the former in the game swing and more of the latter in the front toss example.
 

JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
here is the golf swing idea...I like the positions it puts a DBSFer and I like the idea that it is more kinetic than a teeswing in that there is an active loading move (the backswing) and then it goes directly to fire. No time to do anything else. She has not swung a club in a couple of years so in all honesty after seeing this I am quitting softball ad we are going all in on golf. I like her golf basics more than her softball basics and scholarships are more plentiful.

 
Jan 3, 2014
336
18
I figured I had nothing constructive to add to the conversation so I would just be myself and make a smart remark. :)
 
Jan 4, 2012
3,852
38
OH-IO
AS15.gif
ST.gif
Ash_HR.gif


.gifs to compare game vs. softoss & my DD in All-star game last month.... I think DD is doing what your talking about...
 
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JJsqueeze

Dad, Husband....legend
Jul 5, 2013
5,436
38
safe in an undisclosed location
yeah...looks like she has a bit of it too PC, it's an epidemic I tell you....

after the low in work we do low side toss. The idea is still that if you can get to pitches low in the zone and hit them well then you are probably not DBSFing at least not too badly....all is good here...then we do front toss and it is still good, then in games it is back to square one....I feel like Sisyphus...

 

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